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Windows XP In Your Pocket

Posted by Zonk on from the happy-to-see-you dept.

BoredStiff writes "Tom's Hardware has a review of the Bart PE Builder software utility takes Windows XP and shrinks the OS to your USB flash drive. Besides converting your mini-drive into an emergency boot disk, you can use the utility to load a Web browser, media burning software and more - to have handy anywhere you go. And by the way, it doesn't violate the Windows XP EULA." From the article: "If your PC has a relatively new motherboard, its BIOS will already include the functions necessary to support USB-attached boot media. If so, you need only make the right selections in that BIOS menu to boot from a USB flash drive. Older PCs, on the other hand, won't accept USB drives as valid boot devices. This means a BIOS update that supports USB boot options is necessary. You can find information about where to obtain such updates from your PC's (or motherboard's) user manual, on the driver CD included with the PC (or motherboard) or on the vendor's Website."

38 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. LiveCD Windows by geomon · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've been running BartPE on machines at work and it is the best. We tried similar commercial products based on Windows PE and have found this open source tool to be the most flexible way to get a bootable Windows image customized to our corporate profile.

    But Bart's is not the officially sanctioned Windows PE: In the Technet Webcast about Windows PE a Microsoft Program Manager (not calling any names) says: "BartPE is an unlicensed version of WinPE and of Windows XP. Something to we really encourage people to stay away from because it is actually an improperly licensed version of Windows".

    "The Man" doesn't like BartPE; all the more reason to use it.

    --
    "Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
    1. Re:LiveCD Windows by jdigriz · · Score: 5, Informative

      According to Bart PE's own web page, that Program Manager is in error.
        It says "Q. "BartPE is an unlicensed version of WinPE and of Windows XP."
      A. This is not correct, BartPE is not WinPE and will never be WinPE. BartPE builds from Windows XP or Server 2003 files. BartPE is not built from any WinPE file and does not use any files that belong to Windows PE!
      Note: Previous versions of PE Builder did instruct the enduser to download certain WinPE network components from the internet when enabling the network support, but v3.0.30 and higher have built-in network support."

      From: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ under the Legal Information section.

    2. Re:LiveCD Windows by geomon · · Score: 5, Informative

      So what sort of violation are you looking at? DMCA violation? Copyright violation? Breaking your shrinkwrap?

      None, no, no, and ummmm...., no.

      It would seem that given the illegality of this,

      Why? The OS is Microsoft's. The builder is Bart's. He just bypassed the WinPE, not the OS. You still have to create the LiveCD with Microsoft products and follow the EULA for their OS. The same is true for WinPE products developed commercially and with the blessing of the Borg. ...you'd might was well not do it, and use a different OS, like NetBSD, FreeBSD or some Linux-based OS.

      Why? If my customers are using Windows, and I am trying to correct a problem in Windows, so that my customer can continue using... Windows, why would I use some *other* OS? If they were using Linux, I would use Knoppix to fix their system.

      The last thing I need is the BSA (Business Software Alliance) coming to my place of business with a bunch of pigs and poring over my crap to find violations and then hit me for $20K per violation.

      Then don't use pirated software. BartsPE is his own work, free from Microsoft's code. He just came up with a method for creating a LiveCD that is different from other companies who use Microsoft's PE software.

      --
      "Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
    3. Re:LiveCD Windows by Izago909 · · Score: 4, Informative
      When using BartPE you should know that:

      1. It is legal to make a "backup copy" of ANY files from your original Windows XP/2003 media to another media.
      2. It is legal to add any other files you wish to the backup media.
      3. It is not legal to use a BartPE CD and an installed Windows XP/2003 both at the same time under the same Windows XP/2003 EULA.
      4. It is not legal to change any binary files in the process according to the Windows XP/2003 EULA. This makes "winlogon" and "bootscreen" hacks illegal.
      5. A BartPE image is (and I quote) "not a properly licensed WinPE". This means that if you want to have a licensed WinPE, you cannot use BartPE. However, you can use a BartPE image under the license of the Windows XP/2003 EULA that came with the BartPE XP/2003 source media.

    4. Re:LiveCD Windows by CptSkippy · · Score: 4, Informative
      Why? If my customers are using Windows, and I am trying to correct a problem in Windows, so that my customer can continue using... Windows, why would I use some *other* OS?

      I would use the best tool for the job, which isn't always an OS of the same flavor as the one you're trying to repair.

      Case in point, something happened to my XP system that caused the dreaded "Page Fault in Non Paged Area" BSOD every time I booted my system. Microsoft said it was bad memory and after swapping everything in my system out to no avail I popped the HDD in another PC to get the files off it and guess what happened when I booted it. Yep, BSOD. Odd when every HDD analysis tool said the drive was fine. Given that it is a SATA drive I booted the other PC without the HDD connected and then hot plugged it. After about 10 seconds of installing new hardware the PC gave me that ever so lovely BSOD message "Page Fault in Non Paged Area". Hrmm... threw it back in the old PC and booted off the XP install media and guess what the XP setup program did? If you guessed BSOD, you're correct. I didn't even know you could BSOD the setup program, it looks like a DOS app with it's lovely ASCIIness.

      So what's a guy to do if he can't use any Microsoft product to repair his system? Well I booted off a Knoppix disk and mounted the HDD without problem, then I copied my files over the network to another PC. Being that I know nothing about Linux and the partitioning program I found in Knoppix gave me no help and a couple errors, I booted off a Fedora Core disc I had laying around and used it's partitioning utility to zap the disk. Then I booted off the XP disc and it let me reinstall the system.

      Without a non Microsoft OS, I would have never been able to reformat my HDD or recover any of the files.
  2. So, fellow Slashdotters... by Tackhead · · Score: 3, Funny
    > Windows XP In Your Pocket

    So, fellow [male] Slashdotters, is that Windows XP in our pockets, or do we all just have a case of blue balls?

    1. Re:So, fellow Slashdotters... by shigelojoe · · Score: 5, Funny

      or do we all just have a case of blue balls?

      With Windows involved, wouldn't it be the Blue Balls of Death (BBOD)?

  3. And to update your BIOS by moonbender · · Score: 3, Funny

    This means a BIOS update that supports USB boot options is necessary. You can find information about where to obtain such updates from your PC's (or motherboard's) user manual, on the driver CD included with the PC (or motherboard) or on the vendor's Website.

    And to flash your updated BIOS, just boot the system to DOS using your USB boot drive! See how useful those things are!

    --
    Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
  4. mirror and comment by winkydink · · Score: 2, Informative

    All pages mirrored here.

    Why not just boot one of the gazillion linux distros and fix it that way? You'll get a ton more tools for your capacity as well.

    --

    "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey

  5. or perhaps by 834r9394557r011 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    you could run qemu or knoppix and have a secure os for that kind of stuff.

    --
    w00t
    1. Re:or perhaps by tbonius · · Score: 5, Insightful

      the WindowsPE/Bart PE concept is actually pretty handy for setup and deployment of Windows based systems, as well as a great recovery tool for Windows.

      Some might reply "try !insert favorite Linux distribution here!", but as stated earlier, when you need a tool for Windows, this actually works pretty well.

      Another concept we have implemented here at my place of employment, is to create a small PE partition at the beginning of the drive.. and then install the actual production OS on the secondary partition. When any issues arise, we can remotely reboot to the first partition and run one of many different build/recovery options.

      It is interesting that an older tool such as PE is just now making news in some places.

      --
      ** Share what you know, learn what you do not **
    2. Re:or perhaps by ari_j · · Score: 2, Informative

      Only if you don't want the ability to write to an NTFS filesystem. I had the same thought - Why would you want a Windows XP LiveCD? And that's the answer I came up with - to make changes to my NTFS filesystem.

    3. Re:or perhaps by ari_j · · Score: 2, Informative

      The last time I tried, you could only write to NTFS in the sense that you could change the contents of a file - you could not change the size of a file, delete a file, or create a new file, if I remember at all correctly.

  6. Bart PE works great by Nerd+Systems · · Score: 5, Informative
    I've used Bart PE many times in my PC business, http://www.nerdsystems.com/ and it has saved the day so many times. I routinely fix computers for people that have registry errors, video issues, and more, that have me locked out of the system, not even able to get into things using safe mode...

    I'm currently running Bart PE off a CD, where I just pop the CD in, boot off it, and a few minutes later I have full access to the machine, and can repair anything that I need to get done...

    This USB method will work even better, can just load Bart PE onto my USB drive, load all the applications that I use often, such as Anti-Spyware and more, and go from there....

    I wonder if USB drives being so fast, and being read/write, if one day I could just run the entire OS off this USB drive, and pretty much have my complete system working wherever I go....

    Bart PE is great... going to try out the USB method right now as we speak...

    --
    Need a Nerd?
    Nerd Systems
    1. Re:Bart PE works great by sconeu · · Score: 3, Informative

      Unit conflict

      USB 2.0 = 480Mbps = 60MBps
      PATA EIDE = 133MBps

      I have no idea what SATA data rates are, but they're bits per second rather than bytes.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    2. Re:Bart PE works great by BrianRaker · · Score: 2, Informative

      SATA is rated at up to 150MBytes/s. SATA-II is supposed to be good up to 300MBytes/s.

      Not bits.

      --
      As I walk through the valley of death I fear no one, for I am the meanest sonova bitch in the valley!
    3. Re:Bart PE works great by kevcol · · Score: 2, Funny

      Time to dump that 486.

  7. Is this news, or a dupe? by eander315 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This was covered long ago. I fail to see how it becomes newsworthy because the goons at Tom's just discovered it. Putting it on a USB flashdrive rather than a CD doesn't really cut it either, though from RTFA, I gather that's what has gotten them breathing heavy.

  8. EULA by kdark1701 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "And by the way, it doesn't violate the Windows XP EULA."

    Like anyone here honestly cares about that silly text file.

    1. Re:EULA by ch-chuck · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you don't read the EULA and agree to the TOS, they can't give you a COA and lower your TCO, then you'll be SOL.

      --
      try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
  9. And the crazy thing is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The crazy thing is that a "full" install of WinXP (which BartPE is not) can NOT boot from USB. If you don't believe me, try it.

    Unbelievable...

  10. How fast are USB flash drives? by GPS+Pilot · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've never tried to boot from one. Since flash drives are solid-state, are they faster than a real hard drive?

    (I assume that if you're connecting it to a USB 1.0 port, the USB connection would be the bottleneck, and you'd get much faster boot times connecting to a USB 2.0 port.)

    --
    That that is is that that that that is not is not.
    1. Re:How fast are USB flash drives? by KillShill · · Score: 5, Informative

      no. most usb thumb drives and the like have hideously lower performance than a hard drive. the so called "hi-speed" 40-60x flash memory is approximately 10-15 MB/s which compared to recent hard drives are in the 30-50 MB/s range.

      if it's cheap, you can be guaranteed that it's around 7MB/s. this is still faster than 52X cdroms (which never reach 52x in the real world). and 15MB/s is faster than 8x DVDs.

      solid state doesn't automatically make it fast or faster. it depends on the characteristics of the device in question. flash is getting faster by the year. and there are even some "dual channel" drives which combine more than one flash chip to increase throughput.

      next gen flash memory is rated at 40-60MB/s, which
      is quite a bit faster than most end-user 5400rpm hard drives and on par with high end disks. of course, you still have the problem of flash being small in storage size. and the biggest devices are no more than 4-8GBs; far too low to be of use in replacing HDs.

      still they have their uses. they run cool and take up very little space. these would be perfect for embedded devices and small form factor systems. among many other uses one can conceive of.

      --
      Science : Proprietary , Knowledge : Open Source
  11. Works, but a little limited by HermanAB · · Score: 2, Informative

    BartsPE has a limit on the number of processes you can run and it has to restart after 24 hours. Despite that, it is quite useful as an emergency Windoze especially since it cannot get infected by crapware. However, even the teenie tiny Puppy Linux has more useful features...

    --
    Oh well, what the hell...
  12. "The Man" doesn't like... by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 2, Funny
    Gee, this is the kind of reasoning my momma warned me about: "The Man" doesn't like ______; all the more reason to use it.

    Fill in the blank...
    a) crack
    b) dirty needles
    c) pot
    d) fried food
    e) Linux

    But mom! all the cool kids are doing it!

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
  13. BartsPE and Windows Server 2003 Evaluation version by wrecked · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've had to make a BartsPE CD so that I could use a Windows-only firmware utility. It wouldn't work in Wine, and I didn't know how to use qemu or the like, so I thought of going through the BartsPE route.

    I didn't want to pirate a copy of XP, so I downloaded the evaluation version of Windows Server 2003 instead (BartsPE needs at least XP or Server 2003). Although the Server 2003 evaluation version on the harddrive expired after 180 days, the BartsPE CD created from that install still works.

    I found that BartsPE was a real pain to build, because you have to hunt down all the software and drivers, and edit *.ini files.

    BartsPE is kind of cool, and is better and faster for accessing NTFS partitions than captive-ntfs, but compared to Knoppix (and its derivatives), it's not that useful.

    Knoppix has far more and useful software and networks automagically. Unlike BartsPE, you don't need to build Knoppix, you just download it and burn it to CD.

  14. Not new, but pretty cool! by Mr.+Cancelled · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Bart PE's been arond awhile! I came across an iso image which someone had put on the p2p networks awhile ago... I think they called it "Windows PE" at the time, but whatever... it was Bart.

    Anyways... The iso resulted in a bootable cd which allowed you to boot into a stripped down Windows client, a windows installer, partition magic, and a whole host of other useful (and obviously unlicensed ) software.

    It looked to be a very helpful "toolkit" to have, since you could basically fix any Windows boot issues, in addition to performing formats, partitions, and such, with the point and click familiarity of Windows. I remember just thinking that being able to boot into Partition Magic was a pretty neat trick, much less to have a workable system (not 100% "working", but useable).

    If I recall, BartPE walks the fine line of licensing by requiring the user to create the Windows discs, using their own personal software, so the p2p version was obviously someone's creation they chose to share with the world, but it was still very cool! At the time I remember thinking that it was more accessible than Knoppix for the avg. non-*nix person, at which this is obviously aimed.

  15. USB Problems by SLOviper · · Score: 4, Informative

    I use this tool at work all the time - mostly for recovering files from problematic systems and for virus/adware scanning. It works great! That said, I tried putting BartPE on a USB key back about 6 months ago to no avail. It works great right up to the point that XP initializes your USB devices - then *POOF*, no more boot drive. The RAM drive is a clever workaround and I will have to give that a shot. If you're using Dell's, however, I wouldn't expect too much luck. The older Optiplex's don't support USB booting and the newest ones seem to not like the BartPE variant. I did have luck with the GX270 series, however. Just posting my experiences for others to learn from...

    --
    In theory, theory always works in practice. In practice, theory rarely works. <><
  16. http://www.no-install.com by leftyfb · · Score: 2, Informative

    I've posted this article and others about running applications and OS's(linux) from USB drives and other portable devices on my site http://www.no-install.com/. There's also a downloads section for registered users (free) to download and post such applications.

  17. Using PE on systems around me... by kcb93x · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I type this as 40+ machines in the same room as me use PE to launch the installer for our client's baseline system image. It installs the following:

    -Windows XP Pro
    -Drivers for the system (detects model and installs appropriate drivers, and extra software - like IBM's Rapid Restore Ultra on all IBM/Lenovo machines)
    -MS Office (I'm just a monkey here to run this site's deployment, I don't make any decisions)
    -Extra stuff used by the client (firewalls on all laptops, burning software on IBMs with burners, DVD players, etc)

    All in all, it's a rather powerful (and simple but extendable) automated Windows installer. I like it.

    In fact...I think I'll look into this tonight, and tommorow when I'm back in (Hey, overtime is enough reason for me to not play WoW and come to work, seeing as it's 10 blocks to work :D)

    --
    There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
  18. Re:I'm using bartpe right now by Yogger · · Score: 2, Funny

    and i'm still not bothering to check spelling or preview

  19. Better than just BartPE by Jety · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you're looking for Windows type rescue disks, go one step further and check out the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows - http://www.ubcd4win.com/ It is BartPE bundled with all of the most useful utils, includeing antivirus, antispyware, file manager, disk diags etc etc etc.

    --
    --Scavenger-- http://www.playdecay.com Online gaming the old fashioned way.
  20. Re:I know because... by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 2, Insightful


    Pardon me - I suspect you are a FUCKING LIAR - even if you're not currently working for Microsoft. We know everyone who IS working for Microsoft is a FUCKING LIAR, so I'm afraid you're suspect until proven otherwise.

    It seems to me YOUR explanation walks a fine line between claiming Bart's PE IS Windows PE and then saying he "reverse engineered" the entire build process.

    Well, if the BUILD process is not yours, then the PE is not yours, regardless of its layout. The point of the PE is to enable Windows to run before being installed. If the files are the same, but there was NO build process except "manually" doing this, what difference does it make if the PE layout is the same - whether it was built by a third party app, or manually?

    The bottom line is this: a user is taking their own properly licensed files and using a third party application to construct a PE that works the same as Windows PE.

    Clearly the files may be the same, but I see no evidence in your post that there is anything there against the EULA - unless the EULA says that a user may not take Windows files from a hard drive and put them on a CD. Is Microsoft's EULA that precise about allowed usage of the product? Does Microsoft claim that a properly licensed end user of Windows cannot take, for example, one of command line executables, put it on a CD, and run it from there? That's ALL that's happening here.

    And since you rely on Microsoft's fucking lawyers for that opinion, it's worthless.

    This is fucking ridiculous. One more reason to tell Gates to stick Windows up his ass.

    --
    Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
  21. Re:A7N8X Drivers? by Snover · · Score: 2, Informative

    I have an Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe which supports booting from USB. I have another Asus K8N-E Deluxe that also supports booting from USB. You may need to have a USB device connected *first*, and then go into the BIOS and change the boot order, but the option should be there.

    --

    [insert witty comment here]
  22. Is that Windows XP in your pocket? by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 3, Funny

    Or are you just happy to see me?

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
  23. Re:Cool, but why? by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 2, Informative


    The issue is direct support for the NTFS file system.

    Other than the Captive utility, Linux can not do read-write reliably on NTFS. Supposedly, even with the Captive utility, the files do not work right with Windows XP Service Pack 2 (I haven't verified this, I read this somewhere.)

    The Captive utility is a great idea, but it basically just puts a wrapper around the Windows NTFS file system driver. So it's not that different in concept from Bart's PE. But having native NTFS support is very useful. You can then do things like run Windows specific AV and spyware cleaners that can access the NTFS file system.

    --
    Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
  24. RAM disk version. by Macfox · · Score: 2, Informative

    Yes... not only can you boot from other removable media, but RAM disk too.

    There's two flavours at the moment. ISO based readonly RAM Disk and the SDI based ReadWrite version. I find the latter the better, as it you don't need a secondary RAM Disk to get things like WMI working etc. The above images ISO/SDI images can be loaded over TFTP (F12 - PXE Network boot), CD, HD, USB, or any other bootable media, for real speedy XP. Oh, once the RAM disk is loaded you can remove the boot media too. :)

    If you're interested, a good place to start is
    http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=9 685&st=0 and http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=1 1048&hl=

    On a side note there also a SYSLINUX patch http://remile.free.fr/syslinux/, (Needs a bit more work) that will load SDI images. Currently only works with XPe, so not no WinPE Minint functionality, but it's almost there.

    Rob

    --
    Area51 - We are watching...
  25. Re:Since it's illegal anyway.. by Mozk · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is that Windows XP in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

    --
    No existe.