Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment

The Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) makes IT professionals more productive by providing powerful preparation and installation tools for Windows Vista, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Server 2003. With Windows PE, IT staff can build custom solutions that speed deployment through automation, helping them spend less time and effort keeping desktops updated.

Windows PE helps IT professionals do the following:

• Be more prepared: Windows PE helps IT professionals prepare to deploy and support Windows desktops and servers. Recovery efforts are less time-consuming and more productive.
• Save time and focus on critical tasks: Engineers have the ability to inject mass-storage, networking, audio, video, and other types of device drivers directly into an existing copy of Windows PE. As a result, IT professionals no longer need to customize disks that are bootable by using MS-DOS.
• Streamline processes: IT professionals can format disks with the NTFS file system without using third-party utilities. Also, the file-system utilities that Windows PE provides are scriptable, helping administrators completely automate the hard-disk preparation process.
• Maintain easy network access: Windows PE provides network access comparable to the full Windows operating system. In fact, Windows PE provides the same network drivers included with Windows, helping IT professionals access the network quickly and easily.
• Easily customize: Because Windows PE is based on Windows client and server products, IT professionals are already familiar with the techniques and tools used to customize Windows PE. They can customize it for a variety of scenarios, including deployment, test and diagnostic, recovery, and other support-related tasks.