Winpeshl.ini Reference

Applies To: Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2

Use the Winpeshl.ini file in Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) to replace the default command prompt with a shell application or other app. For example, your shell app might provide a GUI for deployment engineers to choose a method of installing Windows.

To add a customized app, create a file named Winpeshl.ini and place it in %SYSTEMROOT%\System32 a customized Windows PE image. For more information, see WinPE: Mount and Customize.

Example

[LaunchApp]
AppPath = %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Fabrikam\shell.exe
[LaunchApps]
%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Fabrikam\app1.exe
%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Fabrikam\app2.exe, /s "C:\Program Files\App3"

The Wpeshl.ini file may have either or both of the sections: [LaunchApp] and [LaunchApps]. The apps listed in [LaunchApp] and [LaunchApps] run in order of appearance, and don’t start until the previous app has terminated.

LaunchApp

Set the AppPath entry to the path to your app. You can use a fully qualified path, or you can include environment variables, such as %SYSTEMDRIVE% to describe the path.

Note

The [LaunchApp] entry may only include one app.

You can’t specify a command that is greater than 250 characters.

You can’t specifiy any command-line options with LaunchApp.

LaunchApps

Use the [LaunchApps] section to run apps with command-line options.

Note

LaunchApps supports running apps, but does not support common scripting commands. To run commands, add a startup script instead (startnet.cmd). For more information, see WinPE: Mount and Customize.

You can’t specify a command that is greater than 250 characters.

To add command-line options to an app: add a comma (,) after the app name: %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Fabrikam\app2.exe,<option>

See Also

Concepts

WinPE: Debug Apps

Other Resources

WinPE for Windows 8: Windows PE 5.0