Resolving Bootcode Error When Creating USB WinPE Drive

Resolving Bootcode Error Creating USB WinPE Drive

In this article, we will discuss the steps to resolve a bootcode error when creating a USB WinPE drive. WinPE (Windows Preinstallation Environment) is a minimal operating system designed to prepare a computer for installation or troubleshooting. Creating a USB WinPE drive can be a useful tool for system administrators and IT professionals.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following:

• A USB flash drive with at least 2000 MB of free space
• A prepared WinPE environment in the C:\winpefolder directory

Preparing the USB Flash Drive

To prepare the USB flash drive, follow these steps:

1. Connect the USB flash drive to your computer
2. Open Command Prompt as an administrator
3. Type the following command to list all available drives: wmic diskdrive list brief /value
4. Identify the USB flash drive by its size and the partition style (MBR or GPT)
5. Format the USB flash drive using the following command: format drive: /fs:fat32 /q /x (Replace "drive:" with the letter of the USB flash drive)
6. Assign a drive letter to the USB flash drive using the following command: assign drive: (Replace "drive:" with the letter of the USB flash drive)

Copying the WinPE Environment

To copy the WinPE environment to the USB flash drive, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the C:\winpefolder directory using the following command: cd C:\winpefolder
2. Copy the contents of the directory to the USB flash drive using the following command: xcopy *.* drive: (Replace "drive:" with the letter of the USB flash drive)

Resolving Bootcode Error

If you encounter a bootcode error when booting from the USB flash drive, follow these steps:

1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator
2. Type the following command to list all available drives: wmic diskdrive list brief /value
3. Identify the USB flash drive by its size and the partition style (MBR or GPT)
4. Check the bootcode of the USB flash drive using the following command: bootsect /nt60 drive: (Replace "drive:" with the letter of the USB flash drive)
5. If the bootcode is not set to NT60, set it using the following command: bootsect /nt60 drive: (Replace "drive:" with the letter of the USB flash drive)

In this article, we discussed the steps to resolve a bootcode error when creating a USB WinPE drive. We covered the following key concepts:

• Preparing the USB flash drive
• Copying the WinPE environment
• Resolving bootcode error

References

• WinPE Introduction
• Create a WinPE Bootable USB Drive
• WinPE Bootsect Command