Booting Xp With A Pen DriveThere are times when a minor error in the Windows Registry or a Virus Infection, can make your system unbootable. In such a condition a properly configured USB drive on hand with Bart Lagerweij's free utility (BartPE), is a handy replacement for windows operating system.
BartPE will give you a complete Win32 environment with network support, a graphical user interface (800x600) and FAT/NTFS/CDFS file systemsupport.
Don't confuse BartPE with Microsoft's Official Windows PE. BartPE has got some interesting features as compared to Windows PE and it's a freeware.
Requirements To Install BartPE:
:: USB Flash drive with at least 256 MB of storage capacity.
:: The files from your Windows Installation CD-Rom.
How It Works:
:: PE Builder, condenses the original setup data for Windows XP into a slender operating system that is ready to run from or a USB flash drive.
:: This compact, portable version of Windows includes all the important system tools for dealing with a PC emergency.
:: You can even add other programs to this collection, such as the media writing tool Nero Burning ROM or an anti-spyware package such as Ad-Aware SE Personal, during the installation process.
Steps Involved:
:: Download the latest PE Builder version (self-installing package) and install it.
Start PE Builder (pebuilder.exe) and insert Microsoft Windows XP installation/setup CD, it will condense the setup files into your pen drive.
:: At the main PE Builder dialog, select the "Pen Drive" option. Hit the "build" button. PE Builder will now ask you to create a BartPE directory, answer with "yes".
:: PE Builder will now start building BartPE. This will take a few minutes. You will see a lot of files getting copied and/or decompressed, into your pen drive. If the data verify was correct and there where no errors reported you can boot the Pen Drive.