Windows PE is a very handy tool for system administrators. It is a stripped version of Windows with command line utilities useful for recovering\deploying\managing windows systems. This version of windows is a part of the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) (which can be obtained
here for Windows 8).
Installing ADK
After downloading the install dialog should look like this:
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| ADK install on Windows 8. |
Be sure to
check "Deployment Tools" and "Windows Preinstallation Environment" on the options. The other items are not needed in the following steps.
Now its just a matter of accepting the prompt messages and going to the kitchen for a sandwich (it will make more than 3 GB of downloads).
Creating Windows PE ISO
Now it is time to create the ISO's for Windows PE. In the Windows 8 start screen, search for "deployment" and
launch the "Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment" as Administrator.
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| Launching "Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment". |
A command prompt will show up. You should now create a working copy of Windows PE files with the command:
copype amd64 C:\WinPE_amd64
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| Launching "copype". |
The installation files will be extracted in your hard drive into the folder you specified. If you want to save the files in another place, just substitute the location "C:\WinPE_amd64" to whatever you want. Additionally, you should consider if you will be working on a 64 or 32 bit system.
In case you'll be working on a 32 bit system, substitute "amd64" for "x86".
After the files are extracted, generate an ISO image with the command:
MakeWinPEMedia /ISO C:\WinPE_amd64 C:\WinPE_amd64\WinPE_amd64.iso
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| Generate ISO with "MakeWinPEMedia". |
With the ISO image in hand, you can do whatever you please with it: burn a cd/dvd, boot a VM or make a bootable usb pendrive (I recommend using the excellent
Rufus utility for this, specially if want to boot a UEFI/EFI computer).
Additionally, in case you don't need the ADK anymore, I recommend you generate both x86 and amd64 images (about 200 MB each) and uninstall the ADK (about 3 to 5GB).
Have fun!
References
Create a Bootable Windows PE Disk
http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/2845-create-a-bootable-windows-pe-disk
Install Windows PE to a CD, DVD, ISO, or VHD
