Goal: To prepare a UFD to boot WinPE 2.0 using a Windows XP workstation.

Challenge: Windows XP Diskpart utility does not allow UFD devices to be marked as active

Prerequisites:

• Windows Embedded Studio tools with Feature Pack 2007.
• Windows Automated Installation Kit
• Create the default WinPE environment following this walktrhough: http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/31b6b2c0-2739-4204-88f0-2000a4b9e20a1033.mspx?mfr=true Note: Skip step #4 in the walkthrough.

Workround:

1.       Insert the key into the Windows XP / 2003 system.

2.       Note the drive letter assigned to the device.

3.       Open a command prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd). Change directories to c:\program files\windows embedded\utilities.

4.       Run ufdprep.exe to mark the disk as active. Type: ufdprep.exe x: /y
Where x: is the drive letter noted in step 2.

5.       If the disk is not already formatted NTFS (UFD disks are usually shipped as FAT32) from the command prompt type: convert x: /fs:ntfs
Where x: is the drive letter noted in step 2.

6.       From the Windows PE Tools Command Prompt type: .\x86\bootsect.exe /nt60 x: /force
Where x: is the drive letter noted in step 2

7.       The last step is to copy the Windows PE files to the device. Copy the contents of c:\winpe_x86\ISO to the USB Flash device.

8.       Eject the USB Flash device, insert the drive into the target device and boot. Make sure the BIOS is configured to boot from USB HDD. Boot the device to Windows PE.