I'm trying to streamline our backup recovery process for physical systems. Currently, we use the backup and restore tool to create system images and store them on an external HDD. When we need to restore a system—say, to roll it back—we boot from a Windows installation disc into the WinPE environment, clear the disk via command prompt, format it, and then apply the system image from the HDD. I'm exploring the possibility of using WDS for a more efficient approach. My idea is to create a basic WinPE image that includes scripts to automatically clean and format the disk, followed by applying the appropriate image from a network location. However, I'm getting a bit confused with the details. I've come across the WinPE.wim file, which can be customized, and I also see an option for boot.wim in WDS. Since we're planning to use WDS, I assume I should focus on boot.wim, but I can't find much info on customizing it. Additionally, I noticed that some people use MDT for creating custom boot images, but that seems unnecessary for our case since we're not doing OS installations, just booting into WinPE to wipe and apply an image. Is this approach a bit off? Could someone clarify the distinctions between WinPE.wim and boot.wim and how I might use them?
2 Answers
Your approach sounds solid! WinPE is great for this kind of task. To clarify, WinPE.wim is what you use at the end of your process—this is the customized WinPE image that contains your scripts and tools. On the other hand, boot.wim is what you initially load to get into WinPE—it basically kicks off the process. You can definitely modify boot.wim using DISM to include your startup scripts. Just remember that when mounting it, you're working with the initial loading process, so you can customize it to set up WinPE how you want before it runs. For cleaning and formatting the disk, make sure your scripts are well-tested so everything happens smoothly once you boot into that environment!
Thanks for breaking it down! So just to confirm, once I customize boot.wim with my scripts, I can deploy that through WDS, and it should seamlessly boot into my WinPE setup?
I get where you're coming from, but have you considered the drawbacks of manual image backups? If you really want a smoother process, you might want to check out tools like FOG Project. It simplifies imaging and could save you a lot of time compared to manual backups. Plus, it's designed to be more efficient!
We are using manual imaging for our bare metal Windows servers right now. It’s how we've always done things, but I’m open to trying new methods if they work better!
Exactly! Deploy your customized boot.wim with WDS, and it will launch into WinPE, executing your scripts as needed. Just make sure everything’s in place before booting.