Windows 7 Bootable CD?

Windows 7 Bootable CD?

Clubhouse Tags: clubhouse,hot-to,WAIK,bootable,boot-able,CD,DVD,install,installation,virtual pc,vpc,screenshot,winpe,win pe,preinstall,environment,pre-install environment,ISO,batch file,batch commands,DOS,DOS commands

Windows Live Tags: clubhouse,hot-to,WAIK,bootable,boot-able,CD,DVD,install,installation,virtual pc,vpc,screenshot,winpe,win pe,preinstall,environment,pre-install environment,ISO,batch file,batch commands,DOS,DOS commands

What is it?

It’s the Windows 7 Automated Installation Kit, or WAIK.  WAIK is useful for IT Professionals to have a boot disk that will boot up from a CD instead of the computer’s hard drive.  With the boot CD, you can boot with a CD and open up, you have the same basic functionality as you would have if you had booted up with a DOS floppy disk.  This boot disk also gives you a little extra functionality that I talk about a little later.

Why do I need it?

• Have you ever had a computer blue screen on you and you needed to get a file off the hard drive now?
• Have you noticed that the use of floppy disks as a boot media is all but completely dead?
• Have you ever had a boot sector virus that you needed to clean but couldn’t get to?
• Have you ever wanted to install an OS from the ground up but needed a way to boot the computer first?
• Have you ever just wanted to poke around on the drive without booting up through Windows?

This allows you to do this.

What do I need to install it?

To install the Windows 7 AIK, you need to have one of the following OSes (Operating Systems) installed on a computer:

• Windows Server 2003 R2 SP3
• Windows Vista SP1
• Windows Server 2008 family
• Windows 7 family
• Windows Server 2008 R2 family

Where do I get the download?

The Windows 7 AIK ISO image can be downloaded here.  The Windows 7 AIK Documentation can be downloaded here.

Just for completeness, if you want to experiment with the Windows Vista WAIK, it can be downloaded here.  The Vista SP1/Windows Server 2008 WAIK can be downloaded here.

After you’ve burned the DVD from the ISO image, insert it into a DVD drive.  The installation menu will appear:

Select the Windows AIK Setup option highlighted in Red in this image (below):

How do I build a bootable CD?

This batch file assumes the following:

1. that you have installed the WAIK on the computer’s C: drive in the default directory.  If you install in the WAIK in another directory, you’ll need to update the paths in the batch file (noted in blue).
2. that you are installing the 32bit version (denoted as the “x86” parameter in purple);
3. That you don’t currently have a directory (folder) on the C: drive called “winpe_x86”.  If you need to change the target folder, change the folders in orange.

Open Notepad and copy the following batch file commands into Notepad:

CD "C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools" 
CALL copype.cmd x86 c:\winpe_x86
copy c:\winpe_x86\winpe.wim c:\winpe_x86\ISO\sources\boot.wim 
copy "C:\program files\Windows AIK\Tools\x86\imagex.exe" C:\winpe_x86\iso\ 
oscdimg -n -bC:\winpe_x86\etfsboot.com C:\winpe_x86\ISO C:\winpe_x86\winpe_x86.iso
rem To remove the "Press any key to boot from CD" prompt during boot, 
rem remove the bootfix.bin file from the \boot folder within your mounted image. 
pause

This will build a bootable CD ISO image that can be burned using any CD burner program that can burn a CD using an ISO image.  If you want to test the ISO image before you actually burn a CD, you can use Virtual PC 2007 SP1, which can be downloaded here.

What does it look like when it boots?

One of the things that I like about the Virtual PC application is that I can take screen shots of the boot process that booting to an actual computer doesn’t facilitate without a camera.  When I booted up in the Virtual PC program to the W7AIK CD, this is what the first screenshot actually looked like.  Notice that I’m running this in Virtual PC 2007 SP1.

I just cut out the screenshot so that it would be less distracting.

As the computer begins to boot up from the CD, this is what you’ll see…

This is what the Windows 7 AIK leaves you at: a DOS prompt.  This disk is meant to be a bootable media to replace the floppy disk.  The great thing about this disk is that you can add programs that will be available when the disk boots up.  The boot disk drive letter for the bootable CD is the X: drive.  This allows you to use the C: drive, D: drive, etc letters for installing the OS and other programs.

You must remember that the bootable CD is a pure 32bit (or 64bit, if you’ve built a 64bit bootable CD) environment and it will NOT be able to run 16bit programs.  If you try to run a 16bit program, you will get an error that the program cannot be found.  You’ll be able to do a directory listing of the program and see it, which is why it won’t make sense.  That’s the only way that W7AIK has to tell you that it can’t run a 16bit program.

What else can I do with this disk?

Okay, I’ve booted to a command prompt.  What now?  Well, now you have access to NTFS file system drives, older FAT/FAT32 drives via command prompt.  You also have access to USB devices thanks to plug-and-play being enabled.  You have access to the CD/DVD drives.  You have complete access over the local computer hard drives.  If you plug in a USB thumbdrive, it will automatically be assigned a drive letter and you will have access to it.  Nice, huh?

Can you customize the batch file above? Sure!  This batch file is just meant to get you started.  There are a lot of ways that you can customize it.  There are add-ons that can be installed to extend the boot disk’s functionality.  This is just meant as a beginning point for those that want to experiment.