BartPE Setup, Configuration, and Use

Show Sponsor:

Show #69:

• Date: 2007-02-12
• Subject: BartPE Setup, Configuration, and Use
• Duration: 32:17
• Format: MP3
• Size: 13,604 kb

Topics Discussed:

• My Comments
• BartPE with SafeBoot support
• What is BartPE
• Before BartPE
• Windows PE
• BartPE considerations
• Licensing issues
• How to make a BartPE CD
• How to make a BartPE USB Thumb Drive
• Links

Additional Information:

~~ What is BartPE

BartPE (Bart Preinstallation Environment) is software solution that creates a Windows environment on a CD. The main advantage is that it uses Windows drivers and can have a Windows-like graphical user interface.

~~ Before BartPE

Previously the MS-DOS network boot disk was used very frequently by any computer users. With a DOS boot disk, you could partition and format hard disks, perform unattended installs, fix corrupt files on NTFS volumes, and solve various problems that might occur on your computers. Windows 2000 provided a new program called the Recovery Console that allowed a very easy way to repair your system from the command line. The DOS disk was still used a lot though for solving issues or taking ghosts images, etc. Boot disks do have one flaw though in that their storage size is quite limited.

~~ Windows PE

The Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) gets around this problem by providing you a nice replacement for DOS boot disks. Windows PE is basically a bootable CD that contains a minimal version of either Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. Inside this Windows PE environment you can partition and format disks, access network shares, and run Setup to install Windows, etc. Windows PE also includes powerful scripting capabilities that work with batch scripts and Windows Script Host scripts that allow you to automate the preparation of systems for installing Windows. Unfortunately Windows PE has one big problem in that you need to have an Enterprise Agreement (EA) or Software Assurance Membership (SAM) with Microsoft in order to get it. Merely having an Open or Select licensing agreement is not enough.

~~ BartPE considerations

There is only solution though that can work for you then to give a Windows PE type environment. That is Barts Preinstalled Environment (BartPE), developed by Bart Legerweij from the Netherlands. BartPE is basically a minimal Windows 32 GUI environment on a bootable CD.

You do need to note a few things:

• BartPE is not supported by Microsoft in any way.
• BartPE has Windows licensing issues.
• BartPE is not a replacement for Windows and has limitations while inside it. It is just used to help fix Windows and other problems.

Despite the above limitations, BartPE is very powerful and in some ways better than Windows PE. For instance:

• BartPE has a configurable start menu where Windows PE only a command prompt.
• BartPE has the ability to build plug-ins so you can install additional programs within your environment.
• BartPE supports Windows XP Home Edition, Professional, and Server 2003.

Using BartPE and wide range of plug-ins, you can do things like test hardware that has no operating system installed, fix damaged files, scan your system for viruses, access network shares, remotely manage systems with Remote Desktop Connections or other programs like VNC, check disks and other hardware, partition and format disks, read and write files on NTFS volumes, and more.

~~ Licensing issues

In order to make a BartPE installation, your must have a properly licensed copy of the operating system. BartPE does not grant users who do not have a proper Windows XP/2003 license the right to use a BartPE installation.

Also, according to the Microsoft EULA for Windows XP/2003, a user may not simultaneously use more installations of these operating systems than the user has license(s) for. This also goes for BartPE and basically means that the user may not use, for instance, a single license installation on one computer while simultaneously using a BartPE installation (created using that license) on another computer.

~~ How to make a BartPE CD

01) Copy up the Windows I386 (Or put in CD)
02) Download latest BartPE software ( http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ )
03) Install. Puts into C:\pebuilder
04) Start Application and configure basic options (Source, Custom Files, Output, Media Output)
05) Click Plugins and select which plugins you want to use (read help files)
06) Click Build (if any errors click < > arrows to fix)
07) Use VMWare Player to test your build
08) Make adjustments as needed
09) Burn final ISO

~~ How to make a BartPE USB Thumb Drive

01) Copy up the Windows I386 (Or put in CD)
02) Download latest BartPE software ( http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ )
03) Install. Puts into C:\pebuilder
04) Start Application and configure basic options (Source, Custom Files, Output, Media Output)
05) Click Plugins and select which plugins you want to use (read help files)
06) Click Build (if any errors click < > arrows to fix)
07) Use VMWare Player to test your build
08) Make adjustments as needed
09) Make a Bootable USB stick
10) Run Pe2USB command in C:\pebuilder

~~ Links

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
http://www.911cd.net/forums/
http://www.bootcd.us/BartPE_Plugins_Repository.php
http://www.bcdwb.de/BartPE/BartPE_Plugins_e.html
http://gocoding.com/page.php?al=petousb
http://www.bootdisk.com/
http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/sa/benefits/winpe.mspx

....Back to Podcasts Archive....