CloudWindows 10

How to add WinPE drivers to a boot.wim via DISM

In this blog I will explain how to add the latest WinPE driver to the boot.wim image of your Windows 10 image via DISM.

I have written a previous blog about “How to build a Windows PE boot image” via SCCM, but what if you are not using SCCM, MDT or any other 3rd party tool? In this case you can use the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM.exe) command-line tool.

Here are the steps to add the latest WinPE drivers to a boot.wim file via the DISM command-tool.

Step 1: Install Windows ADK

Download and install the latest Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK).

Download link: Windows Assessment Deployment Kit

Install the following features from the Windows ADK.

  • Deployment Tools
  • Imaging And Configuration Designer (ICD)
  • Configuration Designer
  • User State Migration Tool (USMT)

Step 2: Download the WinPE driver pack

In this step we will be downloading and preparing the WinPE driver pack which we will be adding to our boot.wim file. You can download the WinPE driver pack from any hardware vendor like Dell, HP or Lenovo. If you add one of these WinPE driver packages to your boot image you can boot most of the hardware that is currently available.

Download the driver pack from one of these locations:

Dell : Dell Driver Packs

HP : HP Driver Packs

Lenovo: Lenovo Driver Packs

In my case I downloaded the current WinPE 10 from Dell.

Extract the driver cab and copy it to your Windows source location. In my case that will be C:\WindowsSources\10\1909\Drivers\WinPe

Step 3: Mount the boot.wim file

I will be mounting my boot.wim file from my WindowsMedia folder. C:\WindowsMedia.

The boot.wim file contains two image files. You have to inject the driver pack into both images. (index:1 and index:2)

Start the Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment with “Run as Administrator” rights.

  • Mount the Windows Setup boot image (index:1)

Step 4: Inject the WinPE drivers into boot.wim index:1

In this step we will be injecting the WinPE drivers.

  • Add the WinPE drivers to the mounted boot image (use the recurse switch to loop through all driver subfolders)
  • Unmount the boot image index:1 and commit the changes

Step 5: Inject the WinPE drivers into boot.wim index:2

Repeat the steps from step 3 and 4 for boot.wim index:2.

  • Mount the Windows Setup boot image (index:2)
  • Add the WinPE  drivers to the mounted boot image (use the recurse switch to loop through all driver subfolders)
  • Unmount the boot image index:2 and commit the changes

Step 6: Start deploying your new hardware with Windows 10

Copy your new boot.wim file to your deployment media and start deploying your hardware with Windows 10 that supports all the latest hardware drivers.

Happy deploying…. 😉

 

4 Comments

  1. Alex
  2. Michael Vang
  3. Sebastien McGrath
  4. Pierre-Joe Fekete

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