Vista - Aditional Backup Measure: How to Install Win RE on your Hard Disk

This comes from the Win RE Blog "Windows RE Notes" from the Vista Win RE
team:

http://blogs.msdn.com/winre/default.aspx

How to install WinRE on the hard disk
I have been getting a lot of questions about installing WinRE on the hard
disk. This is good news for us as that means many of you are actually trying
out WinRE. So here's the simple four step process.

Step 1: Choosing a partition to install WinRE

The hardest part about installing WinRE seems to be deciding where to
install it. The following considerations should go into deciding which
partition to choose (listed in the priority order):

1.. The partition should not be the same as the Windows OS partition. This
is so that you can boot into WinRE even if your OS partition becomes corrupt
or inaccessible for any reason. This helps maximize the chances that you
would be able to boot into WinRE when your main Windows installation is in
trouble.
2.. The partition should be hidden so that users do not accidentally
delete files or corrupt the WinRE installation in anyway. Microsoft has
defined a special partition type for this specific purpose. On MBR disks,
the partition should be assigned partition type 0x27. And on GPT disks, the
partition should have the partition type GUID:
{DE94BBA4-06D1-4D40-A16A-BFD50179D6AC}.
3.. The partition should not interfere with any advanced volume management
functionalities, such as dynamic volumes. Any hidden partitions after the
Windows OS partition may interfere with dynamic volume creations. Therefore,
the WinRE partition should be created before the Windows OS partition.
In the OPK and the WAIK, we have a couple of partition layout
recommendations. These recommendations were made by following the above
considerations. These recommendations are:

1.. If the machine is not bitlocker enabled, then the partition should be
a hidden recovery partition allocated before the OS partition. It should be
assigned type 0x27 on MBR disks and type
{DE94BBA4-06D1-4D40-A16A-BFD50179D6AC} on GPT disks. The partition should be
at least large enough to hold WinRE WIM, 1.5GB should be plenty for the base
WinRE.
2.. If the machine is bitlocker enabled, then the BDE partition (a.k.a.
the system partition) can be used for WinRE installation.


Note:- If you just want to experiment with WinRE without creating a separate
partition for WinRE, you can choose any visible drive in Vista.



Step 2: Copying WinRE Files

For the purposes of this post, I am going to assume a WIM-based
installation. If you want to install an expanded WinRE, please look at the
OPK or the WAIK for appropriate documentation.

You need to copy the following two files to the root of the partition you
chose in step 1 above.

1.. winre.wim (you can build a winre.wim using the installation media and
the WAIK, as described here)
2.. boot.sdi (you can find it in the WAIK, under C:\Program Files\Windows
WAIK\Tools\PETools\x86\boot)


Step 3: Configuring WinRE

To configure WinRE, you can use the SetAutoFailover.cmd script provided in
the WAIK (under: C:\Program Files\Windows WAIK\Recovery). If you copied
WinRE files on the D: in step 2 above, and assuming that D: is the first
partition on the disk, you would use it as:

SetAutoFailover.cmd /target D: /wim /nohide

Note:- You need to run SetAutoFailover.cmd from an elevated command prompt.
To open an elevated command prompt, search for cmd.exe in the search box off
Start button, then right click on the cmd icon in search results and choose
Run as administrator.



Step 4: Testing WinRE Installation

To test that WinRE is installed correctly on the hard disk - Restart your
computer and press F8 very early during boot. If you press it early enough,
you should see an Advanced boot menu. The first item on this menu should be
"Repair your computer." Choosing this option will take you to WinRE.

Posted Friday, January 12, 2007 1:44 AM by WinRE |

You have every reason to do this--it could quickly restore you--and often it
can be done from your Vista drive, but this is an added measure of
insurance.

CH

Inside the Windows Kernel by Paul Russonovitch [MSFT]

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tec...g/default.aspx