Installing Windows 7 Using Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) - Part 4

In Part 4 of this series, I will show you how to create a .iso image which will allow you to create bootable media for when you are doing your automated installs.

The specific terms and tools referenced in this video are:

1.  WINDOWS PE - "Windows Pre-Installation Environment".  This is a lightweight version of Windows 7 (and also other versions of Windows going back to XP) used to allow the deployment of workstations or servers.
2. WINPE.WIM - This is the base (non-modified) Windows PE image
3. BOOT.WIM - This contains a bootable version of Windows PE
4. IMAGEX.EXE - This is an imaging tool used to create, modify and deploy images to workstations and servers.  It support the Microsoft Windows Imaging (.wim) format
5. ETFSBOOT.COM - This is the El Torito Boot Sector File used to allow your .ISO image to boot the device where your image will be installed. (NOTE: The El Torito specification allows a CD-ROM/DVD-ROM to function as either a hard drive or a floppy drive from the perspective of the machine)
6. OSCDIMG - This is a command-line tool used to create an image file (.iso) of a customized version of Windows PE
7. COPYPE.CMD - This is a script used to create the WinPE directory structure and copies all of the necessary files for the architecture you've selected (x86, amd64, or ia64)

Reference Material Used in Creating this Blog:

• Step-by-Step: Basic Windows Deployment for IT Professionals
• How to Create an El Torito Bootable CD-ROM
• "El Torito" Bootable CD-ROM Format Specification