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What WinPE version / guide should I use?

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Hi,

I have the following 2 setups:

1. pc:  win7 x64, TI 2014

2. Notebook (Asus Zenbook): Win 8.1, TI 2016

 

I wish to produce a WinPE rescue disk for each that will enable access to local hard drives and Network shares.

(wireless connection on notebook)

 

For simplicity I would like a WinPE setup that will work on Win 10 as well (if that is possible).... but I can rebuild my rescue media after I move to win 10 if needed.

What are the recommended choices for WinPE build for each (preferably with a guide :) )?

 

Thanks for assistance - and also the tremendous amount of useful information posted by the community here...

 

 

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Please see the following:  

http://forum.acronis.com/forum/111208#comment-332581

http://forum.acronis.com/forum/111745#comment-332709

https://forum.acronis.com/forum/101736

Unfortunately, WinPE does not support wireless adapters (not just an Acronis WinPE issue - most default WinPE has this limitation).  Most likely, you'll have to rely on a NIC and if your system doesn't have one, grab a USB 3.0 to ethernet adapter and that should fill the gap cheaply and make things simple.  Many are available for around $10 - just be sure to get one that is usb 3.0 and gigabit ethernet for best transfer rates.  I'd recommend the following one (although a little more expensive) as it has some extra USB 3.0 ports in a non-powered hub:  http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-SuperSpeed-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B00E…

In anycase, as long as you have downloaded and installed the Windows ADK first (use the 5.0 link in my signature for Win7/8/8.1), Acronis will do the rest.  The default winpe media it creates will work with most systems (yours should be fine).  If you need to add custom drivers for newer PCIE NVME hard drives, latest intel nics or Raid controllers, you'll need to use Windows ADK to slipstream them in.  I'd suggest checking out the following if you need to do this (although you shouldn't with the systems you mention):

 

Add and Remove Drivers to an Offline Windows Image

 

DISM GUI - Home

 

In your case though, if you really need wireless, you can use WinPENetwork which is a portable app (does not need to be installed).  You can install on a local machine, copy the directory to a USB drive and launch it on it's own.  I have not tried it with Acronis WinPE media, but have used it with my own custom WinPE built from WinPESE.  I'd be curious to know how it goes, so if you do try it out, let us know. 

 

Thanks Bobbo.

 

EDIT: just to confirm, I will need to build a WinPE usb/disc for each of my computers based on WinPE drawing from the installed drivers and hardware at build time?

I've been reading some of Mustangs guides but wasn't clear which version of WinPE would be best. I'll go with 5.0 :) ... I figured 10 would be mainly for windows 10 (the MSDN site doesn't specify backward compatibility for different windows versions)?

My Mainboard is a Z97 chipset and has an intel NIC with Asmedia USB3, so I expect the default drivers *should* be ok since that is a very common configuration.

For my Zenbook I have a USB to ethernet adapter that came with it. I'll plug it in (never used it!) and see how it goes. Alternatively, if my image is small enough I'll just put it on the USB stick. 

For interests sake I will try WinPE Network and let you know how it turns out.

Not necessarily.  Acronis default winPE uses the native Windows drivers and will be the same regardless of the system the WinPE is made on.  It is possible that the generic WinPE will work on all of your systems without any trouble.

However, there may be times where the winPE will not have the correct drivers for certain hardware (primarily, RAID controllers, some hard drives and some network cards).  If your gernic Acronis winPE finds all of your devices, feel free to use the same on all of your systems.

If you find that one of your sytems, the WinPE does not find your hardware, then you may have to add the driver into it.  In most cases, that will fix the issue with that system and should not impact the other systems either.  If it does impact the other systems though, then keep one version of the WinPE for those and use the other for the other system.

Finally, if you're able to use the newer ADK (Win 10) to create your WinPE, you'll have better compatibility all around.  On Windows 7/8 systems acronis will default to the Win 5.0 ADK though.  So, if you have a Win 10 system, and can download the Win 10.0 ADK and create your WinPE there, you'll have better generic/default compatibiity in your WinPE for more types of hardware.  

I would advise you to install the latest Win 10.1 ADK on either your Win 7 or Win 8 system. It should be backwards compatible with either system. Then make the WinPE recovery media. It will be the same regardless of what system is used to create it. The latest drivers from Microsoft in the Win 10.1 ADK will give you the best chance of it seeing all your drives and network adapters. You will need to use the "net use" command from a command prompt to map your network shares to a drive letter for TI to see them.

The only problem you are going to face is that WinPE does not support wireless networking. You will need to connect your notebook to the network using an ethernet cable when you want to use WinPE.

Thanks guys.

I'm sure I can sort a script or batch command to run the needed shares when I start acronis.

Is that issue with "Net Use" to do with TI 2014 or WinPE itself?

Mustang, I have been looking at your webpage for your custom installs. MustangPEbuilder 2 should be fine for me yes?

I think the issue is with WinPE. It doesn't have network discovery like regular Windows has.

MustangPEBuilder 2 ADK vresion will be fine.