Creating a bootable media based on WinPE 2.x, 3.0 or 4.0

Installing Windows AIK

To be able to create a bootable media based on WinPE 2.x or WinPE 3.0, you must have Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) installed. For this purpose, install Acronis Snap Deploy 4 Management Console on a machine where Windows AIK is installed. If you do not have such machine, do the following:

1. Download Windows AIK; for example, from the Windows AIK 3.0 Web page.
2. Burn the AIK to a DVD or write it to a USB flash drive.
3. Attach the flash drive or insert the DVD in the media drive of a machine running Windows.
4. From this kit, install:
   1. Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 (NETFXx86 or NETFXx64, depending on your hardware).
   2. Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 5.0 or 6.0.
   3. Windows AIK.
5. Install Acronis Snap Deploy 4 Management Console.

Installing Windows ADK 1.0 for Windows 8

To be able to create a bootable media based on WinPE on Windows 8, you must have Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) installed. For this purpose, install Acronis Snap Deploy 4 Management Console on a machine where Windows PE is installed. If you do not have such machine, do the following:

1. Download Windows ADK from the Windows ADK 1.0 Web page.
2. Burn it to a DVD or write it to a USB flash key.
3. Attach the flash key or insert the DVD in the media drive of a machine running Windows.
4. Select to install the following (Internet connection is required):
   • Deployment tools
   • Windows Preinstallation Environment.
5. Install Acronis Snap Deploy 4 Management Console.

Creating the bootable media

A bootable media based on WinPE 2.x requires at least 256 MB of memory to work. The recommended memory size for such media is 512 MB. A bootable media based on WinPE 3.0 or 4.0 requires at least 512 MB of memory to work.

The PE builder supports only 32-bit (x86) WinPE 2.x or 3.0 or 4.0. These WinPE distributions can also work on 64-bit (x64) hardware.

To create a bootable media based on WinPE 2.x or WinPE 3.0 or WinPE 4.0

1. Start Acronis Snap Deploy 4 Management Console.
2. On the Tools menu, click Create PE image.
3. Do one of the following:
   • If you do not have a PE image to base the media on, click Create Windows PE 2.x or 3.0 automatically or Create Windows PE 4.0 or 3.0 automatically.
   • If you want to base the bootable media on a specific PE image, click Use WinPE files located in the folder I specify, and then specify the folder with the WIM file of the image.
4. In Network settings, specify whether Acronis Snap Deploy 4 Agent will connect to a particular Acronis Snap Deploy 4 OS Deploy Server.
5. In Autostart, specify whether to start Acronis Snap Deploy 4 Agent automatically after a time-out.
6. Select how you want to create the bootable media.
   • If you want to create a physical media, select ISO image. The software will create an ISO file that you can later burn to a DVD or write to a USB drive.
   • If you want to upload the bootable components to Acronis PXE server, select Acronis PXE Server.
   • If you want to create a PE image (a WIM file) to later upload it to the PXE server, select WIM image. You may want to select this setting if you are planning to use Preinstallation Environment for unattended deployment to specific machines. If so, make sure that you have selected to start the agent automatically (see the previous step).

     Tip: The setting WIM image enables you to create a PE image for any future purpose, such as for adding other tools in addition to Acronis components.

7. Do one of the following:
   • If you have chosen to create an ISO or a WIM file, specify the full path to the resulting file, including the file name.
   • If you have chosen to upload the components to Acronis PXE Server, specify the machine with the PXE server and provide the user name and password of an administrator on it.
8. [Optional.] Specify the storage controller drivers and/or network adapter drivers that you want to add to the media. Click Add and specify the path to the necessary .inf file for a corresponding SCSI, RAID, SATA controller or a network adapter. You will have to repeat this procedure for each driver you want to be included in the bootable media.
9. Check your settings in the summary screen, and then click Create.
10. If you have chosen to create an ISO file, burn the file to a DVD by using a third-party tool, or write the file to a USB drive.