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Aomei WinPE hard drive boot

I am trying to create a WinPE external hard drive boot.  Are all these files needed?  Which files are only needed in the root of a hard drive?

am_pe_log.txt
amcf.lst
amldr
amldr.mbr
AMTAG.BIN
AomeiBootBackup.LOG
AomeiBootBackup.LOG1
AomeiBootBackup.LOG2

boot.ini  ←  In the boot.ini file, it has this path: C:\amldr="AOMEI BACKUPPER BOOT"

statistics.bin
SYSTAG.BIN

C:\Aomei\amboot.iso

Comments

  • @Bill_C, You can directly create Winpe to the external drive. What issues did you encounter when you create it?
  • I do not have any issues. The external hard drive works OK and boots fine.

     What I am asking is what files are really needed.  In my opinion, I could delete AomeiBootBackup.LOGs as they are empty anyway.  Delete also "am_pe_log.txt" and "statistics.bin" as I would say are not needed.  These are hidden files and I have cleared all attributes as that is the way I want it to see it.  Any others?
  • @Bill_C, You can delete these .Log files. But, we suggest that you don't delete other files.
  • Interesting.  I was searching about this last night and found this post dated 2016.

    https://www.aomeitech.com/forum/discussion/2666/okboot-iso-file-what-is-it

    7th post down has cut it to 4 files:  amldr.mbr, amldr, amcf.lst, aomei\amboot.iso

    I'll try it out.
  • edited August 2022
    @ Admin,

    You stated above: "You can directly create Winpe to the external drive"

    How can I do this please?  Create Bootable Media only has CD/DVD or USB or Export ISO file.  Do you mean the Recovery Environment Tool?  Where does this show external hard drive?  BTW, can this be on a different drive letter other than the C: drive?
  • @Bill_C, Are you using an external drive with hard drive box connected to USB port? or an removable drive?
    If it doesn't list your external drive, maybe you can create the WinPE ISO, and then burn it to an external drive via a third-party tootl.
  • Are you using an external drive with hard drive box connected to USB port?

    Yes but not the USB port.  I am using an e-SATA external drive enclosure connected via e-SATA.  Looks like this:

    It also has a USB port, and I didn't think it would work.  Thought it had to be a USB flash drive for some stupid reason.  Hooked the external up via USB this time and Create Bootable Media via USB Boot Device recognized the hard drive and was able to create the bootable files.  Tested it out and it booted fine.  Unplugged the USB and put back the e-SATA cable and that also worked and booted OK.  It is on a different drive letter other than the C: drive also which is what I wanted.

  • Hard Drive Boot Revisited

    The files I listed at the top:

    amcf.lst
    amldr
    amldr.mbr

    Can you let me know what Aomei program in the Aomei folders actually creates these files please?  I have corrupted them somehow and would like to use the program to create them again.


  • @Bill_C, You don't need to recreate these files. They are used for the reboot mode. When your operations need to be performed under reboot mode, it will re-copy them from the installation directory.
  • Is reboot mode the same as restart mode?  The only way I could simulate this was to do a system restore from within the Operating System drive.  However, the OS drive I am using for this test is not the C drive but uses another drive letter.  Started Aomei restore and this pops up:





    At the boot prompt:



    Clicked Aomei Backupper then this happens:



    Aomei modifies the boot.ini file temporally to this:



  • I managed to get it to work by changing the drive letter J to C in boot.ini.  Strange because amldr is not in the C drive and is in the J drive.  It re-booted to the Linux bootable media even though I selected Windows PE.  But the Linux bootable had problems and errored with a 4xxx code and failed the restore.  I had to install the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) to get Restart Mode to use Windows PE.  Restart Mode restore worked 100% with this.

  • @Bill_C, "I managed to get it to work by changing the drive letter J to C in boot.ini. "---Could you boot into WinPE more successfully to do restore when you modify the boot.ini? Or, did it work when you install the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK)?
  • Modifying changing boot.ini back to the C:\amldr in boot.ini was a must do.  If not, the boot procedure will not start and you get the configuration problem above.

    After that, it booted OK but to the Linux boot media.  It would not recognize WinPE.  I think with older operating systems, like XP and Windows 7, you need to install AIK also when installing Aomei.
  • @Bill_C, Thanks for your feedback. Did you perform system restore to the C: drive of this computer? or restore to J: drive?
    " it booted OK but to the Linux boot media.  It would not recognize WinPE. "---When it creates WinPE failed, then it will still boot into linux automatically.
  • I performed a system restore to the J: drive.
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