Why Use Bart-PE?

OK, first things first. Hats off to the maestro. Visit Bart's Pe-Builder pages for the full explanation and history of this invaluable support product.

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What is BartPE and PE Builder?

Bart's PE Builder helps you build a "BartPE" (Bart Pre installed Environment) bootable Windows® CD-Rom or DVD from the original Windows® XP or Windows® Server 2003 installation/setup CD, very suitable for PC maintenance tasks.

It will give you a complete Win32 environment with network support, a graphical user interface (800x600) and FAT/NTFS/CDFS filesystem support. Very handy for burn-in testing systems with no OS, rescuing files to a network share, virus scan and so on.
This will replace any Dos boot disk in no time!

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Why I Use Bart-PE

I currently work in desktop support for a University. For various reasons, users prefer to store data locally on PC's rather than on the network space allocated to them. If the OS dies for any reason (other than disk failure), the data on the user's hard disk is locked away in the NTFS file system until support staff have the time to resurrect the machine and extract the vital data. This is usually "Now please, as I have a lecture in 15 minutes, and the teaching material is stored on this PC."
Not any more. With Bart-PE, support staff are now able to boot the dead PC, and copy the necessary data either to a network share, or direct to cd-r, in minutes. This is, of course, only the case if the hard disk has not failed mechanically.
Microsoft licensing now often means that OEM systems no longer ship with OS or application cd's. Instead, the end user receives a "reload" cd which replaces the hard disk contents with an "out of the box" preloaded image. This is probably perfectly acceptable to the average home user, but becomes limiting when e.g. the only copies of the last photos of a dead relative are stored on this machine. Bart-PE allows anyone with a certain level of knowledge to boot the machine and perhaps run a Windows® repair from the shadow copy i386 folder on the hard disk.
If the repair fails, the critical information can be rescued before the rebuild cd is rolled out.

Why Bart-PE from RIS Server?

Case Study
A student arrives at the help desk with a Windows® XP Home laptop, which on boot produces a BSOD. On further investigation, the stop error produced relates to a corrupt Windows® installation. The student has no installation cd, no reload cd, and no backup of the essay due for submission in less than 3-hours.
Resolution
Send the student away with a "Sorry, you are up the proverbial creek without a paddle."
I think not.
Plug the laptop in to the nearest available network socket, and switch on. Select the option to PXE boot, enter Automatic Set-up from the RIS boot menu, and boot into Bart-PE. When boot has completed, go to a cmd prompt. Change drive to the laptop hard disk, change to the %systemroot%\i386 folder. Type winnt32.exe. Press enter/return.
The Windows® setup wizard will run, allowing a new setup to begin. Do not be deceived, this will not destroy the current installation, unless you are very careless. Run through the mini setup wizard selecting your defaults, enter the product key, and allow the machine to do the rest. The machine will reboot, and enter the text mode setup. At the first screen, select the option to setup Windows®. Do not attempt to repair at this point. Press F8 to accept licence agreement. Setup will now detect the damaged Windows® installation, and give the option to repair. Now you can select the repair option, sit back and wait for around half an hour, and bask in the praise of one remarkably relieved student.

Don't expect praise from your employer however, they are rarely impressed by your efforts to save time.