Bart PE

Bart PE (pre installed environment). This a very useful GUI based diagnostic and boot CD Windows CD-Rom or DVD from the original Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 installation/setup CD, very suitable for PC maintenance tasks.

I have created my own Bart PE boot CD using PE Builder 

BartPE vs. Windows PE?

• BartPE is not supported by Microsoft. Windows PE is an official Microsoft product.
• BartPE has a graphical user interface. Windows PE has a command line interface.
• The tools needed to make a BartPE installation are free software. Windows PE is available only to Microsoft OEM users.
• BartPE allows unlimited custom plugins. Windows PE has a limited range of plugins options.

What is the technical difference between BartPE and Windows PE?

• Target - Microsoft sees Windows PE as an installation platform. Bart sees Windows PE as the next generation rescue platform.
• Start-menu - Bart's builder gives you a simple, dynamic and powerful start-menu (Nu2Menu, see screenshots). Microsoft's builder does not give you a start-menu, it uses a command prompt.
• Build from - Bart's builder can also build from Windows XP Home Edition or from a preinstalled Windows XP version (without CD).
• Plugins - With PE Builder you can easily add applications, drivers or tools using plugins. This makes PE Builder extremely powerful. The end user can even combine plugins from different software vendors into one CD image.
• Network support - PE Builder includes its own network support tools (bartpe/penetcfg) to start TCP/IP and Microsoft Client. The TCP/IP settings like: dynamic/static ip-address, subnet-mask, default gateway, dns-servers computer-name, workgroup can be changed on-the-fly. You can create pre-defined profiles, that you can select. Microsoft Windows PE only supports DHCP or fixed settings using winbom.ini.
  Also there is a plugin (NwDskPe) created by Erwin Veermans that loads the Netware Client on BartPE (IP/IPX).
• Fileshare - BartPE can start File Sharing support so you can connect to the system through a share.
• VNC - Because of the File Sharing support you can also run UltraVNC.
• Dos support - Bart's builder has a plugin called "dospe".
• License - Microsoft Windows PE is only for Enterprise/OEM customers (see previous), BartPE is for everybody!
• 64-Bit - Bart's builder does not support Windows 64-bit editions.