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Re: Vista Boot Files
"cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)" wrote:
> On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 18:14:45 +1000, "Andrew McLaren"
>
> >There's a fairly useful (if rather high-level) discussion of PE limitations,
> >here:
> >
> > http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/w.../aa905120.aspx
> >
> >That might shed some light.
>
> Thanks! The title looks familiar (tho the blue looks new)... it's
> been a while since I read this (if it is indeed the same one) and I've
> had more hands-on, so it's worth reading again. I'll quote as I go...
>
> "Recovery.
>
> Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Independent
> Software Vendors (ISVs) can use Windows PE to build
> customized, automated solutions for recovering and
> rebuilding computers running Windows Vista. For example,
> users could start their computers from Windows PE recovery
> CDs or recovery partitions to automatically reformat their hard
> disks and re-install Windows Vista with the original drivers,
> settings, and applications."
>
> At this point, we kinda feel we're doomed.
>
> To most of us, "recovery" means data recovery, i.e. doing as little as
> possible to put at-risk HD contents in the line of fire, and using
> cautious tools that can salvage these contents.
>
> But to OEMs with "vendor-vision", all "recovery" means is "wipe away
> everything the user may have, and stamp our original factory build
> back in place, thus discharging our only service obligation".
>
> That's a bit like asking the mob to run your neighborhood watch.
>
>
> "Windows PE is not a full-featured operating system"
>
> That's a GOOD thing; neither is Bart. For safety, you want less
> automatic activity and risk taking, and less exploitable surface.
>
> But it can be hard to judge what to cut and what to include.
>
>
> "Like Windows Vista, Windows PE can be contained
> within a WIM file. However, when you store a Windows
> Vista image in a WIM file, the only way to start Windows
> Vista is to copy the image to the computer’s hard disk.
> Windows PE, however, can start directly from a WIM file
> without being copied to a hard disk. This functionality
> enables you to create a WIM file, store it on bootable
> media such as a CD or USB flash drive, and start
> Windows PE directly from that medium."
>
> That bit is worth reading again, as it implies one may be able to
> generate a WinPE from a Vista installation. If so, this could greatly
> simplify the integration of tools (which ranges from mildly to very
> hard in Bart, and seems beyond my reach in WinPE).
>
> One may be able to:
> - install Vista
> - install the tools you want
> - capture the installation, setting the boot flag
> - use as a WinPE maintenance OS, populated with tools
>
> Looks too good to be true, but imagine if it was that easy?
>
>
> There's a section on using PE for recovery and maintenance, but it is
> strikingly shallow. It's like saying "PCs are really neat because you
> can write letters in Notepad and print them out"...
>
> "Examples of troubleshooting tasks include:
>
> Replacing system files. You can replace corrupted files
> from the original installation media.
>
> Recovering data before reinstalling Windows. Windows
> PE provides full access to both FAT and NTFS file systems.
> In circumstances where you must replace or reformat a
> hard disk, you can start the computer with Windows PE first,
> and then copy important files to another disk
>
> Running diagnostic and configuration tools. ( ... )
> Built-in tools include:
>
> Diskpart.
>
> Drvload. You use the drvload command to add device drivers
>
> Net.
>
> Netcfg."
>
> There's nothing on the stuff I have to do all the time, i.e. run
> 3rd-party hard drive diagnostics, data recovery tools, multiple
> sequential malware scanners that work relative to the installation's
> registry, and run 3rd-party integration managers.
>
> They're still talking "pick-up sticks", copying files one at a time
> from a command line.
>
>
> At this point, I might sound a bit negative - but there's much to like
> about WinPE 2.0; many things they got right...
> - runs in RAM, allows changing of optical disks
> - includes firewall
> - hot-detect generic USB storage devices
> - boot from USB as well as optical disks
> ....none of which Bart can do.
>
> This is where I come unstuck:
>
> "Although Windows PE is designed to be small, it contains
> much of the core functionality of Windows Vista. Because
> Windows PE supports Win32 (just like Microsoft Windows XP
> and Windows Vista), most Windows applications will run in
> Windows PE. This means that developers in your IT
> department can use tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio to
> create Win32 applications that run on Windows PE."
>
> AFAIK, WinPE built for Vista-64 does not run 32-bit code, and my main
> problem with WinPE has been an inability to run the tools I need.
>
> A second problem - which requires a bit more "thinking outside the
> (pre-installation) box" than "look, we can copy files around!" - is
> the matter of providing programs with transparent access to the HD
> installation's registry hives as if they were in effect.
>
> That takes a fair bit of thoughtful design, and Paraglider seems to
> have anticipated and caterred for most of that in his RunScanner
> plug-in for Bart. To replace Bart on Vista (as I would hope to do),
> WinPE really needs this functionality.
>
> Perhaps I should search the developers' parts of MS's site to look for
> notes on how one could "use tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio to
> create Win32 applications that run on Windows PE", as this is where
> reasons why things don't work may be spelled out?
>
> Of the limitations stated here, only this...
>
> "Because Windows on Windows (WOW) is not supported,
> 16-bit applications won’t run in 32-bit versions of Windows
> PE, and 32-bit applications won’t run in 64-bit versions of
> Windows PE."
>
> ....explains some of my disappointing mileage, and only for Vista-64.
>
> It's a good article, though not rich in links. For example, I'd have
> loved a link from "use tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio to create
> Win32 applications that run on Windows PE" :-)
>
>
>
> >--------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - -
> Who is General Failure and
> why is he reading my disk?
> >--------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - -
> |