Deploying XPe without using WINpe

[Jason]

Hello,
I'm currently deployed my XPe image on a bootable WinPE CD.


Is this the way I have to go? Could I use some other method to create and
deploy my image such as Power Quest or someother 3rd party? Would that
method cause me to violate some MS licensing agreement would it?

 

[Sean Liming \(eMVP\)]

Using another transfer method doesn't violate license agreement. There are
other solutions:

1. Winternal's Remote Recover (www.winternals.com) - pricy solution, but it
works. Remoto Recover allows the remote hard drive to be remotely mounted to
the devleopment machine over the network. Once connected, the remote hard
drive can be partitioned, formatted, and the image can be copied over.
2. Hard drive swap - remove the hard drive, place in development system,
prep disk, transfer image, and into hard drive back in to the client.

Regards,

Sean Liming
www.sjjmicro.com / www.seanliming.com
XP Embedded Book Author - XP Embedded Advanced, XP Embedded Supplemental
Toolkit

 

[DPM]

Hello,
I'm currently deployed my XPe image on a bootable WinPE CD.


Is this the way I have to go? Could I use some other method to create and
deploy my image such as Power Quest or someother 3rd party? Would that
method cause me to violate some MS licensing agreement would it?

After FBA is complete, copy entire target C: to a server. Then, to
initialize a target:
1. Boot WinPE with a CD;
2. Use DISKPART and FORMAT to prep disk;
3. Use NET USE to define a network drive that points to the root folder of
the copied C: image on the server;
4. Use XCOPY to copy the entire image to the target's C:.

If you get the WinPE development kit, you can build a custom version that
will execute steps 2-4 above without user intervention - great for use by
minimally trained production personnel.

The real beauty of this method is that you can fiddle with the XPe image on
the server, if necessary, without going through the entire development
process. In my case, I'm constantly updating the application software (the
actual XPe stuff remains unchanged). This avoids the hassle of constantly
building bootable CDs.

Regards,
Dean

 

[Heidi Linda]

After FBA is complete, copy entire target C: to a server. Then, to
initialize a target:
1. Boot WinPE with a CD;
2. Use DISKPART and FORMAT to prep disk;
3. Use NET USE to define a network drive that points to the root folder of
the copied C: image on the server;
4. Use XCOPY to copy the entire image to the target's C:.

If you get the WinPE development kit, you can build a custom version that
will execute steps 2-4 above without user intervention - great for use by
minimally trained production personnel.

The real beauty of this method is that you can fiddle with the XPe image on
the server, if necessary, without going through the entire development
process. In my case, I'm constantly updating the application software (the
actual XPe stuff remains unchanged). This avoids the hassle of constantly
building bootable CDs.

Regards,
Dean

This is much what we do, except we use a custom XPe image for the PXe,
which does it all automatically.

 

[Sean Liming \(eMVP\)]

Another alternative with Feature Pack 2007 anounce today on the XPe team
blog is the ability to boot an XPe image from a USB device!!! Boot the
system to a generic USB drive and transfer the iamge.

Regards,

Sean Liming
www.sjjmicro.com / www.seanliming.com
XP Embedded Book Author - XP Embedded Advanced, XP Embedded Supplemental
Toolkit

 

[Adora Belle Dearheart]

Another alternative with Feature Pack 2007 anounce today on the XPe team
blog is the ability to boot an XPe image from a USB device!!! Boot the
system to a generic USB drive and transfer the iamge.

Another very useful function, and one I'm certainly looking forward to
playing with... though I don't have a USB stick big enough for our
current images.

 

[Sean Liming \(eMVP\)]

How about create a small bootable image that supports partitioning and
formating the target drive and can share the target drive over the
network.You can then download the final image to the share.

Of course, the target needs to support USB 2.0 boot.

Regards,

Sean Liming
www.sjjmicro.com / www.seanliming.com
XP Embedded Book Author - XP Embedded Advanced, XP Embedded Supplemental
Toolkit

 

[Adora Belle Dearheart]

How about create a small bootable image that supports partitioning and
formating the target drive and can share the target drive over the
network.You can then download the final image to the share.

Of course, the target needs to support USB 2.0 boot.

I already have an image that does that, actually. Most of the targets
barely support IDE boot, though.