I originally posted the How to build PE 2.0 instructions more than 2 years ago and now that Microsoft has released the Beta WAIK for Windows 7 I have decided to get everyone updated. I am not sure how many people still need to know these commands but I hope they can help someone out. I still start the same way by creating batch files from these commands so that I control everything. Winbuilder is awesome but I just cant bring myself to use an application to do my work for me

I have posted this at OS Attack and will continue to post additional PE information there. While I no longer work for Geek Squad creating their Windows PE I still work with it for fun. If anyone has any questions or wants to know something I can try to help you out.

Working with Windows PE 3.0

This is a list of commands for the new Windows PE 3.0 based on Windows 7. There have been many changes to PE including the addition of a new application called DISM.exe or the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool. ImageX can still be used for some commands such as mounting and unmounting the wim and more importantly compressing the wim. DISM does normal compression by default but does not have an option for you to change the compression level (that I am aware of).

At the time of writing this Windows PE 3.0 is still in the beta phase but is more than stable for typical usage. To create Windows PE you need to download and install the Windows Automated Installation Kit or WAIK. You can get this from Microsoft.

To start create a directory in “C:\” called “PE” so that it looks like “C:\PE”

You can then create batch files from the following commands by simply copying the text and pasting it into a notepad document then saving it according to the format “MountWIM.bat “. An important note with these commands is they must be executed as an administrator. If you are on either Windows Vista or Windows 7 you either have to elevate a command prompt or create batch files and then right click the file and select “Run as administrator”.

Create winpe_x86 directory in C:\PE (this WILL delete it if the directory already exists):



Mount the WIM image:



UnMount the WIM image commiting changes:



Add packages into your WIM, this can be edited to only add in what you need to reduce the size of the WIM:



Check what packages are installed:



UnMount the WIM image discarding changes:



Create Windows PE ISO:

Thank you very much

Ben