Creating a WinPE USB Drive: Fixing System Boot Issues

Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) is a lightweight version of Windows, offering limited features that make it incredibly useful for system recovery, deployment, and maintenance tasks. This guide will walk you through the process of setting up your own “WinPE USB Drive: Fixing System Boot Issues”. Please see the fix for “Windows PE working for Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022, How to uninstall and upgrade ADK, WinPE, and MDT, and How to create a Windows 11 Bootable USB drive.

Whether you’re looking to troubleshoot a system that refuses to boot, or you need to deploy Windows across multiple machines, creating a bootable WinPE USB drive can be a lifesaver.

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Why Create a WinPE USB Drive?

Having a WinPE USB drive on hand is like having a Swiss Army knife for Windows maintenance and recovery. Here’s why it’s beneficial:

• System Boot Issues: If your system fails to boot, you can use the WinPE USB to access recovery tools and fix bootloader configurations.

• OS Deployment: Deploy Windows on multiple machines efficiently, especially useful in corporate settings.

• Data Recovery: Recover data from unbootable systems, especially after a crash or malware attack.

• System Image Restoration: Restore your OS from a previously created image backup.

• Automated Recovery Tools: Set up automated recovery processes to streamline system fixes.

• Disk Management: Prepare hard drives for OS installation by partitioning and formatting them.

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Step 1: Download and Install Windows PE

To get started with creating a WinPE USB drive, you’ll first need to download and install the necessary tools.

Head over to the Microsoft website and download the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) and Windows PE add-on for the Windows ADK for Windows 10/11.

Once the download is complete, run the installer. Choose the option to  “Install the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit – Windows 10 to this computer“, then click Next.

On the following page click Next. Then click Accept to agree to the terms and proceed.

Select required features, ensure that both Deployment Tools and Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) are selected. Then, click Install.

Wait for the installation process to finish. Once done, click Close.

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Step 2: Create a Bootable WinPE Media

With the Windows ADK installed, you’re now ready to create your WinPE USB drive.

Open the Start menu, go to the Windows Kits folder. Right-click on Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment and select More > Run as administrator.

In the command prompt that opens, type the following command to create a working directory for your WinPE files. Replace F:\ with the drive letter where you want to create the WinPE files:

   copype amd64 C:\WinPEx64

Tip: If you’re using a 32-bit version of Windows, replace amd64 with x86.

Insert your USB flash drive and note its drive letter.

Run the following command, replacing C:\WinPEx64 with the path to your WinPE files, and E: with the drive letter of your USB flash drive:

   MakeWinPEMedia /UFD D:\WinPEx64 I:

Important: The USB drive will be formatted, so make sure you have backed up any important data before proceeding.

Create a WinPE ISO (Optional): If you prefer to create a bootable ISO file instead of a USB drive, change the /UFD switch to /ISO and specify the path and filename for the ISO file:

   MakeWinPEMedia /ISO D:\WinPEx64 F:\WPE64.iso

This will create an ISO file that you can later burn to a DVD or use with virtualisation software.

Please see How to deploy MBAM Client as part of a Windows Deployment, and the “Workaround and Permanent fix for this snap-in performed a non-valid operation and has been unloaded: To continue using this snap-in restart MMC or try loading the snap-in again“.

Fix System Boot Issues

If you’re having trouble booting into Windows, follow these steps to fix the issue using a WinPE USB drive:

Turn off your computer and insert the WinPE USB drive.

Hold down the Shift key while turning on your PC. Keep holding Shift until the Windows Advanced Start Options menu appears.

Select “Use a Device” from the Advanced Start Options menu.

On the following page, choose EFI USB Device.

Your computer will restart and guide you through the process.

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Conclusion

And there you have it, a fully functional WinPE USB drive that you can use to tackle system boot issues, perform data recovery, or deploy Windows across multiple machines.

WinPE is a powerful tool that can save the day when your system is in trouble, so it’s well worth the time to set up.

I hope you found this article useful on “Creating a WinPE USB Drive: Fixing System Boot Issues.” Please feel free to leave a comment below.