![]() Windows PE 10.0 (based on Windows 11), showing Windows Command Prompt, Registry Editor and Windows Task Manager | |
Developer | Microsoft |
---|---|
Source model | |
Released to manufacturing | 2002 |
Latest release | 10.0.25398.1 / September 25, 2023 |
Kernel type | Hybrid |
License | Freeware |
Official website | learn |
Windows Preinstallation Environment (also known as Windows PE and WinPE) is a lightweight version of Windows used for the deployment of PCs, workstations, and servers, or troubleshooting an operating system while it is offline. It is intended to replace MS-DOS boot disks and can be booted via USB flash drive, PXE, iPXE, [1] CD, DVD, or hard disk. Traditionally used by large corporations and OEMs (to preinstall Windows client operating systems on PCs during manufacturing), it is now widely available free of charge via Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (WADK) (formerly Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK)).
WinPE was originally intended to be used only as a pre-installation platform for deploying Microsoft Windows operating systems, specifically to replace MS-DOS in this respect. WinPE has the following uses:
The package can be used for developer testing or as a recovery CD/DVD for system administrators. Many customized WinPE boot CDs packaged with third-party applications for different uses are now available from volunteers via the Internet. The package can also be used as the base of a forensics investigation to either capture a disk image or run analysis tools without mounting any available disks and thus changing state. [2]
Version 2.0 introduced a number of improvements [3] and extended the availability of WinPE to all customers, not just corporate enterprise customers by downloading and installing Microsoft's Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK).
It was originally designed and built by a small team of engineers in Microsoft's Windows Deployment team, including Vijay Jayaseelan, Ryan Burkhardt, and Richard Bond. [4]
The following versions are known to exist:
Version | Description |
---|---|
1.0 | The first release of Windows Preinstallation Environment, built from Windows XP RTM [5] |
1.1 | Built from Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 1 [5] |
1.2 | Built from Windows Server 2003 RTM [5] |
1.5 | Called Windows PE 2004; built from Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 [5] |
1.6 | Called Windows PE 2005; built from Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 [5] |
2.0 [6] [7] | Built from the first edition of Windows Vista. This version differs from the other versions since it doesn't need the disc to load all the files.[ citation needed ] This means that the download is now 992 MB in size instead of 60 MB from the previous versions. It's possible to modify the default startup disc to have access to a few plug-ins like Windows Management Instrumentation, Windows Scripting Host, additional drivers and other 32-bit applications (or 64-bit applications for 64-bit versions). Other new features include the capability for a rewritable RAM disk since WinPE version 1.x only has a recordable RAM disk. |
2.1 [8] | Built from Windows Server 2008 |
2.2 | Built from Windows Server 2008 SP2 [5] |
3.0 [9] | Built from Windows 7 code base. It is included in WAIK 2.0. [5] |
3.1 [10] | Built from Windows 7 SP1 code base. It is included in a WAIK supplementary update provided by Microsoft. |
4.0 [11] | Built from Windows 8 code base. It is included in WADK for Windows 8. |
5.0 [12] [13] | Built from Windows 8.1 code base. It is included in Windows ADK for Windows 8.1. |
5.1 [14] [13] | It is an update for version 5.0 that is applied manually. [15] |
10.0.10240.16384 | Built from Windows 10, version 1507 code base. It is included in Windows ADK for Windows 10, version 1507. [16] [17] |
10.0.10586.0 | Built from Windows 10, version 1511 code base. It is included in Windows ADK for Windows 10, version 1511. [18] |
10.0.14393.0 | Built from Windows 10, version 1607 code base. It is included in Windows ADK for Windows 10, version 1607. [19] |
10.0.15063.0 | Built from Windows 10, version 1703 code base. |
10.0.16299.15 | Built from Windows 10, version 1709 code base. |
10.0.17134.1 | Built from Windows 10, version 1803 code base. |
10.0.17763.0 | Built from Windows 10, version 1809 code base. |
10.0.18362.1 | Built from Windows 10, version 1903 code base. |
10.0.19041.1 | Built from Windows 10, version 2004 code base. |
10.0.20348.1 | Built from Windows Server 2022 code base. |
10.0.22000.1 | Built from Windows 11, version 21H2 code base. |
10.0.22621.1 [20] | Built from Windows 11, version 22H2 code base. |
10.0.25398.1 [21] | Built from Windows Server, version 23H2 code base, and updated in September 2023. |
Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is a set of tools based on Windows PE to help diagnose and recover from serious errors which may be preventing Windows from booting successfully. Windows RE is installed alongside Windows Vista and later, and may be booted from hard disks, optical media (such as an operating system installation disc) and PXE (e.g. Windows Deployment Services). [22] A copy of Windows RE is included in the installation media of the aforementioned operating systems. It is a successor to the Recovery Console.
Windows RE features include:
startrep.exe
memtest.exe
instead of loading the operating system. memtest.exe
cannot be run inside Windows.sfc /scannow
) against an offline Windows installation and repair missing or corrupt files. Tools like robocopy
, diskpart
and DISM
can be used to perform various system tasks like recovering or backing up files, managing partitions, and fix servicing-related issues respectively. [24] In order to use the command prompt, the user must sign into an administrator account.Starting with Windows Server 2012/Windows 8, the following additional options are added:
Windows 10 adds the following:
Volumes encrypted with Bitlocker can be mounted if a recovery key is available.
Windows Recovery Environment can also be installed to a hard drive partition by OEMs, [27] and customized with additional tools such as a separate system recovery tool for restoring the computer back to its original state. [28] As of Windows Vista SP1, users can create their own bootable CD containing the recovery environment.
Developer(s) | Microsoft |
---|---|
Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
Type | Command |
Website | docs |
Windows includes the REAgentC
command which is used to configure a Windows RE boot image and a push-button reset recovery image. It allows administration of recovery options and various customizations. The REAgentC
tool can either be used on an offline Windows image or on a running Windows system. [29] The command requires administrator privileges. [30]
Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT), sold as a part of Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, is yet another toolset based on Windows PE that performs diagnostic and recovery on an offline copy of Windows. It can manage files, edit Windows Registry, uninstall previously installed Windows updates, scan system for malware and restore deleted files. There is currently no Windows 11 version of Microsoft DaRT. It is currently unknown if there will be a DaRT11, or that DaRT will just stay on Windows 10.
GHOST, now Symantec™ GHOST Solution Suite (GSS) for enterprise, is a disk cloning and backup tool originally developed by Murray Haszard in 1995 for Binary Research. The technology was acquired in 1998 by Symantec.
System Restore is a feature in Microsoft Windows that allows the user to revert their computer's state to that of a previous point in time, which can be used to recover from system malfunctions or other problems. First included in Windows Me, it has been included in all following desktop versions of Windows released since, excluding Windows Server. In Windows 10, System Restore is turned off by default and must be enabled by users in order to function. This does not affect personal files such as documents, music, pictures, and videos.
In computing, data recovery is a process of retrieving deleted, inaccessible, lost, corrupted, damaged, or formatted data from secondary storage, removable media or files, when the data stored in them cannot be accessed in a usual way. The data is most often salvaged from storage media such as internal or external hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), USB flash drives, magnetic tapes, CDs, DVDs, RAID subsystems, and other electronic devices. Recovery may be required due to physical damage to the storage devices or logical damage to the file system that prevents it from being mounted by the host operating system (OS).
BartPE is a discontinued tool that customizes Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 into a lightweight environment, similar to Windows Preinstallation Environment, which could be run from a Live CD or Live USB drive. A BartPE system image is created using PE Builder, a freeware program created by Bart Lagerweij.
Sysprep is Microsoft's System Preparation Tool for Microsoft Windows operating system deployment.
System File Checker (SFC) is a utility in Microsoft Windows that allows users to scan for and restore corrupted Windows system files.
The Windows Imaging Format (WIM) is a file-based disk image format. It was developed by Microsoft to help deploy Windows Vista and subsequent versions of the Windows operating system family, as well as Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs.
The terms Recovery disc, Rescue Disk/Disc and Emergency Disk all refer to a capability to boot from an external device, possibly a thumb drive, that includes a self-running operating system: the ability to be a boot disk/Disc that runs independent of an internal hard drive that may be failing, or for some other reason is not the operating system to be run.
RIS, Remote Installation Services is a Microsoft-supplied server that allows PXE BIOS-enabled computers to remotely execute boot environment variables.
WinBuilder is a free application designed to build and customize boot disks based on Microsoft Windows (WinPE).
Windows Vista contains a range of new technologies and features that are intended to help network administrators and power users better manage their systems. Notable changes include a complete replacement of both the Windows Setup and the Windows startup processes, completely rewritten deployment mechanisms, new diagnostic and health monitoring tools such as random access memory diagnostic program, support for per-application Remote Desktop sessions, a completely new Task Scheduler, and a range of new Group Policy settings covering many of the features new to Windows Vista. Subsystem for UNIX Applications, which provides a POSIX-compatible environment is also introduced.
Windows Deployment Services (WDS) is a deprecated component of the Windows Server operating system that enables centralized, network-based deployment of operating systems to bare-metal computers. It is the successor to Remote Installation Services (RIS). WDS officially supports remote deployment of Windows Vista and later, as well as Windows Server 2008 and later. However, because WDS uses disk imaging, in particular the Windows Imaging Format (WIM), it could deploy virtually any operating system. This is in contrast with its predecessor, RIS, which was a method of automating the installation process.
Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) is a suite of utilities for Microsoft Windows customers who have subscribed to Microsoft Software Assurance program. It aims at bringing easier manageability and monitoring of enterprise desktops, emergency recovery, desktop virtualization and application virtualization.
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit is a free software package from Microsoft for automating the deployment of Windows 10, Server 2019 and older Windows Server and desktop operating systems.
EasyBCD is a program developed by NeoSmart Technologies to configure and tweak the Boot Configuration Data (BCD), a boot database first introduced in Windows Vista and used in all subsequent Windows releases. EasyBCD can be used to set up multi-boot environments for computers on which some versions of Windows, Linux, BSD and Mac OS X can be simultaneously installed; EasyBCD can also be used for adding entries to bootable tools and utilities, as well as modifying and controlling the behavior of the Windows boot menu. EasyBCD 2.3 introduced additional support for creating and managing entries for UEFI-based Windows entries in the boot menu. As of June 20, 2011 with the release of EasyBCD 2.1, it is no longer free for use in commercial environments which require the purchase of a paid license, however it remains free for home and non-profit use without limitations.
Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit, formerly Windows Automated Installation Kit, is a collection of tools and technologies produced by Microsoft designed to help deploy Microsoft Windows operating system images to target computers or to a virtual hard disk image in VHD format. It was first introduced with Windows Vista. WAIK is a required component of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.
A System Deployment Image is a file format used primarily with Microsoft products to contain an arbitrary disk image, including boot sector information.
Windows Setup is an installer that prepares a computer for a Microsoft Windows installation by allowing the user to pick installation settings and copying the files to the drive.
In computing, diskpart
is a command-line disk partitioning utility included in Windows 2000 and later Microsoft operating systems, replacing its predecessor, fdisk. The command is also available in ReactOS.
The booting process of Windows NT Setup before Vista works very similarly to the one of a regular Windows NT boot except that it runs from a CD-ROM. For this boot method to work, the BIOS must be compatible with the El Torito specification. The ISO 9660 file system on the install CD is not fully compatible with the standard. Although it is "Level 1", the file names don't have the file version appended to them. The boot image is of the "no emulation" type, 1 sector long and is loaded at segment 0x7c0. It can be extracted from an ISO image by using a file-extraction program such as 7-Zip or WinZip. The ISO image is also not hybridized like ISO images from most Linux distributions and therefore it does not contain any master boot record (MBR) which makes it unable to boot by just copying the image over a block device such as a pen drive.
Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) 2.0 is a minimal Win32 operating system with limited services, built on the Windows Vista kernel.
Windows® Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) 3.0 is a minimal Win32® operating system with limited services, built on the Windows® 7 kernel.
(WinPE) Windows PE 5.0 (WinPE) is a small operating system used to install, deploy, and repair Windows 8, Windows Server 2012 R2, and other Windows operating systems.
WinPE for Windows 8.1: Windows PE 5.1