Other stuff

[Jordan]

11 hours ago, TheEmpathicEar said:

Thanks so much! I have the PE up and running on my very slowww x86 desktop. My WiFi is a USB plug-in. Is there some simple way to get this driver into the PE? It's a ASUS AC53 Nano Dual-band wireless AC1200 adapter.

 

This particular release is just an assembly of recent imaging programs.

Instead of downloading different WinPE's, each one for each program, you can just use this one which has it altogether in one ISO.

 

i didn't paid attention to anything else while building this pe as it was intended only for one softwares category.

i've added some few utilities just for the convenience.

 

If we talk about adding drivers and other programs, then we are going beyond what this assembly was intended for.

 

Anyway, Wi-Fi was, somehow, always problematic on WinPE's.

Some drivers should be added at build time for best results, but can be also added afterwards and get it working if you're lucky!

(This feature is not included here)

[Jordan]

9 hours ago, mp68terr said:

Got such 'doing everything' (Strelec one) version, most of the apps won't be used. A straightforward WinPE focussing on a specific kind of task is more efficient and easier to manage on usb keys.

COMSS Boot USB 2019. Did not know that one. Googled it and mostly got results in Russian. Looks like it comes in fact in English/Russian. Is it just for the UI or are all apps in English?

 

COMSS : more details here.

 

9 hours ago, mp68terr said:

Back to the 1st point, would you recommend any tutorial regarding how to make/update custom WinPE's with a selected set of apps compare to those (too) full editions?

 

As a side note, there are some very convenient small (fast to load) linux distros packed with with large sets of applications; Puppy Linux comes to my mind. Any plan to move to the linux side?

 

In this assembly, all programs are running from ram and you can even eject the bootable media and insert a new one if you need to.

Adding drivers or programs is not possible here unless you have some knowledge about low level microsoft tools.

Also, don't forget that some programs have options already set in registry and, thus, they require an offline hive load and manip.
This will take too much efforts if we consider those programs will be soon updated.

 

There is no tutorials released by the pe makers themselves for obvious reasons, and it can't be covered in a simple tutorial as there are tons of methods to work with winpe's.

You can't find even a detailed one on concerned sites. All of them apply the "do it yourself" policy!

(i can't freely talk about this as it will offend some people deeply involved in different winpe conception methods)

 

My main WinPE, which has the modularity you're talking about, just like some other WinPE's (Strelec's for example), is updatable.

But even with this kind of pe's, you will need to update programs manually, pack them as they were initially, verify if all of them are working, check their respective registry entries, replace old ones,.....and in the mean time, Sergei would have released a new updated one!

 

People want a "master" with a payload which they can easily update themselves, but this is not so easy as it seems, and there are some other things to take in consideration too.

As i said, talking about this will trigger unexpected reactions, so i prefer to stay neutral on this!

[neofita]

for a while I enjoyed preparing these PEs. I found the forum http://reboot.pro/ very useful
then I preferred the much easier methods of http://theoven.org/
these are really within everyone's reach (even Bob.Omb's releases are built with this, he himself is one of the mods)

 

 

 

regards

[MrZeb]

Hi @Jordan

 

I see you have been busy 🙂

 

Please PM me the link.

 

Thanks.

[Jordan]

Just now, neofita said:

for a while I enjoyed preparing these PEs. I found the forum http://reboot.pro/ very useful
then I preferred the much easier methods of http://theoven.org/
these are really within everyone's reach (even Bob.Omb's releases are built with this, he himself is one of the mods)

regards

 

Yes! rebootpro and theoven are very useful, but i was fed up with internal situations and conflicts of interests which i'm not comfortable with.

i prefered russian boards despite the language barrier.

Russians are way more advanced in this field.

 

However, building a basic winpe is very easy, it's just a matter of few things to do to get a working one, but to create a good WinPE, it's another story!

This will require from the user everything he knows about Dos commands and scripts, internal scripts troubleshooting, registry hives load/modify, create portable apps, create self destructing portable apps, troubleshoot programs if they refuse to run for unknown reasons, and many other things that should be already aknowledged before starting!

 

i'm not discouraging you from doing it yourself. i recommend you do it yourself for many reasons, but i'm just realistic.

To make a good one requires experience and knowledge, not to mention dozens of tests and troubleshootings.

 

i was promoted to the "Junior Chef" status within one week (@theoven ranks : Novice > Junior chef > Chef, ....), but i still consider myself as a simple novice compared to russian friends!

Conception is done with the builder and the scripts, but i don't need the builder nor the scripts to integrate programs, i use different methods to do this (Strelec/Xemom/Conty... methods).

if you follow the builder method, and supposing you will add imaging programs, you will end up with a huge iso not optimized at all!

 

Adding tons of light freewares is not a problem, but adding imaging programs, recovery tools etc requires other methods than the regular one if you want to get a good working WinPE

Most if not all methods are undocumented nor explained, you have to figure out everything yourself.

 

Just try to post a noob question there, you will have no answer, and even if you had one, it would be a recommendation to do tests yourself!

Post an advanced question and all the helpful guys there will try to help you!

 

i personally use the russian methods which gives better results and light iso's

 

Side Note :

Most concerned sites are in coma because most users are interested only by finalized projects, something they can immediately use.

Not everyone can spend months troubleshooting programs inside pe and finally get his "master build" done. Even final tweaks will take weeks!!!

 

i'm also tired of this endless work!

i don't even use WinPE's twice in a year! it's just a hobby!

[neofita]

18 minutes ago, Jordan said:

i'm also tired of this endless work!

i don't even use WinPE's twice in a year! it's just a hobby!

 

fully agree

[mp68terr]

@Jordan, @neofita and others, thanks for the comments and links.

Looks like a lot of work and testings, and as you said 'experts' will meanwhile release their working version. Updating does not either look as straightforward as it seems from the user side.

For now the usb key will likely be filled with Strelec's iso as a full toolbox, Puppy linux for its lightweight and convenience, and @Plexxor's DriveSnapshot boot image as the 'for now prefered' imaging solution. Difficult to decide for a single backup/imaging solution, too many options around 

[Jordan]

6 minutes ago, mp68terr said:

Looks like a lotDifficult to decide for a single backup/imaging solution, too many options around 

 

There is no miraculous WinPE which can do everything.

It's better to have several ones just in case....

 

About Drive Snapshot :

You don't need to add the whole bootable thing

just add executables (snapshot.exe & snapshot64.exe) to any winpe or even in any location on your usb. it will work fine without the boot files.

This program doesn't need to write to the registry nor to load specific drivers.(using Microsoft VSS Technology)

 

Oh! i forgot your question about Linux!

Working on WinPE's took all my leisure time and more!

i can't imagine myself investigating in the Linux direction too.

[TheEmpathicEar]

So the COMSS you linked to above is not likely to be updated?

[mp68terr]

3 hours ago, Jordan said:

About Drive Snapshot :

You don't need to add the whole bootable thing

just add executables (snapshot.exe & snapshot64.exe) to any winpe or even in any location on your usb. it will work fine without the boot files.

This program doesn't need to write to the registry nor to load specific drivers.(using Microsoft VSS Technology)

Oh, ok! I will try that: get a lightweight WinPE_x64 and run the 64.exe .

 

Was speaking about the linux side because the old imaging apps that I tried did not seem to see the linux partitions that I wanted to backup/image. Sounds like old stories now.

[Jordan]

4 hours ago, TheEmpathicEar said:

So the COMSS you linked to above is not likely to be updated?

 

i don't know! Never used nor followed development!

 

1 hour ago, mp68terr said:

Oh, ok! I will try that: get a lightweight WinPE_x64 and run the 64.exe .

 

Was speaking about the linux side because the old imaging apps that I tried did not seem to see the linux partitions that I wanted to backup/image. Sounds like old stories now.

 

Drive Snapshot will work from any location, just put the 2 executables on a usb and you can run both on live systems or from any winpe.

 

Which old imaging apps have you tried?

[jamesDDI]

On 7/18/2019 at 10:32 PM, Jordan said:

WinPE 10 x86/x64 Bios/UEFI specifically created to get latest versions of most used imaging programs in one bootable media

Available only via pm.

 

More Details:

Total Size: 1.05 GB

Compatibility: Windows 10/8.1/8/7 x86/x64 Legacy Bios/UEFI

 

 

Content in both x86 and x64

 

_/Acronis True Image Home 2019 Buld 17750

_/Acronis Disk Director Server 12.5.163

_/AOMEI Backupper Technician Plus 5.0

_/AOMEI Partition Assistant Technician 8.3

_/Drive Snapshot 1.47.0.18495/96

_/Macrium Reflect Server Plus 7.2.4325

_/MiniTool Partition Wizard Technician 11.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

hi bro, can you share with me? 

[mp68terr]

54 minutes ago, Jordan said:

Which old imaging apps have you tried?

Do not remember exactly which ones, they are not on my system anymore. Probably old ghost/acronis versions that did not recognize Ext4 partitions.

[Jordan]

New ISO uploaded with the following changes:

- Previous one had problems to boot on UEFi systems : Corrected. Now fully working on both Legacy Bios and UEFI systems.

- New Feature added : Now you can easily check if your WinPE booted on Legacy Bios or UEFI.

Right-click on "This PC" and choose "Properties".

 

UEFI

 

 

Legacy BIOS

 

[mp68terr]

On 7/20/2019 at 10:26 PM, Jordan said:

Drive Snapshot will work from any location, just put the 2 executables on a usb and you can run both on live systems or from any winpe.

Did that way.

a. Downloaded a winpe3 iso and browsed to my partition with portables (because using easy2boot did not let me see the usb itself). Anyway worked fine.

b. Then edited the iso file to add the drivesnapshot exe. Worked fine too when knowing the partition letter.

c. Finally edited the boot.wim too with Win Toolkit to start drivesnapshot automatically.

Some fun but clearly very far from winpe experts' releases  The iso is about 160MB for an exe smaller than half MB 

Realized that this app is also supposed to work with win2000/XP, might give a try to a smaller XP-based winpe.

 

You put a lot of good stuff in your ~1GB release, if you don't mind I would be interested in the link too.

Reminds me maanu's advanced work at retestrak.nl/srn forum, yeeeears ago.

[LiLCruz]

can you share with me? interested

[THORN]

Very nice work! i have never seen such winpe's!!!

No crap, no clutter, nothing exept a professional look and best of the best tools!!!

your dual boot isos are unique. i never saw this on internet. this is the first time i see this in this forum

 

your boot cds/dvds saved my ass many times trough long years.

Thank you so much @Jordan

[Jordan]

8 hours ago, THORN said:

Very nice work! i have never seen such winpe's!!!

No crap, no clutter, nothing exept a professional look and best of the best tools!!!

your dual boot isos are unique. i never saw this on internet. this is the first time i see this in this forum

 

your boot cds/dvds saved my ass many times trough long years.

Thank you so much @Jordan

 

Thanks for the kind words mate!

Please send me pm so i can send you the link....

[MrZeb]

Hi @Jordan DART is a very nice fixing tool but if I'm not mistaken the x64 version can only fix a 64 bits OS, can you add the x86 version also?

 

Thanks again for your hard work

[m345]

On 7/20/2019 at 6:34 PM, TheEmpathicEar said:

So the COMSS you linked to above is not likely to be updated?

Yes it is. They update it time to time.

Actually the current version is from 07 May 2019.

comss_boot_usb_2019_05.iso

There are two versions, Lite one - about 1.9GB  & Full - 5.10GB~

Direct download link. 

Full version: https://dl.comss.ru/download/comss_boot_usb_2019_05.iso 

or torrent: https://dl.comss.ru/download/comss_boot_usb_2019_05.iso.torrent / magnet: magnet:?xt=urn:btih:F8054BEF01F39DDC2383F058D206CED6B17CAB74

Lite version: https://dl.comss.ru/download/comss_boot_usb_lite_2019_05_06.iso

 

Home Page: https://www.comss.ru/page.php?id=4425

[THORN]

Thanks for this and for everything my friend!!!

 

 

You are the best contributor of this forum!!!

 

 

by the way i tried to cook with codes just like you Jordan but it's way more complicated than it seems, not to mention that i only scatched the surface

as you said my friend making basic winpe is relatively easy but making good one is not

[Jordan]

7 hours ago, THORN said:

You are the best contributor of this forum!!!

 

by the way i tried to cook with codes just like you Jordan but it's way more complicated than it seems, not to mention that i only scatched the surface

as you said my friend making basic winpe is relatively easy but making good one is not

 

Well, thanks, but best contributors are clearly shown on the main page!

 

Also, glad to see you trying to "cook with codes"! 👍

[Jordan]

i'm really sorry for any inconvenience and i sincerly apologize to all members who were expecting links to my WinPE's.

i've already shared them with many members but not anymore!

 

Long story short, a member here accused me of copying my own WinPE's from other sites!!!

i know other members have nothing to do with this but it's a serious accusation.

 

To make an end to such false allegations without proofs, i decided to stop sharing my work definitively.

i hope you will understand the situation. i really don't mind sharing with members who share and contribute, sharing goes both ways, but i was forced to stop.

 

Sorry again! i'm sure you can find better out there.