Add an Update to a Windows PE Image

The following procedure demonstrates how to use PEImg to add a Windows PE update to a Windows PE image offline. Most hotfixes from Windows Update do not apply to Windows PE because of the following reasons:

  • Windows PE is a small subset of the Windows operating system.
  • Windows PE runs very few services.
  • Windows PE usually runs on a read-only file system.

Before you can run any PEImg command, you must first apply or mount the Windows PE image by using ImageX. Windows PE provides a base image (Winpe.wim) that you can customize.

For an example of how to build custom Windows PE images, see Windows PE Walkthroughs.

To add a Windows PE update to a Windows PE image offline

  1. Apply the base image (Winpe.wim) by using ImageX to a local Windows PE directory. For example,

    imagex /apply WinPE.wim 1 c:\winpe_x86\mount\
    

    -OR-

    imagex /mountrw WinPE.wim 1 c:\winpe_x86\mount\
    
  2. Add an update to the base image by using the peimg /import command. For example,

    peimg /import=<path> c:\winpe_x86\mount\Windows
    

    Where <path> is location of the update.

  3. Determine the name of the update by using the peimg /list command. For example,

    peimg /list
    
  4. Add the update to the base image by using the peimg /install command. For example,

    peimg /install=<updatename> c:\winpe_x86\mount\Windows
    
  5. Repeat for each additional update.
    When you finish customizing the image, prepare the image for deployment by using the peimg /prep command.

After the image is prepared, you can burn the image to media. First, recapture or commit the local Windows PE directory to a .wim by using ImageX, create an .iso file by using one of the provided tools, and then burn the .iso file to the appropriate media.

See Also

Concepts

PEImg Command-Line Options