KillDisk and PXE

How to place a registered Active@ KillDisk into a WinPE image for use in a network PXE boot environment

1. Start the Boot Disk Creator form Windows Start menu and prepare a bootable media. For KillDisk settings fill in the data on App Config page.

   

   Let's assume that the Boot Disk media has an F: letter in our environment.
2. Run Command Prompt as an Administrator.
3. Create an empty directory C:\MOUNT and mount BOOT.WIM file using the DISM tool:

   Command: Dism /mount-image /imagefile:F:\sources\boot.wim /index:1 /mountdir:C:\mount

4. Replace BOOTDISK.KEY in C:\MOUNT directory with BOOTDISK.KEY located at the root of Boot Disk media (F:\ BOOTDISK.KEY). This file is required and contains user's registration information.
5. Copy your company logo file from Boot Disk media (located F:\_kd\images1.jpg) to C:\MOUNT directory.
6. Open settings.xml file on Boot Disk media (F:\_kd\settings.xml) for edit using Notepad. Change path for your company logo file to X:\

   

   Copy modified settings.xml to C:\MOUNT\PROGRAM FILES\BOOTDISK\.
7. Create folder BootDisk_Scripts in C:\MOUNT\PROGRAM FILES\BOOTDISK\. In any text editor (Notepad) create script file and copy it to the newly created folder BootDisk_Scripts. For example:

   cd x:\program files\bootdisk\
   call killdisk.exe -em=0 -p=1 -v=11 -eh=5 -id -fp -bp 

8. Dismount the BOOT.WIM image and commit the changes you applied:

   Command: Dism /Unmount-Image /MountDir:C:\mount /commit

9. Use prepared F:\SOURCES\BOOT.WIM as a network PXE boot environment.

How to load Active@ KillDisk over the network via PXE environment on Windows Server platform

1. Add roles Windows Deployment Services.
2. Configure the WDS server, but don’t add images in WDS Configuration Wizard.
3. Add Windows PE image with Active@ KillDisk software Boot.wim in Boot Images on WDS server.
4. In properties of WDS server in Boot tab add our image as default boot image for x64 architecture.
5. Configure the DHCP server for work with WDS server.

For more detailed instructions, read Microsoft TechNet official documentation.

How to load Active@ KillDisk over the network via PXE environment on a Windows 10 computer

There are several steps required to do this: configuring the WinPE WIM, Boot Manager and PXE Server.

For the configuration steps, let's assume that inserted Boot Disk has a F: letter in our configuration environment.

Step 1: Copy WinPE Source Files onto the PXE Server

• Map a network connection to the root TFTP directory on the PXE/TFTP server and create a \BOOT folder there. We will assign this network drive the Y: letter.
  Note:

  You can the ‘Easy access’ feature in the Windows Explorer to do this. Make sure to enable read/write permissions in the sharing and folder options.

• Copy the PXE boot files from the mounted \BOOT folder of the Active@ Boot Disk boot.wim to the \BOOT folder on PXE/TFTP server. For example:

  Command: copy C:\mount\windows\boot\pxe\*.* y:\boot

  Note:

  To mount/dismount the boot.wim file, see section “How to place a registered Active@ KillDisk into a Windows PE image for use in a network PXE boot environment”.

• After dismounting the boot.wim, copy the bootable Windows PE image (F:\ Sources\boot.wim) to the \BOOT folder on PXE/TFTP server.
• Copy the file boot.sdi (F:\Boot\boot.sdi) to the \BOOT folder on PXE/TFTP server.

Step 2: Configure boot configuration

• On a Windows 10 computer or in a Windows PE environment, create a BCD store using the BCDEdit tool.
• In the BCD store, configure the RAMDISK, BOOTMGR and OS Loader settings for the Windows PE image.
• Copy the BCD file to the \BOOT folder on PXE/TFTP server.
• Configure your PXE/TFTP server and DHCP server to point PXE clients to download PXEBoot.com or PXEBoot.n12.

These are a few of the files that were copied over to the server in Step 1

For more details, see “Creating a BCD file for PXE boot” below.

Step 3: Deployment process

Boot the client machine through PXE, connected to the network. After pressing initializing the PXE boot, the system should handle the rest. Here’s what will happen:

• The client is directed (by using DHCP Options or the PXE Server response) to download PXEBoot.com.
• PXEBoot.com downloads Bootmgr.exe and the BCD store. The BCD store must reside in a \BOOT directory in the TFTP root folder. Additionally, the BCD store must be called BCD.
• Bootmgr.exe reads the BCD operating system entries and downloads boot.sdi and the Windows PE image.
• Bootmgr.exe begins booting Windows PE by running Winload.exe within the Windows PE image.

For more detailed instructions, read the Microsoft TechNet official documentation.

Configuring a PXE Server

Configuring a TFTP server is made simple with a tool called Serva. You can download it here.

Once the settings are configured, reset the application and your PXE server should be fully operational!

Creating a BCD file for PXE boot:

This entire process is done in Command Prompt. Be sure to run it as Administrator.

1. Create a BCD store using bcdedit.exe:

   bcdedit /createstore c:\BCD

2. Configure RAMDISK settings:

   bcdedit /store c:\BCD /create {ramdiskoptions} /d "Ramdisk options"
   bcdedit /store c:\BCD /set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdidevice boot
   bcdedit /store c:\BCD /set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdipath \boot\boot.sdi
   bcdedit /store c:\BCD /create /d "winpe boot image" /application osloader

   The last command will return a GUID, for example:

   The entry { bb254249-93e9-11e7-84cb-6c71d9da760e } was successfully created.

   Copy this GUID for use in the next set of commands. In each command shown, replace "GUID1" with your GUID.

3. Create a new boot application entry for the Windows PE image:

   bcdedit /store c:\BCD /set {bb254249-93e9-11e7-84cb-6c71d9da760e} device ramdisk=[boot]\Boot\boot.wim,{ramdiskoptions} 
   bcdedit /store c:\BCD /set {bb254249-93e9-11e7-84cb-6c71d9da760e} path \windows\system32\winload.exe 
   bcdedit /store c:\BCD /set {bb254249-93e9-11e7-84cb-6c71d9da760e} osdevice ramdisk=[boot]\Boot\boot.wim,{ramdiskoptions} 
   bcdedit /store c:\BCD /set {bb254249-93e9-11e7-84cb-6c71d9da760e} systemroot \windows
   bcdedit /store c:\BCD /set {bb254249-93e9-11e7-84cb-6c71d9da760e} detecthal Yes
   bcdedit /store c:\BCD /set {bb254249-93e9-11e7-84cb-6c71d9da760e} winpe Yes

4. Configure BOOTMGR settings (remember to replace GUID1 in the third command with your GUID):

   bcdedit /store c:\BCD /create {bootmgr} /d "boot manager"
   bcdedit /store c:\BCD /set {bootmgr} timeout 30 
   bcdedit /store c:\BCD -displayorder {bb254249-93e9-11e7-84cb-6c71d9da760e} -addlast

5. Copy the BCD file to your TFTP server:

   copy c:\BCD \\PXE-1\TFTP\Boot\BCD

6. Your PXE/TFTP server is now configured. You can view the BCD settings that have been configured using the command:

   bcdedit /store <BCD file location> /enum all

   Example of BCD settings:

   C:\>bcdedit /store C:\BCD /enum all
   Windows Boot Manager
   --------------------
   identifier              {bootmgr}
   description             boot manager
   displayorder            {bb254249-93e9-11e7-84cb-6c71d9da760e}
   timeout                 30
   
   Windows Boot Loader
   -------------------
   identifier              {bb254249-93e9-11e7-84cb-6c71d9da760e}
   device                  ramdisk=[boot]\boot\boot.wim,{ramdiskoptions}
   description             winpe boot image
   osdevice                ramdisk=[boot]\boot\boot.wim,{ramdiskoptions}
   systemroot              \Windows
   detecthal               Yes
   winpe                   Yes
   
   Setup Ramdisk Options
   ---------------------
   identifier              {ramdiskoptions}
   description             ramdisk options
   ramdisksdidevice        boot
   ramdisksdipath          \boot\boot.sdi