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Live Windows Bootable CDs for Sysadmins
WhoDaresWins writes "Ever wonder how to make a Knoppix-like live Windows bootable CD (or DVD)? Well its now possible using Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD. It's basically an expansion of the Microsoft's own Windows PE (Preinstallation Environment) idea which is a minimal Windows (XP/2K3) based bootable live CD with a command prompt and the ability to run some basic Windows GUI. Bart's PE allows anyone to make a bootable CD using their own Windows XP/2K3 media with Bart's PE Builder. What's more many people have contributed quite a few plugins that allow you to use the BartPE discs as quite a nifty system administration tool and with some work an almost usable quick system."
You come for the NTFS support and stay for the win32 API. By far the other most useful things are the virus scanner and the networking support. You can easily detect all nics that XP will support outof the box or create a plugin if it doesn't
It's great for fixing Windows machines that won't boot. While I would prefer to use Knoppix and systemrescuecd BartsPE is usually more suited.
Beings aspergers AND pulling chicks... I enjoy the challenge!
To be honest, it feels more like a disappointment than a relief. I'm sure people can identify: we've all faced our horrible problems in the era of Windows 95 and 98 (and others). The operating system seems to completely crash and will only boot up to a screen that tells us some vital file is missing. Or perhaps we have that horrible old floppy disk with a few core programs on it, all of which are near useless. DOS is our only way to go... unless of course the floppy drive is broken. (Happened to me once... rendered the computer seemingly quite useless to me, with my level of knowledge at that time). Do you know what it's like remembering my MSN searches from 5 years ago, when I checked if a Windows bootable CD was a plausible thing? After all of those years, and all of those trials... suddenly, it's here. I happen to think that Windows XP is a fine operating system, and with Norton & Ad-Aware, most bad things are kept off my system anyway. Even the horrible "Your computer has started up in 640x480 with 16 colors, no sound card registered, no video card recognized, and no monitor apparently ever installed for NO APPARENT REASON WHATSOEVER" situation rarely comes up. And NOW we have bootable Windows? It's a silver lining with a cloud, if you ask me.
but then I get to thinking about hardware drivers and wonder how the heck they did it. One thing Linux has gotten pretty good at over the years is handling a billion zillion hardware drivers so that you know you've got the right ones for installing a system. I've never had good luck in Windows when upgrading the hardware if I leave the old driver in place.
You might be able to get away with a basic set of simple drivers (Basic IDE, sound blaster, NE2000...) but then you lose any sort of performance you might have once had... I'd like to know how this thing actually works.
I had just inherited a new notebook from a co-worker that had just left. I needed to make sure that all the corporate information on the notebook was accounted for. Unfortunately this was one they had built up themselves and noone had the admin passwords to the local machine. Enter ESCD.
Using this nice little CD I was able to boot to a linux environment, read the NTFS partitions and make changes to the password files with a nice little menu to step me through it.
A couple of quick changes later and I was able to log in to the machine as the local computer admin and receover all information that had been stored on there. Was quite funky.
Are you sure? No, I haven't tried BartPE - and won't, since I am done with MS stuff forever now and my net pipe isn't wide enough to download an ISO.
But - two years ago I played around with the WinPE disk which was a REALLY cut down version XP. Sure it had a gui - win32 stuff was there allright since it could run cmd.exe in a window et all. Sure it has a GUI - if you mean that it doesn't have explorer, then just say that. Misinformation is bad. I could use many other alternative "window managers" (if you can call them that, they don't really manage windows - the win32 library shit does that.) WinPE wasn't very well put together - opening up notepad, I could go to "Desktop" and find weird non-existing entires, bah, whatever. It matters not anymore.
Sorry folks, the only way you will bait me back to the world of Windows is if someone makes a REAL POSIX layer running on top ntoskrnl (The NT Microkernel) (with an option to not load the win32 layer, obviously, whew)
I hate to go on a MS bash, but seriously - way to go MS. First you hire CMU and VMS guys, with whom you write an interesting kernel based on Mach and VMS. Then - you implement all your flaky win16-->32 stuff on top, make a half-assed "posix" layer, and OF COURSE never publicise the ACTUAL kernel (ntoskrnl) INTERFACE. (Thats the Nt... and Rtl... funcs if you care)
Imagine an ntoskrnl-based system with Hurd build around that and not around Mach. Or imagine a UNIX -like environment running on BSD-services running on top of ntoskrnl. Way to go MS - stifle creativity, advancement, technology.
What about MS licensing? what are the limitations of distributing something like this? Knowing Microsoft It can't be free..... can it?
"Fear the penguin"
Linux with kernel panic...
MadPenguin.org
If Microsoft will ever release Kinoppix-like full-functional live CD version of Windows with a set of most frequently used apps, that will make many windows users' lives much easier. All viruses and worms that screw up your system by overwriting system configuration files/registry and by installing junk (e.g. spyware) on the hard disk will be history --as long as applications are allowed to run only from the CD-Rom. You can still keep custom icons and all junks (e.g. your mp3s and appz collection for file sharing) on hard disk, while everything in C:\Progra~1 and \Windows dirs will remain as they are supposed to be on a CD. Works just like XboX, I guess. Forget customization: security is more important than your custom wallpapers, don't you think?
Only and the biggest problem with Win-Live CD is that YOU CAN'T PATCH IT! and the fact is MS loves patching your PC. So after all, Win-Live is just another dream. How unfortunate.
Meanwhile, Windows live-CD will allow me to get rid of fat32 partition on my machine. no more dual-boot necessary....
Just had a HD meltdown and I'm too lazy to get my user/pass mailed to me. So I'm AC.
I just tried BartPE and I'm impressed - even though it didn't work for me. You're only right in that the 'core' is stripped down - but you can add massive functionality via plugins. For example, you drop in some Adaware dlls and exes and suddenly you have a bootable Windows CD with an up-to-date malware removal tool.
Some of the other plugins already configured (just add the files) are: a browser (offbyone), SSH/telnet client (putty), VNC (tightvnc), etc, etc, etc. I think I saw about 50 preconfigured plugins and the website keeps a running list of user-contributed ones.
I'm getting halfway through the boot process but a system failure message pops up. I used an old crappy CDRW (drive and media) and I'll likely try again with better hardware in the morning.
All in all, I can EASILY see myself using BartPE. Knoppix too, but the latter sure doesn't help much with a pooched Windows install.
The Winternals product costs maybe $300. Bart's is free.
Also, it doesn't matter if Bart's is new. What matters is that more people need to hear about it.
I wish Bart's was better documented and easier to customize.
Note that Bart is doing for Microsoft customers what Microsoft should have done. Microsoft provides PE only for its biggest customers. Everyone else gets a crippled version of the OS.
Even if you have Bart's Windows XP is still crippled: "Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP have crippled file systems." The file system cannot copy some of the files that are necessary to the operating system. Microsoft provides no way of making functional backups of its newer operating systems! (Yes, I know about Sysprep and NTBackup and third-party methods. Microsoft technical support agrees with my statement.)
I've skimmed the homepage with great interest. There is definitely the potential for an even greater tool than has already been created by this guy. But considering what folks are capable of doing, how are the guys at Redmond going to respond? With the recent code leak in the news, it could be very easy for Gates & Co to pull an SCO or something else in the spirit of control and intimidation to stop users from doing what they consider to be "unacceptable" use of the Windows EULA.
What's more many people have contributed quite a few plugins....
Bart addresses the bureaucratic legalities of using the original install media further down on his web page but when push comes to shove how solid is his position when his own code and that of his contributors are concerned?
Stay sentient. Don't drink bad milk.
Try this instead:
AR RAM Disk
Freeware...
MinGW has the required DDK headers and libraries. It's a free download.
Current c't magazine includes a knoppix cd with new-fangled "use original windows NTFS.SYS via wine" drivers. So writing to NTFS in linux is no worse idea than writing to NTFS in windows :)
Free as in mason.
my sysadmin has Win98SE on a 128mb usb drive, and it comes in handy all the time. plus it has room for about a thousand good programs.
i've seen win98 with full GUI fit in 4.6mb, and NTFS4DOS allows you to read/write NTFS partitions easily&safely. you don't even need a 64mb drive.
just like the humble blood clot... turboporsche@telus.net
Seriously big clients with seriously valuable data better have a serious backup strategy anyways, but after i've seen MS Office refuse to open its own documents until they were opened in OpenOffice and saved out again (losing enormous amounts of obviously unneccessary bytes in the process), i have not much trouble trusting data to WINE + NTFS.SYS that was previously trusted to the "real" windows + NTFS.SYS.
Of course, if i got my hands on valuable data that is "the only copy", the first thing to do would be mounting that friggin' thing read-only and copy it over to another disk.
Free as in mason.
By default, it IS limited to 6 processes. That is, unless you search for a hacked version of several of the files. Bart removed the information he once posted about this said fix, as well as all links to said files that others have posted.
:P
For the same reason he reworked how he created BartPE. Because windows once came after him. He changed how he used certain things, such as his implementation of the registry. So he is not currently infringing on anything Microsoft. Everything he has done so far has been legit, atleast in the current version. However, that cracked file that removes certain limitations of Windows PE would break that. So he leaves them be.
And just because you submitted the story doesn't mean you know EVERYTHING.
BitDefender Live (www.bitdefender.com) is a antivirus program that is multiplatform. It works on linux desktops & servers, windows desktops & servers, palm pilots, yahoo messsenger, and on and on. When windows is messed up it can quarentine the virus, say to a thumb drive so if the infected file happens to be explorer.exe its not completly deleted.
I love this program, it does wonders at a university with lots of mindless stupid users.
~ryan
No, seriously, the best reason I've found to use this (over Knoppix or similar Linux/BSD's on a CD) is support for Windows-only hardware, like every wireless card I have.