Boot Windows PE from RAM Using a UFD (Standard 7 SP1)

7/8/2014

This walkthrough describes how to create a bootable Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) 3.0 RAM disk on a USB flash device (UFD). For information about the benefits and methods of booting from RAM, see Boot Windows PE from a RAM Disk.

Hardware and Software Assumptions

To complete this walkthrough, you must have the following:

• An x86-based or x64-based computer running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2003.
• A UFD with enough memory to store your Windows PE image and associated files, with at least 64 MB still available.

Step 1: Set up a Windows PE build environment

• Follow the instructions for setting up a build environment in Create a Windows PE Build Environment.

Step 2: Customize the Windows PE image

• Follow the instructions for customizing a Windows PE image in Create a Custom Windows PE Image.

Step 3: Prepare the UFD

1. From a computer running valid operating system or Windows PE session, insert your UFD.

2. At a command prompt, format the entire UFD as FAT32 by using DiskPart, and then set the partition as active.

   For information about using DiskPart, see DiskPart Command-Line Options.

   Consider the following example, where disk 1 is the UFD:

   Diskpart
   select disk 1
   clean
   create partition primary
   select partition 1
   active
   format quick fs=fat32
   assign
   exit
   

3. Copy the contents of the ISO directory to the UFD.

   Manually create the directory structure, or use the xcopy command to automatically build and copy the appropriate files.

   Consider the following example, in which C is the drive letter of the system drive on the source computer, and F is the drive letter for the UFD:

   xcopy c:\winpe_x86\iso\*.* /e f:\
   

See Also

Tasks

Boot Windows PE from RAM Using a CD
Boot Windows PE from RAM Using a Hard Disk Drive