Creating a BOOTABLE WinPE ISO File of HBS v. 4.9.1

[Fergie86]

Maybe, as a newbie to this forum, I may be obtuse and overlooking the obvious. If so, I would be grateful if someone can undeceive me. 

My problem is the following:

I have always preferred making System Backups after having booted my computer from a bootable USB drive. So whenever there is a new update of Hasleo Backup Suite, first thing I do create go to Tools in the Navigation Bar and click Emergency Disk. Finally I copy the resulting  ISO File to a bootable USB drive (created with Ventoy).  bootable WinPE media

This worked a real treat, until the recent update of HBS to version 4.9.1 In this latest version, when I click  Tools, next Emergency Disk, for some reason, I no longer get the option "Add a driver"nor the option "Download WinPe Components"; these two options are simply invisible. The Emergency Disk Tool Tool unceremoniously skips these two optiions ,though in the end it does produce an ISO File. 

When I copy this ISO File to my bootable USB drive and then reboot my computer from this bootable USB drive, I can run Hasleo Backup Suite, but almost immediately after I have started the programme, it spontaneously aborts itself and gives up the ghost.

Is there anyone who can explain this behaviour of the Emergency Disk Tool of Hasleo Backup Suite, or even someone who has similar experiences? incidentally, when looking in Explorer at my HASLEO folder, it also strikes me that the size of the ISO File created by the Emergency Disk Tool of HBS version 4.9.1 is considerably smaller (something like 380 Mb) compared with the ISO Files created by earlier versions of HBS. Could this difference in size be due to no WinPE components being incorporated into the ISO file produced by HBS 4.9.1? Your guess is as good as mine .........

[n8chavez]

That is interesting. It reminds me of an issue of an issue I'm having with HBS and a UEFI partition. I do know that the size of your resulting ISO is incorrect. When I rebuild the iso, on two different computers, they are each 540 MB. Is it possible to build it on another system?

[admin]

Maybe, as a newbie to this forum, I may be obtuse and overlooking the obvious. If so, I would be grateful if someone can undeceive me. 

My problem is the following:

I have always preferred making System Backups after having booted my computer from a bootable USB drive. So whenever there is a new update of Hasleo Backup Suite, first thing I do create go to Tools in the Navigation Bar and click Emergency Disk. Finally I copy the resulting  ISO File to a bootable USB drive (created with Ventoy).  bootable WinPE media

This worked a real treat, until the recent update of HBS to version 4.9.1 In this latest version, when I click  Tools, next Emergency Disk, for some reason, I no longer get the option "Add a driver"nor the option "Download WinPe Components"; these two options are simply invisible. The Emergency Disk Tool Tool unceremoniously skips these two optiions ,though in the end it does produce an ISO File. 

When I copy this ISO File to my bootable USB drive and then reboot my computer from this bootable USB drive, I can run Hasleo Backup Suite, but almost immediately after I have started the programme, it spontaneously aborts itself and gives up the ghost.

Is there anyone who can explain this behaviour of the Emergency Disk Tool of Hasleo Backup Suite, or even someone who has similar experiences? incidentally, when looking in Explorer at my HASLEO folder, it also strikes me that the size of the ISO File created by the Emergency Disk Tool of HBS version 4.9.1 is considerably smaller (something like 380 Mb) compared with the ISO Files created by earlier versions of HBS. Could this difference in size be due to no WinPE components being incorporated into the ISO file produced by HBS 4.9.1? Your guess is as good as mine .........

The first thing I want to say is that in recent releases we haven't made any changes to the functionality of creating WinPE. HBS will not show the window to download WinPE components/add drivers if you have already created WinPE, so we recommend you to remove the ISO file in the bin directory and try to create WinEP again. 

Regarding the size of WinPE ISO files, the size of ISO files created by different versions of Windows is different, ISO files created by earlier versions of Windows are usually smaller than those created by newer versions (e.g. ISOs created by Windows 7 are smaller than those created by Windows 10), and ISO files created by 32-bit Windows are smaller than those created by 64-bit Windows.

[Fergie86]

Thank you very much for your answer! That was very enlightening, I have definitely learnt something new - but unfortunately, your anwer solves only part of my problem. I'll try to explain (I hope you can bear with me ....)

I have moved the existing winpe.iso from the C:\Program Files\Hasleo\Hasleo Backup Suite\bin to another directory as you suggested. When I now start the Emergency Disk Tool, I do actually get get the options "Add a driver" and "Download WinPE Components". So that is a  step in the right direction!

To make absolutely sure, I have downloaded "WinPE Components" by using he HASLEO WinPEDownloader and saved the WinPE Components ("Offline WinPE Package") as an *.OPE file. However, when I now run the Emergency Disk Tool and check the option "Download WinPE Components", I simply can't find an option which would enable me to select the OPE file I have just downloaded and inject it into the bootable WinPE file.

Am I being obtuse or short-sighted again? How do I point the Emergency Disk Tool at the relevant OPE file?

Many thanks in advance!

[admin]

Thank you very much for your answer! That was very enlightening, I have definitely learnt something new - but unfortunately, your anwer solves only part of my problem. I'll try to explain (I hope you can bear with me ....)

I have moved the existing winpe.iso from the C:\Program Files\Hasleo\Hasleo Backup Suite\bin to another directory as you suggested. When I now start the Emergency Disk Tool, I do actually get get the options "Add a driver" and "Download WinPE Components". So that is a  step in the right direction!

To make absolutely sure, I have downloaded "WinPE Components" by using he HASLEO WinPEDownloader and saved the WinPE Components ("Offline WinPE Package") as an *.OPE file. However, when I now run the Emergency Disk Tool and check the option "Download WinPE Components", I simply can't find an option which would enable me to select the OPE file I have just downloaded and inject it into the bootable WinPE file.

Am I being obtuse or short-sighted again? How do I point the Emergency Disk Tool at the relevant OPE file?

Many thanks in advance!

After checking the “Download WinPE components” option, please click “Next”, you can choose to download Windows components from Microsoft official website or from offline WinPE package (OPE file) in the next window.

[Fergie86]

Thank you very much for your answer! That was very enlightening, I have definitely learnt something new - but unfortunately, your anwer solves only part of my problem. I'll try to explain (I hope you can bear with me ....)

I have moved the existing winpe.iso from the C:\Program Files\Hasleo\Hasleo Backup Suite\bin to another directory as you suggested. When I now start the Emergency Disk Tool, I do actually get get the options "Add a driver" and "Download WinPE Components". So that is a  step in the right direction!

To make absolutely sure, I have downloaded "WinPE Components" by using he HASLEO WinPEDownloader and saved the WinPE Components ("Offline WinPE Package") as an *.OPE file. However, when I now run the Emergency Disk Tool and check the option "Download WinPE Components", I simply can't find an option which would enable me to select the OPE file I have just downloaded and inject it into the bootable WinPE file.

Am I being obtuse or short-sighted again? How do I point the Emergency Disk Tool at the relevant OPE file?

Many thanks in advance!

After checking the “Download WinPE components” option, please click “Next”, you can choose to download Windows components from Microsoft official website or from offline WinPE package (OPE file) in the next window.

[Fergie86]

Thank you very much for your prompt reply! However, your solution to my problem does not work, unfortunately.

When I click "Next" I simply do NOT get any "next window" in which I can add driver(s) or (most relevant to me) I can download  the WinPE Components (let alone inject them into the bootable tWinPE ISO file) either from the Microsoft web site or from the  offline WinPE package (OPE file). 

When I click "Next" (the "Next" I can click is, in fact, the only "button" I CAN click, there is no other '"clickable" option), the Emergency Disk Tool starts right away and all I can do is watch as the programme runs its course.

[admin]

Thank you very much for your prompt reply! However, your solution to my problem does not work, unfortunately.

When I click "Next" I simply do NOT get any "next window" in which I can add driver(s) or (most relevant to me) I can download  the WinPE Components (let alone inject them into the bootable tWinPE ISO file) either from the Microsoft web site or from the  offline WinPE package (OPE file). 

When I click "Next" (the "Next" I can click is, in fact, the only "button" I CAN click, there is no other '"clickable" option), the Emergency Disk Tool starts right away and all I can do is watch as the programme runs its course.

You said "I have moved the existing winpe.iso from the C:\Program Files\Hasleo\Hasleo Backup Suite\bin to another directory as you suggested. When I now start the Emergency Disk Tool, I do actually get get the options "Add a driver" and "Download WinPE Components". So that is a  step in the right direction!", here you need to check the " Download WinPE Components " checkbox.

[Froggie]

@Fergie86, there's a little more to it than that.  If you have ever created a successful Emergency Disk using the "standard" Windows download rather than the OPE file from Hasleo (I think you have), you will have a WADK package (needed for WinPE building) in the following folder (if you're running an x64 version of Windows)...

C:\Program Files\Hasleo\Hasleo Backup Suite\bin\WADK\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64

If a WIM file is in that folder and another package is in the WinPE_OCs subfolder, Hasleo will never ask for the OPE off-line file or the Windows download again until Hasleo has been uninstalled and reinstalled.

So if you want to make another OPE-based Emergency Media and don't want to uninstall/reinstall Hasleo, you need to do the following...

Delete C:\Program Files\Hasleo\Hasleo Backup Suite\bin\WinPE.iso (if the file is there)
Delete C:\Program Files\Hasleo\Hasleo Backup Suite\bin\WADK\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\*.iso
Delete C:\Program Files\Hasleo\Hasleo Backup Suite\bin\WADK\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs\*.*

If you do that, the Emergency Disk build will indeed not only ask for Windows downloads (because it no longer has any) but in the next step, it will ask for your choice of Microsoft.com or your OPE file to use for the build.

Good luck and let us know how you made out.

[admin]

Yes, try Froggie's suggestion to remove the downloaded WinPE components before recreating WinPE.