How can you create a rescue disk to restore your Windows PC or laptop if something happens to your drive?
Top hard drive manufacturers like Western Digital have a failure rate of 2.5-3.5%. People using Seagate drives to run Windows 10 saw the worst failures in 2020. Last year, the company saw up to 25.4% of its drives stop working.
With disk drive problems and software failures, creating a rescue disk to restore system files has never been more important.
This article looks at the Windows PE operating system and the Witted disk clone tool to restore your computer.
We explain what WinPE is and what it does. Then we share how to use DiskClone to create a Windows PE disk backup.
Read on to discover how Witted tools can protect your Windows operating system. And how they can help clone and restore it if something goes wrong.
What Is Windows PE?
Windows Preinstallation Environment is a lightweight OS that fixes issues in Windows installations.
Windows PE or WinPE originally shipped with Windows XP to create a ready-to-boot environment. The graphical user interface (GUI) replaced the traditional MS-DOS format to make it easier to work with.
WinPE can be stored on any type of external storage device like a USB flash drive. It’s saved as an ISO image file so can also burn it to a writeable CD.
WinPE Operating System Features
WinPE requires a full version of Windows to be installed on the hard drive or be available on the network to work.
It acts as an add-on to provide a range of services like:
- Installing Windows from an external device or network connection
- Setting up recovery tools
- Recovering data from damaged drives
- Editing Windows features
- Capturing Windows image files
Windows PE also runs the command-line environment to enable batch file and scripting support. It can install drivers and Win32 apps and it even includes security tools like Bitlocker to encrypt data.
Hardware Requirements
Windows PE has a low overhead as it only requires 1 GB of memory.
You don’t need to install it on a full hard drive because it’s designed to be portable. WinPE runs entirely from memory and works on 32-bit and 64-bit systems.
Download Windows PE Disk Backup Software
WinPE is free to download through the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit.
Windows ADK contains several tools to help you customize Windows image files. It can also test the performance of your system including components and applications.
Windows 10 users must install ADK first then choose the WinPE Addon from the menu.
Once installed, you’ll see the Windows PE files stored in the same directory as the ADK install. From there, you can use WinPE to help with your data backups.
However, to make things extra easy, use Wittytool DiskClone software to manage the WinPE application for you.
How to Create a WinPE Rescue Disk
The process of creating a Windows PE rescue disk is straightforward if you use Wittytool’s DiskClone software.
Our disk clone tool includes an option to build a WinPE USB boot disk. You can create an ISO image over three simple screens using a GUI wizard.
All of DiskClone’s disk backup and restore system functions are available through WinPE. Features include:
- Perform a system recovery
- Upgrade a disk drive
- Duplicate configurations
- Restore systems to an earlier version
You don’t even need a brand new USB memory stick to use it. Best of all, the software is completely free!
WittyTool DiskClone and Windows PE
One of the best features of DiskClone is that you don’t need a new USB drive or have to format an old device.
If you have an existing flash drive with enough remaining space, DiskTool won’t delete the existing data. Unlike other general tools, our app keeps the process as painless as possible.
DiskClone supports both UEFI and Legacy boot modes. Users of Windows prior to Windows 7 should choose the latter option when utilizing the tool.
If you want to use the USB disk to restore your system when it can’t boot-up then follow the 3 steps below.
1. Download WittyTool DiskClone
Firstly, download Wittytool DiskClone.
Extract the executable file and install it. When you open the app, choose the WinPE Creator option at the top right of the screen.
2. Attach a USB Drive
Insert a USB drive into your computer.
Remember, you can use one with data already on it. As long as there’s sufficient space, you don’t need to format anything.
Once the system recognizes the new drive, you’re ready to select it as the WinPE ISO path.
Click the Browse button when the DiskClone wizard instructs you to. Make sure to choose the correct USB drive and not another partition. Then click Proceed.
3. Create the ISO Image
WittyTool DiskClone will check to make sure you have enough free space available on your USB disk.
From there, the software will clone the WinPE files to your device. A progress bar shows the status and you have the option to cancel at any time.
Once copied, you have WinPE at your disposal.
Booting the USB drive on a Windows computer will give you access to all of Windows PE’s features. But don’t forget that Wittytool DiskClone also provides powerful innovations like cloning and disk backup.
More Rescue Disk Software Tools at Wittytool
Combining DiskClone rescue disk software with WinPE provides the perfect disk backup solution.
Our usb disk clone tool offers a graphical user interface to make cloning and restoring easy. The WinePE Creator wizard lets you build an ISO image onto a USB flash drive. From there, you can modify operating system files or install Windows from scratch.
WittyTool provides all the rescue disk options in our FREE range of tools.
Remember to leave a comment on our website. And don’t forget to share these tools to help others restore system files and create disk backups.