Main purpose:

Preparation for OS installation (with the possibility of installing Win 2000/XP/2003 / GUI WinInstall / or the entire Windows line /WinNTSetup/), creating /deploying system images, restoring/copying data, resuscitating the target OS, cleaning the OS from viruses (Trojans) and porn banners (blockers), testing the main components of the PC and much more. In general, the sysadmin's disk with the minimum possible boot time (from 30 sec. from HDD to minute - CD/DVD-Rom). There are two full-fledged antivirus scanners in the assembly - Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool and Dr.Web CureIt without antivirus databases, but they can be updated if there is a network (for example, under a regular OS) and are able to pick up their databases from the archive at the root of any disk! This is done so that the assembly can be kept on a regular compact (without writing it down again every time after updating the databases), and the databases on any rewritable media (HDD, USB flash drive). If the assembly is used on a flash drive, then the usual 1GB flash drive completely fits both the assembly and the bases (then they can be kept both in the root of the flash drive and in the folder of the scanners themselves). When updating scanners, the most popular options for placing an archive with databases are offered, you just need to choose the right one. The scanners themselves (unlike the usual versions of antiviruses) they can be used both under assembly and in regular Windows, even if there is a similar product.

Additional information:

1. Integrated SCSI/SATA/RAID/IDE drivers
2. Full support for USB Flash/HDD with hot plug.
3. Support for Wim archives (automatic mounting in B:PePrograms), if there is an ini file, launch.(@yurkesha)
4. Different boot logos (different for single and multi-core). CD/USB/HDD boot loader-Boot loader - Bootmgr-loader+grub4dos. It can be installed on flash drives, memory cards, USB-HDD, HDD.
5. Explorer based on Xplorer2.
6. Restart the shell at startup if a media with a marker is connected. The marker is the 2k10WinPESVPE.bat command file. When loading, the C...W disks are searched, the specified file is searched, control is transferred to the first found, i.e.,
2k10WinPESVPE.bat... 2k10WinPESVPE.bat...
The batch file mounts a folder with programs (PePrograms) as disk Y: - for the simplicity of "binding" programs connected from the media. In addition, the BS Explorer main menu is replaced and the shell is rebooted. I.e., the main menu (in the kernel) works if no media with a marker is found. And the extended one (svpebs_start.ini, easily modified for its own set of programs if necessary) replaces the main one if a carrier is found. A set of plug-in programs can be seen in the last picture. In addition to the start menu, it is easy to change other menus, add entries to the registry and "throw"; the necessary libraries in the kernel - all this can be written in 2k10WinPESVPE.bat.
7. The core size is 50Mb, which allows you to boot from 128MB of RAM (not all programs will be able to work without unpacking to a hard drive). All programs are removed from the kernel (in the kernel only the file manager FAR 1.75, xPlorer2 and partially ERD-2005). For ease of use, the labels for some utilities are duplicated in different sections - for example, the CD-Roller and IsoBuster programs (for CD/DVD recovery) are prescribed" in the sections "Data Recovery " and"CD/DVD utilities".
8. The algorithm for allocating memory for a tempo disk has been changed (now, if there is memory, the volume is growing - up to 1.5GB).
9. In small things: Runscanner for inciting programs on "recumbent" Windows, SetTargetRoot for the same purposes in ERD-2005 and so on.
10. Almost all programs can be used as portable (self-unpacking to a theme with auto-registration). When working in XPe from under the program menu, if possible, they are set against the "recumbent" Windows.

Some features of the build:

Citationconty9: wrote:I'll start with a little explanation of how the RE-assembly works, a special OS loaded on different configurations of hardware from the media (which is a CD, USB flash drive, screw). So, today there are two options for RE-assemblies, namely, the usual one, when all the core files of the system are on the media "in bulk", i.e., about the same as in a normal system. The second option is the so-called RAM assembly, when the kernel files are packed into a Wim archive loaded into memory, which allows you to reduce the occupied size by about three times and speed up the download (one large file always loads faster than a scattering of small ones).
The advantage of the first option (of which Alkid assemblies are a typical representative) is the lowest memory requirements (from 96Mb), independence of requirements from the size of the kernel. Disadvantages: slow loading, slow operation (especially noticeable when working with slow media, compacts), "binding" to the media (if the media is extracted, it is impossible to continue working). For the flash drive/screw, an increased load / wear of the media and the possibility of infecting kernel files with viruses are also added.
All RE-builds are pretty much "neutered", they lack a bunch of files that are used in regular Windows. The more cut, the smaller the core... and the less opportunities he has. The reduction of the kernel is especially important for RAM assemblies loaded into memory, since it is the size of the packed kernel that mostly determines the memory requirements for successful loading. So all builds of this type are a balance between the size of the core and the functionality.
Advantages of RAM assemblies: fast loading and operation, lack of "binding" to the media (the kernel is loaded into memory and can function even if the media is "lost" during operation), careful attitude to the media resources (the kernel is one monolithic file), the practical impossibility of infection (I do not yet know viruses that can infect Wim archives). There is one drawback - increased memory requirements that increase with the functionality of the assembly (the more the assembly can->the less it is cut down->the size of the Wim archive is larger->the RAM requirements are higher). A very approximate formula is RAM>2*wim+64, where RAM is the RAM requirements, 2*wim is the doubled size of the wim archive with the kernel, 64 is the minimum amount of RAM required for the OS to function.
In any assembly, except for the kernel itself, there are programs. Actually, what the RE is being downloaded for is working with utilities, and not in a "clean" OS. The purpose of programs can be very different, for example, in this assembly, most of the utilities are designed to install / deploy / restore / resuscitate the system.
Additional programs in assemblies may be present in several variants (often for convenience, all are used)
1. The programs are unpacked, in bulk, i.e., as in a normal OS. Disadvantages: the possibility of infection, "binding" to the carrier, a larger occupied size. Let me clarify that the use of UPS/PECompact/ASPack/... executable file packers sometimes allows you to reduce the size (when you run the EXE/DLL program, the files are dynamically decompressed in memory). Advantages: do not require additional memory for unpacking. Features: if the program writes the config to its folder, these parameters will be used at the next start. Hence another drawback - if the media is not available for recording, the program may not start, or start without the possibility of any configuration/settings change. Examples of programs in this version in this assembly are AVZ, AmoK_Burning, ImgBurn, STDU-Viewer, IrfanView,...
2. The programs are packaged in a wim archive. With this method, the mentioned archive is mounted from a file, approximately like a virtual disk. If read-only access is used, the memory costs are negligible. If full access mode is used, memory requirements increase as the original files are modified or new ones are added. Disadvantages: "binding" to the media, the need to install a driver to work, not the largest compression ratio (approximately like ZIP). Advantages: low memory costs, careful attitude to the carrier, a fairly quick start. Feature: programs can be packaged individually (in this case, it is easy to change several programs on the assembly, but the advantage of wim archives is leveled), or in one large package (to change one program, you will have to repackage the entire wim archive, but the speed of mounting / operation is maximum, and memory costs are minimal). An example of such a method in the assembly is the Wim-soft.wim archive with Acronys programs.
3. The programs are packaged in an archive, usually using archivers with the maximum compression ratio, UHA/7-zip/WinRAR. At the same time, the program can only be launched from its shell, which will sequentially unpack the archive, make changes to the registry if necessary and launch the program. A typical example is the use of programs in Hiren's. Plus: maximum compression and minimum occupied size. Cons: increased memory requirements (especially if unpacking is performed on a RAM disk under RE), the need for a special shell to run. In this assembly, this method is not used for programs.