Implementation of a bootable UFD-based recovery PE for WinXP

[christopher_wolf]

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to document the creation and subsequent implementation of a self-contained environment with the intent to recover an otherwise unbootable Thinkpad. The Preloaded Environment is based off a barebones copy of Windows XP generated by a host system beforehand, much in the same way a backup of a system would be made. Also documented is a way to extract system files from an unbootable drive mounted on another system and use those files to boot the hitherto unbootable system.

Step-by-step procedures are as follows:


Method 1;

1.) Download BartPE

2.) Install or extract BartPE to your primary HDD and prepare a USB flash-based drive as the media with a minimum capacity of 256MB.

3.) Download this entire directory and all its contents and place it in the PEBuilder working directory next to the executables.

4.) Execute the PEBuilder.exe application; select the source destination for your files (See Alternative, Method 2), write the image to the default BartPE directory but do not burn an *.iso.

5.) Open a command line to the working directory of the PE builder and execute the follwing command line

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pe2usb -f <FLASH DRIVE LETTER>:

6.) Monitor the progress of the imaging process until it has been completed.

7.) Proceed to the UFD-BOOT Section of this article.


Alternative; Method 2:

1.) Assuming you have performed steps 1-4, not including 4 which this current step replaces, you are now about to extract system files off an otherwise unbootable HDD (note that this HDD must have Windows XP on it). First, mount the HDD via USB, Ultrabay, or PC Card such that it is recognized by Windows PnP and assigned a drive letter via a form of DLA

2.) Start pebuilder.exe. In the "Source" field, replace "c:" with the drive letter that you wish to recover the system files from. Then proceed as you would in Method 1 through steps 5 to 7.

3.) Proceed to the UFD-BOOT section of this article.


UFD-BOOT is to be performed as follows;

1.) Plug the USB flash device in a USB port on your system whilst the system is off.

2.) Boot the system, making sure that the USB flash device is firmly connected and its activity light, if present, is on and functioning.

3.) Enter the BIOS and change the boot order of the devices; you should see present an entry for "USB Floppy" or similar and a sub entry for a USB mass storage device. Move this to the first boot device just in front of the system's HDD, which should now be second.

4.) Restart and examine the boot process; if all went as planned, you should be in the BartPE environment customized for a Thinkpad.

As a note, this can be done with most systems; the thing with the Thinkpads, however, is that the Windows XP preload is a heavily modified OEM version of Windows. At some point during the making of the PE image, you may have noticed a Warning that was generated once an OEM copy of windows is detected. It is important that you make sure the i386 has the correct drivers and system files that pertain to that system. Hence, the implementation of Method 2 for special systems where certain drivers are required by Windows XP to boot. It isn't recommended to load an off-the-shelf copy of Windows XP onto the PE UFD in this manner as it can cause unexpected results during booting. It is always best to stick with the Thinkpad i386 folder and related system files/drivers.

HTH

[michaelrandall2009]

It appears that the "directory" link above has moved or been removed. If you find another location for the files, I would love to try this out to provide to my local system admin team.

[o boogie]

It appears that the "directory" link above has moved or been removed. If you find another location for the files, I would love to try this out to provide to my local system admin team.

The directory Link (in step 3) is not available from Berkleley.edu.

Does anyone have the directory that the OP is referring to? Much obliged if someone can upload and make it available.

thanks in advance!

[GomJabbar]

The originator of this thread has not posted to this forum in nearly 3 years. You can try Google.

[RealBlackStuff]

Take your laptop to Starbucks or similar, outside of campus.
The link is perfectly OK.

[GomJabbar]

Take your laptop to Starbucks or similar, outside of campus.
The link is perfectly OK.

Hmmm, it's not working for me.

Server not found

Firefox can't find the server at webfiles.berkeley.edu.

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$ ping webfiles.berkeley.edu
ping: unknown host webfiles.berkeley.edu

[Harryc]

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C:\Users\Harryc>ping webfiles.berkeley.edu

Pinging webfiles.berkeley.edu [208.68.139.38] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.

[GomJabbar]

I changed my dns server just now to opendns, and I can ping webfiles.berkeley.edu. Still can't access the link though.

[RealBlackStuff]

Oops!, I only saw the link to PartPE.
The other link (to Berkeley) does not work for me either.

Don't know if this is the guy you need, but how many C.W.s could there be?
http://www.qsrmagazine.com/articles/col ... ng-1.phtml
Christopher Wolf is QSR’s marketing columnist, reporting on industry trends in branding, advertising, and social media marketing. He can be reached at Chris@qsrmagazine.com
Maybe send him an email?

[Harryc]

According to the Internet White Pages there are 47 Christopher Wolfs in the state of California alone.

[GomJabbar]

Last I knew, C.W. was in medical school to become a doctor. Haven't heard anything in the last 3 years.