How to create a hard disk that you can use to start a Windows PE version of Windows Server 2003

You can use Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) to create customized installations of Windows. You can also use Windows PE as a hard-disk-based recovery solution. This article describes how to create a hard disk that you can use to start a Windows PE version of Microsoft Windows Server 2003.

Before you follow the procedures in this article, create the installation image that you want to use on your computer screen. To create the installation image, see the �Creating a Customized Version of Windows PE� section of the Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment User's Guide. This user's guide is the Winpe.chm file of the Windows PE distribution CD-ROM documentation.

Create a Windows PE hard disk that you can use to start a 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003

1. Start your computer by using the Microsoft Windows PE CD. To do this, insert the Windows PE CD into the CD drive or the DVD drive, and then restart your computer.
2. Use the DiskPart program to create a formatted, active partition.
   
   For more information about how to use DiskPart to format and partition a hard disk, see the "DiskPart Commands" section of the Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment User's Guide.
3. On the active partition, create a Minint folder. To do this, type the following at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   md Minint
   
   
   Note You must name the folder Minint.
4. Copy the contents of the Build_Location\I386 folder to the Minint folder. To do this, type the following at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   xcopy "Build_Location\i386\*.*" Partition:\minint /s
   Build_Location is the location of the customized version of Windows PE that you created. Partition is the active partition that you created in step 2. For example, type the following:
   xcopy "c:\build.x86\i386\*.*" c:\minint /s
5. Copy Ntdetect.com from the Build_Location\I386 folder to the root of the active partition. To do this, type the following at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   xcopy "Build_Location\i386\ntdetect.com" Partition:\
   For example, type the following:
   xcopy "c:\build.x86\i386\ntdetect.com" c:\
6. Copy Partition:\Minint\Setupldr.bin to Partition:\Ntldr. To do this, type the following at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   xcopy "Partition:\minint\setupldr.bin" Partition:\ntldr
   For example, type the following:
   xcopy "c:\minint\setupldr.bin" c:\ntldr
7. Restart your computer.
   
   Your computer will start by using Windows PE.

Create a Windows PE hard disk that you can use to start a 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003

1. Start your computer by using the Windows PE CD. To do this, insert the Windows PE CD into the CD drive or the DVD drive, and then restart your computer.
2. Use the DiskPart program to create a primary data partition.
   
   For more information about how to use DiskPart to format and partition a hard disk, see step 3 in the "Create a bootable Windows PE disk for 64-bit versions of Windows PE" section of the Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment User's Guide.
3. Use the DiskPart program to create a formatted, active Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) partition. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. At a command prompt, type diskpart, and then press ENTER.
      
      The DiskPart program starts.
   2. Type 0 to select disk 0, and the press ENTER.
   3. Type 1 to select partition 1, and the press ENTER.
   4. Type the drive letter that you want to assign to the EFI partition, and then press ENTER. For example, type g.
   5. Exit DiskPart.
4. On the primary data partition, create a Winpe\Ia64 folder. To do this, type the following at a command prompt:
   md Data_Partition:\Winpe\Ia64
   Data_Partition is the primary data partition that you created in step 2. For example, type the following:
   md c:\Winpe\Ia64
5. Copy the contents of the Build_Location\Ia64 folder to Data_Partition\Winpe\Ia64. To do this, type the following at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   xcopy "Build_Location\ia64\*.*" Data_Partition /hide
   Build_Location is the location of the customized version of Windows PE that you created. For example, type the following:
   xcopy "c:\build.ia64\ia64\*.*" c:\winpe\ia64 /hide
6. Copy Build_Location\Ia64\Setupldr.efi to EFI_Partition. To do this, type the following at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   xcopy "Build_Location\ia64\Setupldr.efi" EFI_Partition:\
   EFI_Partition is the drive letter of the EFI partition that you created in step 3. For example, type the following:
   xcopy "c:\build.ia64\ia64\setupldr.efi" g:\
7. On the EFI partition that is in the same location as the Setupldr.efi file, create a blank "$WinPE$.$$$" file. To do this, type the following at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   echo blank file >> EFI_Partition:\$Winpe$.$$$
   For example, type the following:
   echo blank file >> g:\$Winpe$.$$$
8. To start the computer from this version of Windows PE that you have put on the EFI partition, run the efinvr command. To do this, type the following at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   efinvr /add EFI_Partition:\setupldr.efi Data_Partition
   For example, type the following:
   efinvr /add g:\setupldr.efi c:\winpe\ia64
9. Restart your computer.
   
   Your computer will start by using Windows PE.

Notes

• If you create a Windows PE CD that you can use to start an East Asian language version of Windows Server 2003, you must copy the Bootfont.bin file from the Build_Location\Ia64 folder to the root of the destination hard disk. Without the Bootfont.bin file, the loader prompt displays incorrect characters.
• You can follow a similar procedure if you start the computer by using an operating system that is located on the hard disk instead of starting the computer with your Windows PE CD. When you run DiskPart from a full Windows Server 2003 operating system, DiskPart cannot assign a drive letter to an EFI partition. Instead, in step 3 of this procedure, use the mountvol command. To do this, type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
  mountvol /s EFI_Partition:
  For example, type the following:
  mountvol /s g:

For more information about Windows PE, visit the following Microsoft OEM Web site:For information about how to obtain Windows PE, visit the following Microsoft MSDN Web site.