BartPE Setup

7/30/2019 BartPE Setup

1/5

Ground Zero: Ingredients

Youll be needing ample space on a USB storage device like a thumbdrive or external

disk drive. 1 GB of storage will suffice. Possibly, you could access the setup files from anetwork share in which case youll only need a 256 MB thumbdrive, but I havent tried

that.

Personally, I booted off a 512 MB thumbdrive and put the Windows XP setup files on an

external disk drive. So a combination will do just fine, but just make sure that youve gotsufficient USB ports: all USB devices will need to be plugged in and stay plugged inwhile were booted into BartPE later on!

Youll also need a bunch of software, including a valid copy of Windows XP. The othersoftware components can be downloaded freely:

Barts Preinstalled Environment (BartPE)

Windows 2003 Server Service Pack 1

Q: Why Windows 2003 Server Service Pack 1? I want to install XP!

A: Well thats exactly the trick, though its a bit technical. During booting, Windows

resets the USB port and loses your boot device. Thats why an installation from USBnormally fails. But by using Windows 2003 Servers ramdisk feature in the early phases

of booting, we circumvent that problem.

Dont be mislead though: youll be installing Windows XP all the same. Its just that

well be using two Windows 2003 Server files from the Service Pack to do it.

You can also perform a Windows 2003 Server installation using this exact same

procedure, save that youll be needing to update to Windows 2003 Server Service Pack 1

instead of Windows XP SP2, below. Thats assuming, of course, that youve got a valid

copy of Windows 2003 Server.

You will also need an already functional Windows system to prep the USB disk from. In

addition, your target system (the one that needs reinstalling) should support booting from

USB. Virtually all modern ones do though.

Finally, not all cheaper USB devices properly support being booted from. The BartPE

forums have a partial list of ones that dont.

Step One: Preparing the Windows XP Setup Files

For this procedure to work correctly, youll need Windows XP to be at Service Pack 1 or

Service Pack 2. Many newer Windows XP CDs already have either one included.

1
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=22cfc239-337c-4d81-8354-72593b1c1f43&DisplayLang=enhttp://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10806http://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10806http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=22cfc239-337c-4d81-8354-72593b1c1f43&DisplayLang=enhttp://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10806http://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10806


2/5

You can check by inserting the CD-ROM and looking at the files in the top folder. There

should be a file named WIN51P.SP1 orWIN51P.SP2. If you see either one, fast forward to

step two.If there is no such file, or youve got a SP1 CD that you would like to update toSP2, proceed as follows:

1. Copy the Windows XP CD-ROM to a location on your hard drive. Well beassuming C:\winxpcd.I strongly advise you to use such a vanilla CD. Users

have reported strange happenings with custom XP distributions.

2. Download the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Network Installation Package.

3. Unpack Windows XP SP2 by running WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe -x.

Note the -x parameter that will allow you to specify a location to unpack to. Well

be assuming C:\winxpsp2.

4. Integrate SP2 into the setup files by running

C:\winxpsp2\i386\update\update.exe /integrate:c:\winxpcd.

If your system needs special drivers to operate, this would be the time to include them

(called slipstreaming). Doing so isnt exactly trivial and should only be necessary ifyou, say, require non-standard SATA support. The process is beyond the scope of thisarticle, but fortunately Googleis your friend.

Step Two: Prepping BartPE

First well prep the USB drive well be using for booting. This is by far the largest step in

the process, though it shouldnt be difficult for anyone to follow. It requires a functionalWindows system.

1. Install BartPE. Well be assuming that you install to C:\pebuilder.

2. Unpack PE2USB to C:\pebuilder.

3. Unpack Windows 2003 SP1 by running WindowsServer2003-KB889101-SP1-

x86-ENU.exe -x (thats assuming that you downloaded the English version).

Note the -x parameter that will allow you to specify a location to unpack to. Well

be assuming C:\server2003sp1.

4. Create a folder named C:\pebuilder\srsp1.

5. Copy C:\server2003sp1\i386\setupldr.bin to C:\pebuilder\srsp1.

6. Expand and copy ramdisk.sys by running expand -r

C:\server2003sp1\i386\ramdisk.sy_ C:\pebuilder\srsp1.

7. Start PE Builder from the Start Menu. Point Source: to the location of yourWindows XP setup files containing SP1 or SP2.

8. Make sure the Output: is set to BartPE.If using SP2: go into the Plugins

configuration dialog and enable RpcSS needs to launch DComLaunch ServiceFirst - SP2 only.

9. Hit Build.

10. When its done building, insert the USB drive you intend to boot from and run

C:\pebuilder\pe2usb -f [drive:], replacing [drive:] with the location of

your USB drive. This will destroy any data on your USB drive! The drive

2
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=049C9DBE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=enhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=049C9DBE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SATAhttp://www.google.nl/search?q=slipstreaming+drivershttp://www.google.nl/search?q=slipstreaming+drivershttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=049C9DBE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SATAhttp://www.google.nl/search?q=slipstreaming+drivers


3/5

shouldnt be partitioned any larger than 1 GB. If it is, then repartition it using

Computer Management in the Control Panel.

11. Copy the Windows XP setup files to the USB drive (or another USB device if youhave insufficient space left). Youll only need the i386 folder.

If no errors occured in the process, you should now be all set to boot from USB!

Note: its possible to use Windows 2003 Server as the operating system to boot from, but

I dont recommend it. Many of BartPEs included utilities wont work properly.

Step Three: Configuring the BIOS

You should now reboot and go into the BIOS configuration to boot from USB.

Instructions for doing so wildly from system to system, but generally entail the following:

1. Reboot the system.

2. While booting (before Windows starts loading), get into the BIOS configurationscreen by hitting something like F1, F2, Delete or Escape. Hotkey instructions are

generally provided on the screen.

3. Go to the section that contains your boot devices.4. With your USB drive plugged in, the USB drive should be listed. If it isnt, your

system might not support booting from USB. Assuming that it is supported (as is

the case with virtually all modern hardware), promote your USB drive to theprimary boot device.

5. Exit from the BIOS configuration, saving all changes.

If youre completely new to BIOS configuration, BIOS for Beginners over at Toms

Hardware might be a good primer. Be aware though, that you can seriously screw upyour system by providing incorrect settings!

Step Four: Booting into BartPE

Assuming that you properly configured your BIOS and your USB device supports

booting, BartPE should now load. Depending on the speed of your USB device, this maytake a while.

If it isnt working, then double-check the following before making a scene:

Is your BIOS properly configured for booting from the USB disk? (Is the USB

device listed and does it have top priority?)

Have you correctly prepared the USB disk in step two? (Restart the procedure.)

Does your USB stick properly support being booted from? (Try another one!)

Step Five: Prepping the Hard Disk

3
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/09/22/bios_for_beginners/http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/09/22/bios_for_beginners/


4/5

You need to make sure that your hard drive is partitioned and formatted properly.

Especially if youve had Linux or some other operating system on it, youll need to

repartition and format it. BartPE containsDiskPart for disk partitioning and A43 FileManagerto format your drive.

If you are sure that your hard drive is set up properly (i.e. it has only run Windows, itcontains a valid FAT or NTFS partition) then you can safe yourself the hassle and skip

this step.

This procedure will destroy any data on the hard drive.

To repartition:

1. From the Go menu, navigate to DiskPart.

2. Enter the commands needed to repartition your drive. For example, try the

following: select disk 0 (select the first disk), clean (purges the entire drive,

essentially resetting it), create partition primary (creates a single partitionfrom the entire disk), assign (assign the partition a drive letter), exit (quits

DiskPart).

This procedure will destroy any data on the hard drive.

To format:

1. From the Go menu, navigate to the A43 File Manager.

2. Right-click on the target drive (e.g. C:) and click Format. Should be self-

explanatory.

Step Six: Launching Windows XP Setup

With your drive all ready, you can now launch the Windows XP setup with a few custom

parameters. Lets assume that the files are available at D:\i386.

Plugging in a device now wont work. Remember that all USB devices will need to beplugged in right from the start while using BartPE.

1. Run D:\i386\winnt32.exe /syspart:C: /tempdrive:C:

/makelocalsource. Replace C: with the drive you want to install Windows to.

2. Proceed with the installation. When asked to convert the installation volume toNTFS, answer No. The setup program incorrectly believes that your USB drive

(which is formatted as FAT) needs conversion.

The setup program will then silently close, which might make you think that somethingwent wrong. Dont worry though. Reboot your system, remove the USB drive(s) and if

all went well you can now finish setting up Windows XP. Congratulations!

4
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/diskpart.mspx?mfr=truehttp://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/diskpart.mspx?mfr=truehttp://www.shawneelink.net/~bgmiller/http://www.shawneelink.net/~bgmiller/http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/diskpart.mspx?mfr=truehttp://www.shawneelink.net/~bgmiller/http://www.shawneelink.net/~bgmiller/


5/5

All comments are highly welcome. Hope to have helped some of you out!

5

Documents

BartPE Setup