
Hiren’s BootCD Based on Windows 10 PE X64 - aspenmayer
https://www.hirensbootcd.org
======
ryanburk
there is a lot of WinPE interest in the thread. I was part of the core team
that came up with the idea and built it[0] and it is great to see how useful
it has been for so many!

I'm happy to answer questions if folks are interested.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Preinstallation_Enviro...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Preinstallation_Environment#Overview)

~~~
userbinator
Given that
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BartPE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BartPE)
exists and can also create a "portable Windows" from the original files of an
installation media for a normal version of Windows, is it possible to manually
create one's own WinPE in the same way? i.e. is WinPE composed of only the
same files that can be found on the installation disc, arranged in the right
structure, or is there something more to it?

~~~
ryanburk
the tools needed to create WinPE - that shipped in the OEM preinstallation
kits (OPK) - did do some work against the original files to make the magic
happen. it was mainly around the special registry dB needed to get it to boot,
not changing the files themselves. we also did a ton to try to slim it down,
originally to get it to fit on a CDROM or RIS/PXE boot. well before USB sticks
got larger than CDROMs.

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greatjack613
Wow great to see it updated.

This is what got me into IT when I was 15, many years ago.

The fact that I had a private windows environment on a USB drive awed my
friends.

Happy to see it resurrected.

~~~
cududa
Funny to remember 15 years ago getting into tech by fixing people’s computers
with a literal WinXP Hiren’s boot _CD_ loaded with avast and other spyware
removal tools. Fitting your toolbelt to 650mb was hard!

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aspenmayer
Pros

\- modern Windows 10 PE (original Hiren's was Windows XP based Windows PE)

\- supports UEFI (original was Legacy boot only)

\- freeware (no pirated content)

\- USB/DVD bootable

Cons

\- UEFI only

\- 64-bit only

Edit: formatting

Included tools list on download page:
[https://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/](https://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/)

~~~
investinme
> Cons: 64-bit only

I mean, when was the last time 32 bit CPUs were sold? In 2009 I bought a basic
very cheap computer. It still had 64 bit.

~~~
ColanR
I have some old PowerEdge 2650 servers that are 32 bit. Old, but useful.

~~~
throwaway2048
Not really very useful, replacing them with something that is significantly
more powerful and uses 1/4th the power (or less) would quickly pay for itself.

Which is why old servers on ebay go for very cheap.

~~~
stallmanite
This mentality is why many beautiful 80s home computers were tossed back in
the day. They have aesthetic and cultural value that will be recognized one
day.

~~~
throwaway2048
80s computers still wouldn't be worth much of anything if 99% of them didn't
get recycled.

I don't think there is anything beautiful, interesting or unique about a
couple of million outdated generic x86 2U servers, nor will there really ever
be.

~~~
stallmanite
I felt this way about some of my early “generic” x86 systems and threw them
out. Now I feel like an idiot because I’d love to fire up my old 486 again.

~~~
throwaway2048
I don't think many people are ever gonna feel nostalgic about firing up their
48 server rack and paying a $1000 power bill.

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nwalker85
Wow I haven't thought of Hiren's in over a decade. I used to use it daily back
in my desktop support days working with XP. Very interesting to see a new
version.

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CRUDite
This does not contain goldmemory. I'm not sure when that stopped being part of
it. I accidentally discovered (due to it being on hirens) that it finds faulty
dimms very effectively. The same dimms will run memtest faultlessly but non
the less cause a bsod. So i suppose im a fan of that software! It actually
helped me alot, many eons ago i would build alot of machines for networks, and
in trying to determine the cause of bsod or restarts i eventually discovered
it was always purely ram at fault.

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eahm
Haven't used these tools in a long time but (WinPE 10-8 Sergei Strelec
(x86/x64) 2019.10.02 4.1GB) is a good alternative since Hiren removed all the
"full software". Also there was an Hiren's BootCD Reloaded somewhere.

That said, all the legal software is usually good enough for any need.

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xen2xen1
Medicat or Stergei Strelec for the win. Hiren's is nothing with all the real
software stripped out. Load up Strelec's and see if the amount of software on
there isn't amazing.

~~~
eli
To be clear "real software" means "pirated" right?

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therealx
I appreciate what they are doing, however I think some of the best utilities
were the grayware semi-proprietary utilities that Hirens had all in one place.

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nominated1
As a Linux user would this be an option for installing Bios and Intel ME
updates on machines with Windows only tools available? Or is Windows-To-Go
still a safer option?

~~~
msandford
Very curious about this exact question! I've got a Dell XPS 13 that I put Mint
onto and the only way to get it to play nice with a dell WD16 triple-monitor
dock is to update the BIOS and things of that nature. I did so on another XPS
13 I have (which still has Windows on it because it only has 4GB of RAM) and
that sorted things right out. _fingers crossed_

~~~
ac29
Which XPS13 do you have? You can update firmware from linux with fwupd, going
back as far as the 9350 model.

[https://fwupd.org](https://fwupd.org)

~~~
msandford
9350 or 9360 I think. Still have USB A ports. This is great news! Hopefully
I'll be able to get things going thataway.

~~~
Hello71
I think the firmware on those models can just load the Windows firmware update
executable. Save it to your ESP or a USB flash drive and try to select it in
the firmware update menu.

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Havoc
Someone help me understand how they're delivering

1) Windows 10

2) Driver support

3) Obviously MS branded

..yet free and legal?

~~~
morpheuskafka
As I understand it you're generally allowed to redistribute modified versions
of Windows PE that are intended for its allowed use case of system
installation, recovery, and configuration. It is common for backup software
(ex Macrium Reflect) to include "recovery disk creators" that bundle WinPE
with the backup software and drivers.

~~~
mappu
No, not any more - the PE licensing changed to only allow this if the PE image
is created by the same user. Tools like Macrium now download the WADK SDK and
generate an image at runtime.

Distributing prebuilt images like this violates the current PE license AFAICT.

~~~
vulpessarl
Because of licensing issues like the above: I've a lighter version of the
program like this (also based on Windows 10 PE) - called "MiniNT"
([https://github.com/VulpesSARL/MiniNT5-Tools](https://github.com/VulpesSARL/MiniNT5-Tools)),
and is fully open source, including the scripts to build the ISO (and other
images) from scratch. Is supported in both 32 and 64 Bit editions. The 64 bit
edition also can execute 32 Bit executables. It also can boot from USB, CD-ROM
as well PXE Network.

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Svperstar
I tried to use the old hirens about 5 years ago and it was too out of date.
Glad to see its still chugging along.

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trigoman
I just used Hiren’s this past weekend!

I fubar’d MBR after trying to clone my main drive onto an new SSD.

10/10 would recommend

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ocdtrekkie
Very handy when you need to break people back into their own PCs. Ntpasswd
wasn't working on some newer UEFI based installs, but Hiren's has been solid.

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theamk
How useful is Windows Boot CD is? I used to care about them a lot, but for the
last decade or so, Linux + DOS (for f/w updates) was all that I needed.

~~~
Alupis
> How useful is Windows Boot CD is?

Very if you're doing Windows desktop/workstation support.

Hiren's isn't just a PE, it includes a ton of useful utilities that help you
repair, troubleshoot or fix a number of problems. The full list of utilities
is here[1], but includes:

\- BCD/MBR Tools

\- Data Recovery

\- Defrag

\- Hard Drive Diagnostics

\- Hard Drive Imaging/Cloning

\- File Explorers

\- Partition Repair

\- Low Level Formatting/Data Destruction

\- Windows Recovery

\- Virus/Malware Scanners

\- Key Finders (office, windows, etc)

\- Password reset/recovery

\- System Registry Repair

\- And more...

[1]
[https://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/](https://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/)

~~~
olyjohn
Except that a lot of the stuff on Hiren's is pirated. You probably don't even
have a license to run the version of Windows that is on it.

~~~
mikehotel
Latest release does not include pirated content. Including the OS:

"Windows PE does not include any Windows license keys. Also Hiren’s BootCD PE
does not violate Windows PE purposes and it does not change “72 hours of
continuous use” limitation. So using Windows PE in Hiren’s BootCD PE is legal
in the terms of Microsoft’s usage purposes."

~~~
ComputerGuru
The 72 hour clause is to qualify for the special WinPE licensing (vs having to
license as regular Windows), it does _not_ mean Windows PE itself doesn’t need
to be licensed.

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husam212
Great! I'll finally be able to update my SSD firmware as Linux is my main and
only OS.

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velcrovan
Would be cool if a respected publication could vet this for malware.

~~~
cududa
Gonna guess you’re new to the industry. Hiren has been trusted for two
decades.

~~~
velcrovan
This thing isn't by Hiren. It's by “fans” of Hiren. If Hiren had anything at
all to do with it I wouldn’t have said anything. The fact that a totally
anonymous group is appropriating Hiren’s name means I won’t be touching this
thing with a ten-foot pole until someone has vetted it.

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caseyf7
Will this run Office? Looking for the smallest footprint to run windows
office.

~~~
cududa
That’s not what it’s for. Sure it could, but using a USB drive as your program
space is gonna be a bad time

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sjwright
Microsoft should go down the SyaInternals route and aqui-hire Hiren’s distro.
I mean, why not?

~~~
b3lvedere
I doubt Microsoft wants to toy with all those licenses from all those 3rd
party products.

Microsoft DART works perfectly fine actually.

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israrkhan
It is a nice tool, however it may not serve certain scenarios. Windows 10
based Boot CD will take too much memory, and if there is problem in memory
module, the CD wont boot. Back in 99, I had a PC with multiple SD RAM module.
One of RAM module was damaged. Any boot software requiring high memory would
not boot on this machine. I was able to boot it with barebone image containing
memtestx86 only, and identify the bad SD RAM module. Removing the bad module
fixed the PC.

