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BartPE_and_DriveImage

Page history last edited by Paul G. Taylor 13 years, 7 months ago

  1. Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD
    1. What is BartPE and PE Builder?
    2.  Introduction
    3. A word from the author
    4. BartPE vs. Windows PE?
    5. What is the technical difference between BartPE and Windows PE?
    6. Requirements to build:
    7. Why did I build PE Builder?
    8. Licensing issues
    9.  Getting started
    10. Download
  2. DriveImage
    1. Frequently Asked Questions about DriveImage XML
      1. Q. What are my support options?
      2. Q. What files are created by DriveImage?
      3. Q. Where are these files stored?
      4. Q. What Operating Systems are supported?
      5. Q. Can I restore the image to a smaller partition?
      6. Q. Can I write the data directly to a CD/DVD?
      7. Q. Are there any command line parameters?
      8. Q. What about command line parameters for restoring a drive?
      9. Q. How do I restore an image back to a working state?
      10. Q. How much does the software cost?
      11. Q. Why am I getting a VSS error when I try to backup a drive?
      12. Q. I restored my boot drive, why does it not boot?
      13. Q. I want to browse an image. Why is the screen empty?
      14. Q. What kind of compression should I use?
      15. Q. What is the difference between the "Private Edition" and the "Commercial Edition"?
      16. Q. What is the difference between "DriveImage XML" and "ShadowCopy"?
      17. Q. Can I backup and restore a RAID?

 

Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD

 

What is BartPE and PE Builder?

Bart's PE

Builder helps you build a "BartPE" (Bart Preinstalled Environment) bootable Windows CD-Rom or DVD from the original Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 installation/setup CD, very suitable for PC maintenance tasks.

It will give you a complete Win32 environment with network support, a graphical user interface (800x600) and FAT/NTFS/CDFS filesystem support. Very handy for burn-in testing systems with no OS, rescuing files to a network share, virus scan and so on.
This will replace any Dos bootdisk in no time!

 

 Introduction

 

PE Builder is not a Microsoft product and does not create Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment ("Windows PE").

Using PE Builder does not grant you a license to Microsoft Windows PE or to use the Windows XP or Server 2003 binaries in a manner other than stated in the

End-User License Agreement included in your version of Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Server 2003.

Microsoft has not reviewed or tested PE Builder and does not endorse its use.

Please do not contact Microsoft for support on the preinstallation environment that has been created by PE Builder!
Microsoft does not provide support for PE Builder or for the preinstallation environment created by PE Builder.

The PE Builder program (pebuilder.exe) runs on Windows 2000/XP/2003/BartPE. It does not run on Windows NT4/ME/9x.
 

To avoid any confusion, the bootable CD generated by PE Builder should be called by its nickname "BartPE"!

 

A word from the author


Hi, my name is Bart Lagerweij. I've been creating DOS based boot disks and bootable CD-Roms from Dos 3.x (not sure what year) until 2002. I have created the: Corporate Modboot, Network bootdisk, CD-Rom bootdisk, a hardware independent Dos CD-Rom driver eltorito.sys and lots of other tools needed to boot a PC the way I want it to.

As you can read above I've stopped doing that in 2002. Why? I saw a Windows PE (WinPE) bootable CD-Rom (from Microsoft) in action and I got very, very curious. I knew then as I know now, that in time PE-based solutions will be every PC technicians best friend.
Goodbye to all the good and bad dos-based NTFS utilities! Now we can boot from a CD-Rom and have full read/write access to NTFS volumes!

Here are a few things that are possible with PE and are not possible with any type of dos-based boot disk, even when using network support and ntfsdos:

  • Accessing very large (>2TB) NTFS volumes or accessing volumes that are not seen by the BIOS, like some fibre channel disks.
  • Very reliable scanning and cleaning of viruses on NTFS volumes using a "clean boot".
  • Active Directory support.
  • Have remote control over other machines, using vnc or remote desktop.

 

BartPE vs. Windows PE?

  • BartPE is not supported by Microsoft. Windows PE is an official Microsoft product.
  • BartPE has a graphical user interface. Windows PE has a command line interface.
  • The tools needed to make a BartPE installation are free software. Windows PE is available only to Microsoft OEM users.
  • BartPE allows unlimited custom plugins. Windows PE has a limited range of plugins options.

What is the technical difference between BartPE and Windows PE?

  • Target - Microsoft sees Windows PE as an installation platform. Bart sees Windows PE as the next generation rescue platform.
  • Start-menu - Bart's builder gives you a simple, dynamic and powerful start-menu (Nu2Menu, see screenshots). Microsoft's builder does not give you a start-menu, it uses a command prompt.
  • Build from - Bart's builder can also build from Windows XP Home Edition or from a preinstalled Windows XP version (without CD).
  • Plugins - With PE Builder you can easily add applications, drivers or tools using plugins. This makes PE Builder extremely powerful. The end user can even combine plugins from different software vendors into one CD image.
  • Network support - PE Builder includes its own network support tools (bartpe/penetcfg) to start TCP/IP and Microsoft Client. The TCP/IP settings like: dynamic/static ip-address, subnet-mask, default gateway, dns-servers computer-name, workgroup can be changed on-the-fly. You can create pre-defined profiles, that you can select. Microsoft Windows PE only supports DHCP or fixed settings using winbom.ini.
    Also there is a plugin (NwDskPe) created by Erwin Veermans that loads the Netware Client on BartPE (IP/IPX).
  • Fileshare - BartPE can start File Sharing support so you can connect to the system through a share.
  • VNC - Because of the File Sharing support you can also run UltraVNC.
  • Dos support - Bart's builder has a plugin called "dospe".
  • License - Microsoft Windows PE is only for Enterprise/OEM customers (see previous), BartPE is for everybody!
  • 64-Bit - Bart's builder does not support Windows 64-bit editions.

Requirements to build:

  1. The files from your Windows Installation CD-Rom.
    Supported Windows versions are:
    • Windows XP Home Edition (must be slip streamed with Service Pack 1 or higher)
    • Windows XP Professional (must be slip streamed with Service Pack 1 or higher)
    • Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
    • Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
    • Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
  2. PE Builder runs on Windows 2000/XP/2003/BartPE systems.
  3. CD/DVD writer if you want to creat a bootable CD/DVD.

Why did I build PE Builder?

 

Microsoft only provides Windows PE to OEM and Enterprise customers. So the small companies and end users do not get Windows PE. I think this is really bad.

With PE Builder they can build a Bootable XP CD-Rom (called BartPE) to use for maintaining their systems.

Licensing issues


In order to make a BartPE installation, your must have a properly licensed copy of the operating system. BartPE does not grant users who do not have a proper Windows XP/2003 license the right to use a BartPE installation.

Also, according to the Microsoft EULA for Windows XP/2003, a user may not simultaneously use more installations of these operating systems than the user has license(s) for. This also goes for BartPE. In practice this means that the user may not use, for instance, a single license installation on one computer while simultaneously using a BartPE installation (created using that license) on another computer.

More information:


 Getting started


This page will help you create your very first BartPE CD. It assumes that you are using Windows XP.

  1. Make sure that your system has about 500MB of free disk space!

  2. Download the latest PE Builder version (self-installing package) and install it.

  3. Start PE Builder (pebuilder.exe). When you start PE Builder for the first time it will ask if you agree with the license agreement.

  4. Now PE Builder will ask to search for windows installation files. If you don't have your windows XP setup/installation files on your system you must insert the original Microsoft Windows XP installation/setup CD at this point.
    The files you have at c:\windows are not installation files. They are your already installed files!
    Click "yes" to start searching. PE Builder will now search all fixed- and CD-Rom drives for Windows installation files. This will take some time. When more than one valid location is found, a dialog will appear where you can select which location you want to use.

  5. At the main PE Builder dialog, select the "Burn to CD/DVD" option. When you are using an erasable medium, make sure that the "AutoErase RW" option is enabled. The "burn using" option should be set to "StarBurn". Select your CD writer device from the Device list.

  6. Hit the "build" button. PE Builder will now ask you to create a BartPE directory, answer with "yes".

  7. The license for your Microsoft Windows XP product is shown. Read it and agree to it to continue.

  8. PE Builder will now start building BartPE. This will take a few minutes.
    You will see a lot of files getting copied and/or decompressed, the ISO image build and the data recorded to your CD/DVD writer.
    If the data verify was correct and there where no errors reported you can boot the CD/DVD!


Download


Latest version:
Download PE Builder v3.1.10a - self-installing package (3.15MB) - if you are unsure what you need to download, get this!
Download PE Builder v3.1.10a - zip package (3.23MB)
Post: View PE Builder v3.1.10a release postings on "The CD Forum"

 

 

 

 

 

 

DriveImage

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about DriveImage XML


What are my support options?
What files are created by DriveImage?
Where are these files stored?
What Operating Systems are supported?
Can I restore the image to a smaller partition?
Can I write the data directly to a CD/DVD?
Are there any command line parameters?
What about command line parameters for restoring a drive?
How do I restore an image back to a working state?
How much does the software cost?
Why am I getting a VSS error when I try to backup a drive?
I restored my boot drive, why does it not boot?
I want to browse an image. Why is the screen empty?
What kind of compression should I use?
What is the difference between the "Private Edition" and the "Commercial Edition"?
What is the difference between "DriveImage XML" and "ShadowCopy"?
Can I backup and restore a RAID?




Q. What are my support options?

A. We do not provide support for the free Private Edition of DriveImage XML You should browse our documentation for a solution or search the Internet for any problems you might have.

For the buyer of the Commercial Edition we provide support for one year for the number of support incidences specified at the time of purchase. We provide only support to the buyer and not to the users of the Commercial Edition, as the users should be supported by the buyer.

 


Q. What files are created by DriveImage?

A. It depends on whether you create a multi-file image or not. A multi-file image will have a .xml file and a .dat file and files beyond that are numbered .001, .002, .003,… until the end of the drive. If you do not create a multi-file image, there will be a .dat file and a .xml file.

 


Q. Where are these files stored?

A. You will be prompted for a location in the software and you can choose where ever you like (not on the source drive though), however the default location is My Documents.

 


Q. What Operating Systems are supported?

A. With the software installed on a PC, supported file systems are Windows XP, Windows Media Center, Windows Server 2003, Vista, and Windows 7. However you can create a BartPE CD with our software on it and boot from any of the Windows 9x or Windows 2000 machines and back them up as well.

 

 

Q. Can I restore the image to a smaller partition?

A. No, currently you can only restore your data to a partition that is exactly the same size or larger, regardless of the data size.

 


Q. Can I write the data directly to a CD/DVD?

A. No, you have to write the data to a hard drive first, then if you have chosen multi-file images, you can then burn those files to CD or DVD.

 


Q. Are there any command line parameters?

A. For the backup there are the following commands:

/bx Backup drive x, e.g. /bc
/tx Write backup files to x, e.g. /td:\backups\drive_c
/r Raw mode, e.g. /r or /r-
/s Split image, e.g. /s or /s-
/c Compression (fast), e.g. /c or /c-
/c1 Compression (fast), e.g. /c1
/c2 Compression (good, but slow), e.g. /c2
/v Try VSS first, e.g. /v, do not use with /l
/l Try locking first, e.g. /l, do not use with /v

 

 


Q. What about command line parameters for restoring a drive?

A. There currently are not any.

 


Q. How do I restore an image back to a working state?

A. Note that you must put the image into an existing partition. If necessary create a new partition with Windows Disk Management first. You do not need to format the drive. The size of the partition you create will determine the size of the drive - for example if you create a 20GB partition and then restore a 10GB size image to it, the size of the drive will still be 20GB.

To start Windows Disk Management click:

Start>Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management

If Windows Disk Management does not start, you can use the following commands from the command prompt:

net start dmserver
net start dmadmin
diskpart

To restore an image to an existing partition, click Restore in the main program window.

Note on boot drives: If you want your computer to boot from the new partition you must set it to "active" with Windows Disk Management.

 


Q. How much does the software cost?

A. Currently the software is free for home use. If you are a business, organization or use the software commercially, you must purchase the Commercial Edition. See our price list.

 


Q. Why am I getting a VSS error when I try to backup a drive?

A. This error can occur if VSS (Volume Shadow Services) is not running properly on your system. This is not a DriveImage error. It is usually caused by poorly configured Windows systems.

Please verify in Settings->Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services that the following services are enabled:

MS Software Shadow Copy Provider
Volume Shadow Copy

Also make sure you are able to stop and start these services.

Possible reasons for VSS failures:

For VSS to work, at least one volume in your computer must be NTFS. If you use only FAT drives, VSS will not function. The required NTFS volume does not need to be identical with the volume you want to image.

You should make sure that VSSVC.EXE is running in your task manager. If the problems persist, registering "oleaut.dll" and "oleaut32.dll" using "regsvr32" might help.

Without VSS you still can make images with locking or without locking.

 


Q. I restored my boot drive, why does it not boot?

A. To boot from a drive:

  • The boot partition should be located on the first drive (DISK0), which is usually the master drive.
  • The boot partition should be the first partition on the drive.
  • The boot partition must be a "primary" partition.
  • The boot partition must be "active".

If your drive still does not boot you can try to set a new "Disk ID". Windows remembers old drive letter assignments which can cause problems when trying to boot from a cloned drive. You can force the removal of old drive letter assignments by setting a new Disk ID. Click Tools->Set new Disk ID and read the instructions.

Vista Boot Problem:

If your cloned Vista drive refuses to boot with a "winload.exe is missing or corrupt" message, you might need to change the BCD store.

Fix automatically

- In DriveImage click on Tools->Fix Vista boot problem.
- Select the BCD Store of the new (cloned) drive.
- Click "Update BCD Store".
Your drive should now boot.

Fix manually

- Boot from your Vista installation DVD and start the command prompt. If your Windows directory is on C: navigate to c:\windows\system32.
- Type "bcdedit" (without quotes) and press Enter. You should see the following screen:

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=C:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {d96b9513-83c6-11db-8615-bcd1a0f0502e}
nx OptIn

If under "Windows Boot Loader", "device" or "osdevice" do not contain your boot partition's name but display "unknown", you need to correct this. Type:

bcdedit /set {default} osdevice "partition=C:
bcdedit /set {default} device "partition=C:

Read a good article about Vista cloning problems here:

http://www.multibooters.co.uk/cloning.html

This link points to a techforum that discusses the Vista boot problem:

http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PageIndex=2 &SiteID=17&PostID=1343608

Windows 7 Boot Problem:

Windows 7 provides all the challenges mentioned above. In addition, a Window 7 standard installation provides a boot manager that is located in a small partition preceding the Winows 7 partition. However, we found the Windows 7 installation DVD very helpful with fixing boot problems. If you do not get the drive to boot, put in the installation DVD and initiate a startup repair. Here is a comprehensive article on how to do that: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/ss/windows-7-startup-repair.htm

 


Q. I want to browse an image. Why is the screen empty?

A. The image was created in RAW format. In RAW format, DriveImage does not interpret the data. Thus it has no knowledge about individual files.

 


Q. What kind of compression should I use?

A. Look at this example: Backup of 33 GB using DriveImage:

COMPRESSION DURATION SIZE
No compression 13 min 33 GB
Fast compression 15 min 22 GB
Good compression 50 min 12 GB

 

 


Q. What is the difference between the "Private Edition" and the "Commercial Edition"?

A. Only home users are allowed to use the free "Private Edition". It is not possible to get support for the "Private Edition".

Businesses, organizations and commercial users must buy the "Commercial Edition". The "Commercial Edition" comes with support. You can customize the Welcome screen.

 

Q. What is the difference between "DriveImage XML" and "ShadowCopy"?

A. DriveImage XML backups and restores entire volumes. ShadowCopy copies individual files.

 

Q. Can I backup and restore a RAID?

A. Yes, as long as it is a hardware RAID. If it is a Windows software RAID, you can back it up, but you can not restore it back to the software RAID. You can restore it to an individual drive or hardware RAID, though.

 

 

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