Is BMB created WinPE bootable media generic?

Is the WinPE media created with BMB able to boot many different hardware configs or is it specific to the PC it was originally created with?

 

Boot MB uses WAIK or WADK. So, in principle the WinPEs created with it are not specific to the PC in which they are created, and can be used in others.

But -- in each case it´s necessary to check. With Boot MB for HDM 14, I found strange problems in a WinPE 5.0 built in a Windows 7 computer. The problems disappeared when I built it in a Windows 8.1 machine.

 

To be clear, the initial media was built with Win 7, that didn't work, you then built with Win 8.1, and that did work. Do I have that right? If so, WTF!

 

As I wrote in another topic:

“What surprised me was that the WinPE image created with BMB 14 on the 64b Win7 could be successfully used on the old 32b WinXP!“

So, to me the BMB created WinPE seems to be EXTREMELY generic....

 

Yes. But that´s not because BMB is "special", but because WAIK and WADK are generic. The same happens with the WinPEs built in the same way with other imaging programs. I usually create the WinPEs in a Windows 7 machine, not only WinPE 3.0 but also 4.0 o 5.0, and they work well in Windows 7 or 8.1.

Only with BMB for HDM 14 and WADK for Windows 8.1 I have found some problems, as noted above.

Another new thing I found in HDM 14 is this: I use localized (non English) Windows versions, and also the localized versions of WAIK and WADK. But to build a WinPE 3.0 in the Windows 7 machine using MBM for HDM 14 and WAIK, I have to use WAIK in English. It doesn´t work with the localized WAIK.

 

Would someone please clue me in on the main differences between WinPE 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0

And how do you build with different versions?

 

WinPE 3.0/3.1 - based on Windows 7/7 SP1 - built using WAIK.
WinPE 4.0 - based on Windows 8 - built using WADK for Windows 8.
WinPE 5.0 - based on Windows 8.1 - built using WADK for Windows 8.1.

 

Hi Robin,

If you are using 64 bit win7/8x and you have installed the BMB, you can try this new pemaker I did, download from dropbox :

UPDATED TO v14 A https://www.dropbox.com/s/odrrpn430kkwudu/PARPEx64v14A.zip


Unzip it onto the root of your drive and run as admin on the .cmd file. It uses winre.wim from the os you are running it in. WAIK/WADK not required.

 

How does it compare to WAIK/WADK for creating a generic boot disk? What are the advantages of your PEMaker?

 

It will include the windows repair/recovery options and several other tools. Much better than the standard one created by BMB.

Here is one made on 8.1 x64. Press ctrl+alt+r for windows recov , ctrl+alt+e to get back to the menu. You can include 2 Paragons if you like. They will be there as PAR1 and PAR2 on the menu. You must have the Paragon Boot Media Builder installed to include paragon programs.

If you don't have paragon BMB, you can still make the pe, but obviously paragon won't be included. Even then it is still better than the regular windows repair cd.

 

I tried the pemaker in a laptop with Win 8.1 and BMB for HDM 14 installed. At the beginning there appeared some warning or error messages, but I couldn´t read them. I selected to create an ISO and the process apparently finished successfully.

But then I couldn´t find the ISO. I was working from a USB flash drive. I searched for the ISO in C: and in the flash drive, but it wasn´t there.

Recovery MB can´t create an ISO in 8.1 (it can only "burn" directly the medium). Can pemaker do it?

 

You need to extract the .zip to the root of the windows drive eg. C: .It needs to find winre.wim.Yes. it does create an .iso

You might want to turn off windows defender, it spends so long examining the files, it is liable to give up.

Let me know how you get on. Thanks for trying it out.

 

I am making similar to create 32 bit pe. Anybody running 64 bit windows might want to do that if they want to include paragon programs for which they don't have BMB, eg. the free versions.

Anybody running 32 bit windows will also need it.

 

I extracted the zip to the root of C: and installed BMB. Warnings/errors at the beginning. When I try to include HDM, an error message: "Wndows can´t find the file BIN\wincmd ..." I checked and the file WinCMD.exe is in C:\BIN.

Also, winre.wim is not in C:. Can this be the source of the errors? Winre.wim is in the (hidden) WINRETOOLS partition: Recovery\windowsre\Winre.wim. Isn´t this the default location?

This computer was "upgraded" from 8 to 8.1. So, there are two WINRETOOLS partitions, one for 8 and one for 8.1. The second (which doesn´t have a label) was created during the upgrade process. Each has the corresponding Winre.wim.

 

If you have the BMB for HDM14 SUITE or PRO, you shouldn't need to browse with wincmd. They should be found automatically

Code:

IF EXIST "%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Program Files (x86) \Paragon Software\Boot Media Builder for Hard Disk Manager 12 Suite\bmb\WinPE\winpe_custom_X64\Programs\Paragon Software\program\launcher.exe" (
 SET exepath="%systemdrive%\Program Files (x86)\Paragon Software\Boot Media Builder for Hard Disk Manager 12 Suite\bmb\WinPE\winpe_custom_X64\Programs\Paragon Software\program\launcher.exe"
 GOTO BMBDIR1
 )

IF EXIST "%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Program Files (x86)\Paragon Software\Boot Media Builder for Hard Disk Manager 12 Professional\bmb\WinPE\winpe_custom_X64\Programs\Paragon Software\program\launcher.exe" (
 SET exepath="%systemdrive%\Program Files(x86) \Paragon Software\Boot Media Builder for Hard Disk Manager 12 Professional\bmb\WinPE\winpe_custom_X64\Programs\Paragon Software\program\launcher.exe"
 GOTO BMBDIR1
 )

IF EXIST "%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Program Files (x86)\Paragon Software\Boot Media Builder for Hard Disk Manager 14 Suite\bmb\WinPE\winpe_custom_X64\Programs\Paragon Software\program\launcher.exe" (
 SET exepath="%systemdrive%\Program Files (x86)\Paragon Software\Boot Media Builder for Hard Disk Manager 14 Suite\bmb\WinPE\winpe_custom_X64\Programs\Paragon Software\program\launcher.exe"
 GOTO BMBDIR1
 )

IF EXIST "%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Program Files (x86)\Paragon Software\Boot Media Builder for Hard Disk Manager 14 Professional\bmb\WinPE\winpe_custom_X64\Programs\Paragon Software\program\launcher.exe" (
 SET exepath="%systemdrive%\Program Files (x86)\Paragon Software\Boot Media Builder for Hard Disk Manager 14 Professional\bmb\WinPE\winpe_custom_X64\Programs\Paragon Software\program\launcher.exe"
 GOTO BMBDIR1
 )

That shouldn't matter, it is looking at the bcd recovery sequence to find winre.wim.

Code:

echo Looking for  Winre...
(set WREGUID=)
for /f "usebackq tokens=1,2 delims={} " %%G in (`bcdedit.exe /enum {[B]current[/B]} ^| find "recoverysequence"`) do set WREGUID=%%H

Of course, if the recovery sequence is not working, that may be an issue.


Try a folder called e.g. parpe on c: and put the bin folder and the .cmd in there. See if that helps. Win8x is a pain about permissions.

 

This is very cool. I will try to test. What programming language are you using to write your version of the WinPE maker?

 

@Robin,

Thanks for the report.

I think it should be fixed in this new version:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k3biba6k94g7tpq/PPEx64-V14.zip

Unzip it onto your drive:

 

I tried the new version in the Windows 8.1 computer. No errors. I created the ISO and "burned" a USB key using Rufus (my normal procedure). The USB booted in UEFI mode with Secure Boot enabled, no problem.

However, HDM opened directly in the Full Scale Launcher. No way to go to the tiled interface. This means that some functions are not available: Load Drivers, Boot Corrector, P2P Adjust.

 

Thanks Robin.

If you want the little squares, then you can remove these three lines from BIN\pm64excludelist.txt

 

@SIW2,

I think these functions can be useful, although I normally don´t use them.

I also wanted to check how fast was to go from the "squares" to the Wizards, because in previous tests with HDM 14 WinPEs, I have found it to be slow in these operations. Also very slow when creating images in my external USB disks.

Because of this, I am using HDM 14 from the Linux boot medium, which doesn´have these problems. A recent comparison:

Linux: 14.8 GB image, 7: 24 min. to create it.
WinPE 5.0: 13.9 GB image, 12:30 min.

 

That is a huge difference!

 

To clarify:

This is not necessarily a problem of HDM 14. I think it´s a problem of the Windows 8.1 USB 3.0 drivers, and, possibly, also of changes done in 8.1 to the USB system, that affect some external disks.

Other examples in the same laptop with Win 8.1, USB 3.0 external disks connected to USB 3.0 ports:

WinPE 5.0, Terabyte IFW 2.86: 14 GB image, 15:30 min. to create it.
WinPE 4.0, Macrium 5.2. 6944: 15.8 GB, 11:38 min.

 

Did you test WinPE 3.x with the USB 3.0 drivers added?

 

In the Windows 7 x64 machines that I use, WinPEs 3.0 with Renesas USB 3.0 drivers added work much faster than WinPEs 4.0/5.0 with the Windows 8/8.1 drivers.

 

Is there a method to add the drivers so they are automatically part of the WinPE bootup process or do they need to be added manually during the boot-up?