MiniNT5 Tools
Scripts & Tools to customize Windows PE to my like. Also adds 32 Bit application support to the 64 Bit Windows PE Image. Really small, ca. 525MiB for the 64 Bit image, ca. 340MiB for the 32 Bit Image. Can be booted from every media like CD-ROM, USB Sticks and even from Network (PXE).
MiniNT5 is intended for diagnostics, repair & (re-)installation of Windows. (Workstation & Server editions, from Windows 2000 to Windows 10)
Hint: There is no need to disable Secure-Boot in order to boot MiniNT5. Even from PXE.
Prerequisites
What things you need to build MiniNT
- Windows 10 1809 (x64) or newer
- with full administrator rights
- Administrator rights are required because of the DISM commands (Mount WIM, Unmount WIM) and Registry manipulations
- with full administrator rights
- ADK for Windows 10 Version 1809 and the Windows PE Addon
- Assessment and Deployment Kit, nedded for the base Windows PE & additional packages
- It must be the exact version of the ADK!
- Assessment and Deployment Kit, nedded for the base Windows PE & additional packages
- Both x86 and x64 DVDs (or ISO) of Windows 10 Version 1809 (needed for some files, missing from the ADK)
- Note that the ADK and Windows 10 ISO must be in EN-US language
- Windows ISOs here
- Visual Studio 2017 (I use the Enterprise Edition, Visual Studio Community Edition confirmed to work)
- Visual Studio 2017 (v141) Platform Toolset
- .NET 4 (the original Windows PE only comes with a small set of .NET 4 Runtime)
Preparation
Preparing the files:
- Delete all "BlankDir.txt" from all folders
- Extract the contents of both Sources\Install.wim from the DVDs to 2 separate folders (security persmissions does not matter)
- Install ADK, make sure that Windows PE Images & Tools are installed, all other tools (like WinDBG) are not required
Compiling
Compiling MiniNT:
-
Open the project "MiniNT5 Tools.sln" in Visual Studio, and compile the project as Release/Win32 and Release/x64
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Go to the folder "MiniNTBuilder" and adapt "paths.cmd" to your like
-
Feel free to modify "MiniNT ID.reg" to your like, not needed
-
Copy, if needed, some drivers into the Drivers\x86 and Drivers\x64 folder (in a separate folder for each driver) - these will be picked up automatically
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Open a command prompt with administrative permissions, and run the CMD files from 01 to 99
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when all is success, you see 2 files "MiniNT5 32.iso" and "MiniNT5 64.iso" in the root folder of the project (and a "PXEBoot" folder containig all the files required to boot MiniNT from PXE)
Preparing for PXE boot
After running the scripts from 01 to 98 successfully, execute "99 Make PXE Boot.cmd"
Note
All these tools are provided as-is from Vulpes. If you've some questions, contact me here.
Tools
CollectWOW64
Collects all the 32 Bit files needed for MiniNT64, to be able to run 32 bit binaries (only needed for building MiniNT)
FoxCWrapper
Some common Windows PE commands nicely wrapped for easy usage within .NET (C#)
FoxCWrapperWIM
Some common WIM functions from Windows (DISM and WIMG-API) nicely wrapped for easy usage within .NET (C#)
FoxCommon
Some common C# functions to use acros multiple projects
FoxInstallWIM (aka FoxMultiWIM)
Nice GUI to create & install WIM files (safe to use within a normal Windows 8 / 10 in production)
FoxMapNet
simply displays the "Map Network Drive" Window, nothing else (safe to use within a normal Windows 8 / 10 in production)
FoxSetKeyboard
Changes the keyboard layout on the fly (does not save the settings) (safe to use within a normal Windows 8 / 10 in production - restart needed to properly revert to previous settings)
FoxShell
Small shell, kinda like the Windows NT 3.51 Program Manager (also does some additional initalizations on MiniNT)
FoxShellIcon
Small programm to communicate with FoxShell from Batch files to add / remove icons
FoxUnmapNet
Displays "Disconnect Network Drive" Window, nothing else (safe to use within a normal Windows 8 / 10 in production)
Screenshots
