I'm looking for a way to temporarily boot from a bootable USB drive (winpe) directly from a running Windows environment, without needing to modify any UEFI settings or boot order. We often work with industrial PCs that have Windows 11 preinstalled, but we need to deploy a different image that includes various programs and drivers. The challenge is that we can't easily access the boot options since these machines are equipped with touchscreens positioned 20 meters away. The external keyboards we use aren't detected in the boot phase, which complicates things further. Ideally, I'd want a utility I could run from the Windows environment that would allow me to select the USB drive for the next boot. I've tried using bcdedit with no success, encountering an error about the winload efi file. Any suggestions or existing tools/scripts that could help? Thanks in advance!
2 Answers
It sounds like you're facing a tricky situation. You might want to keep a couple of boot disks handy and try swapping them before connecting the device. Just be cautious if you have internal components like an M2 SSD that don't lend themselves to easy access in a control cabinet.
Have you thought about using a portable monitor onsite? That way you could have someone next to the monitor while another person handles the keyboard commands. Also, check if your PC's manufacturer has a utility to manage UEFI settings from within Windows. Some brands offer tools that allow you to adjust boot order without physically accessing the settings.
True, having a second person could be easier. Just not sure if there’s a universal method outside of manufacturer-specific utilities. I've heard Beckhoff wants to promote their own USB drives for boot-up, which sounds frustrating!
I actually made my own mobile setup to make this easier. I designed a sort of crash cart with a foldable monitor and keyboard to stay quick and agile in these situations. It's been a lifesaver!
Exactly, swapping disks in tight spaces can be a nightmare! I wouldn't want to risk damaging the SSD just to change the boot order.