Create a Windows PE Rescue Environment

To create a Windows PE Rescue Environment

1. From the menu, click Other Tasks > Create Rescue Media.  The Rescue Media wizard is shown. Create Rescue Media Wizard
   
   
    

You have a choice of two types of rescue media:

• Windows PE rescue media: This rescue environment is a Windows-based environment which injects the necessary drivers, Macrium Reflect components and tools to enable you to recover your system. Windows PE environments generally have better hardware support and allow you to perform functionality such as ReDeploying your system, fixing windows boot issues. There are two possible choices for PE environment which are summarised in the following table:

• Linux rescue media: This rescue environment is a lightweight environment designed to quickly restore images. This may be the preferred option for low end environments or users who do not need the full PE environment.

2. Select the option applicable and click Next.

3. The Rescue Media Drivers page will be shown.  This step in the wizard will list devices that may be required to restore an image in the Windows PE environment, e.g.: RAID controllers.  Note that it is not necessary to add drivers for all the devices, you only need to add drivers for devices that will be used in a restore or image process.  See Further Reading for more topics.  Click Next when all required drivers have been set for devices.

   Applies to: Standard, Professional and Server Editions of Macrium Reflect only.

5. If you do not have a PE environment ready to use, Reflect will then offer to create one.
   
   
    

• Architecture of the WIM
  This defines whether Windows PE is 32 or 64 bit. This defaults to the same architecture as your current Windows installation. It is recommended that you leave this option at the defaulted value. If the Windows PE architecture is different to you host Windows OS then you may not be able to automatically add device drivers or boot from the boot menu.

• The base WIM is to be used in the creation process
  The default Windows Image File (WIM) is the one installed when you installed the PE components.  It is also possible for you to modify the default WIM, perhaps to add your own programs, you could then use the modified WIM as the basis for your Windows PE rescue CD builds. This is an advanced option and is not covered in this help.

6. Click Next to continue. If there are any Windows PE components or tools missing on your system then these will be automatically downloaded.

7. After the successful creation of the Windows PE environment the Burn Rescue Media page is shown.
   
   
    

8. To scan for unsupported devices such as hardware that has been added to the computer each time the rescue media loads, select Check for unsupported devices as Rescue media loads.

9. To maintain the boot message 'Press any key to boot from CD/DVD', select Prompt for key press to continue booting from the Rescue media. If you are having problems with your key presses being detected on boot, you can un-select this option.

10. If you have a UEFI system and are creating a USB rescue environment, you will be offered the option to create UEFI bootable media. It is recommended you select this option.

11. If you have purchased a Technician's License, you will be offered the option to create rescue media with portable application support. To do this, check this option. Portable Application Support.

12. Select the media as follows:

• To create a CD or DVD, select CD/DVD Burner, and select the drive from the list.
  For greater reliability, we recommend that you use non-erasable CD-R or DVD+/-R media.

• To create the rescue media on a USB device, for example a memory stick, select USB Device, and select the device from the list.

13. Click Finish to begin creating the media.
     

    Note: If you have problems creating a disk, you can try burning it using your preferred CD/DVD writing software. To use 3rd party burning software, save the image as an ISO image file. To create an ISO image file, select CD/DVD Burner, and select Create ISO image file from the list. Your preferred CD/DVD writing software should know what to do with the ISO image file.

 

14. Shutdown and boot your computer with the Rescue media.

15. In Windows PE, start PE Explorer and make sure you can see all the appropriate drive letters and their contents. Also make sure that the backup location is accessible.  If the disks are not detected by Windows PE then you may need to add drivers to the Windows PE build and create new rescue media.

You should now have your Rescue media ready to restore an image.  Keep the media in a safe place.