WinPE: Create USB Bootable drive

Updated: December 9, 2013

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

Create a Windows PE ﴾WinPE﴿ bootable USB flash drive or an external USB hard drive.

The default installation runs from memory ﴾RAM disk﴿, so you can remove the drive while Windows PE is running.

Install the Windows ADK

Install the following features from the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit ﴾Windows ADK﴿:

Deployment Tools: includes the Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment.

Windows Preinstallation Environment : includes the files used to install Windows PE.

Install Windows PE
1. Start the Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment as an administrator.

2. Create a working copy of the Windows PE files. Specify either x86, amd64, or arm:

copype amd64 C:\WinPE_amd64 

3. Install Windows PE to the USB flash drive, specifying the drive letter:

MakeWinPEMedia /UFD C:\WinPE_amd64 F: 

Warning

This command reformats the drive.

Boot to Windows PE
1. Connect the USB device to the PC you want to work on.

2. Turn on the PC, and press the key that opens the firmware boot menus.

3. Select the USB drive. Windows PE starts automatically.

After the command window appears, the wpeinit command runs, which sets up the system. This might take a
few minutes.

Troubleshooting
If the copype command isn't recognized, make sure you're running the command from the Deployment and
Imaging Tools Environment, which is part of the Windows ADK.

If Windows PE doesn't appear, try the following workarounds, rebooting the PC each time:

To boot a PC that supports UEFI mode, in the firmware boot menus, try manually selecting the boot
files: \EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI.

Try a different USB port. Avoid hubs or cables.

Avoid USB 3.0 ports if the firmware doesn't contain native support for USB 3.0.

Clean the USB flash drive, and then reinstall Windows PE. This can help remove extra boot partitions or
other boot software.

diskpart 
  list disk 
  select disk <disk number> 
  clean 
  create partition primary 
  format quick fs=fat32 label="Windows PE" 
  assign letter="F" 
  exit 

MakeWinPEMedia /UFD C:\winpe_amd64 F: 

Try booting Windows PE from a DVD instead. Create an ISO file that you can burn onto a DVD:

MakeWinPEMedia /ISO C:\winpe_amd64 c:\winpe_amd64\winpe.iso 
 In File Explorer, navigate to C:\winpe_amd64, right‐click winpe.iso, and select Burn to disc. Follow the
prompts to create a DVD.

If your PC requires storage or video drivers to boot, try adding those same drivers to the Windows PE
image. For more info, see WinPE: Mount and Customize.

Update the firmware of the PC to the latest version.

If the PC doesn't connect to network locations, see WinPE Network Drivers: Initializing and adding drivers.

Storing Windows Images on the Windows PE Drive

Typically you won't be able to store or capture Windows images on a Windows PE USB flash drive.

Most USB flash drives support only a single drive partition. The MakeWinPEMedia command formats the drive
as FAT32, which supports booting both BIOS‐based and UEFI‐based PCs. This file format only supports file sizes
up to 4 GB.

For external USB hard drives, you can create a separate NTFS partition that can handle larger file sizes:

diskpart 
  list disk 
  select <disk number> 
  clean 
  rem === Create the Windows PE partition. === 
  create partition primary size=2000 
  format quick fs=fat32 label="Windows PE" 
  assign letter=P 
  active 
  rem === Create a data partition. === 
  create partition primary 
  format fs=ntfs quick label="Other files" 
  assign letter=O 
  list vol 
  exit 

MakeWinPEMedia /UFD C:\WinPE_amd64 P: 

See Also
Tasks
WinPE: Create a Boot CD, DVD, ISO, or VHD
WinPE: Install on a Hard Drive ﴾Flat Boot or Non‐RAM﴿
WinPE: Mount and Customize
WinPE: Boot in UEFI or legacy BIOS mode

Reference
Reference
Windows Setup Supported Platforms and Cross‐Platform Deployments
Other Resources
WinPE for Windows 8: Windows PE 5.0

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