The Oddities of WinPE

I can’t stress enough how important it is when using new technology in a corporate environment. An example that I want to pass along involves the use of WinPE (Microsoft Windows PE operating system) with Altiris Deployment Server. I have learned the hard way that it is better to research until you die, before implementation of a new technology. When using Windows PE on Altiris Deployment Server, I would recommend using Altiris’ WinPE package and pay the 20$ to get their install of the OS. They have made some modifications to increase the speed of packet traffic when imaging. I would also recommend using the Windows PE 2005 utility CD which contains a VBS script to embed in your WinPE boot image to allow VBScripting to work properly when booting a computer into a WinPE environment that you plan to run a VBScript on. In addition to these options, I would strongly recommend that you add the Mass Storage driver information for any kind of SATA drives you are using in your laptop/desktop hardware. It makes it much easier to do scripted OS installs, let alone image using WinPE if you can see the hard drive you are about to copy files to. Just a few ideas to pass along that I hope you find of interest. Hopefully, it will help from keeping your hair from turning gray or falling out too soon in your life.