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2516
Which ADK is compatible with my XPS 15 9560
I have downloaded Paragon Backup and Recovery 16 Free and in making a recovery disc I find that the required ADK is not installed. I have read in the Paragon Users Manual and elsewhere that each is specific to the Windows Version; in this case Windows 10 Pro Version 10.0.16299 Build 16299, I cannot find any thing on this version, is it unique to Dell? I also can't find much on which ADK supports which systems or visa versa, in any case none are mine. I have downloaded and installed the "Latest Version" 1803, in the document "What's New in ADK kits and Tools" it suggests that other Versions are included 1709, 1703, 1607, 1511 How can I be sure this is the correct ADK, as the recovery will not work if it is not the right one.
Thanks in advance.
Chris
jphughan
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May 3rd, 2018 06:00
It doesn't really matter. With each new release of Windows, Microsoft also includes Windows PE, which is basically a stripped-down Windows kernel that runs things like Windows Setup and Windows Recovery, and that third parties like backup software vendors also use as a foundation for their own tools. Windows PE is downloadable via the Windows ADK, which is why your backup application wants it. There are sometimes advantages to using the Windows PE version whose kernel matches the Windows version you're actually running on your system, since that allows for things like copying the drivers installed on the host into the WinPE build in order to add support for your network, storage, and/or USB controller to your WinPE environment. If you were running Windows 10 1709 on your host system and selected a very old Windows ADK, such as for Windows 8 for example, then not only would that environment have less native hardware support, but your system's installed Windows 10 drivers probably couldn't be automatically added to the WinPE build.
If you're really meticulous, then choose the Windows ADK that matches the Windows version you're running, but chances are you'd also be fine choosing the latest available release, especially since your host system is likely to update to it soon anyway if it hasn't already.
ejn63
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May 3rd, 2018 07:00
If your current backup/image utility doesn't, there is an excellent, free one that will update the PE on they fly - Macrium Reflect does this.
It's not a bad idea to make a new set of recovery media when Windows has a major update -- if nothing else, have the image (ISO) for that media ready to write to a flash drive if it's needed (stored separately from the image itself!)
ejn63
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May 2nd, 2018 17:00
This is build 1709 (second to latest version, which is now 1803).
Download the ADK here
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/get-started/adk-install
Mal25
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May 3rd, 2018 06:00
It's not the latest then, uninstall 1803, install 1709?
Chris
Mal25
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May 3rd, 2018 07:00
Thanks for the explanation, does that mean I should update the ADK periodically and redo my Windows PE and recovery disc to match the updated system? Can the recovery media (flash drive and ISO) be edited after the fact replacing the old Windows PE for the new?
Chris
jphughan
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May 3rd, 2018 08:00
I've never used Paragon, but I'm quite familiar with Macrium Reflect as ejn63 mentioned, and I imagine the concepts are similar since the purposes are similar. And as ejn63 said, if you ever decide to switch, it's worth looking into. They have both free and paid versions, although for many users the free version includes everything that they need.
Ok, so updating WinPE. The main reason to use newer WinPE versions is because they sometimes add support for new types of hardware and even some new software support. Going back in history a bit to provide examples, WinPE 4 (Win8 kernel) added NVMe SSD support; WinPE 5 added USB 3.0 support; WinPE 10 1511 added support for the new BitLocker XTS mode, and some version of WinPE 10 I can't remember added support for accessing Microsoft Storage Spaces volumes. But in general, once you have a WinPE version that works for your PC, there isn't a reason to update it, unless maybe you encounter bugs related to WinPE (rather than Paragon) that might have been fixed in a newer release. The only other exception would be if you were migrating your backup onto a newer PC. For example, some Win7 users might use WinPE 3.1 since that shares the same kernel. Suppose they buy a new PC that includes an NVMe SSD, and they try to use their recovery media to restore their Win7 backup onto it. Chances are that the recovery media won't see their NVMe SSD and won't work with it. (Note: There are other reasons this Win7 migration scenario may be a problem that I'm ignoring for the purposes of this example.) In cases like that, it can be useful to update to the latest WinPE version to gain the maximum compatibility with the latest hardware.
All that said, you may still want to update your recovery media occasionally for Paragon updates, since they might have fixes or enhancements in their own application that may be relevant to recovery media scenarios. Also note that just because a new WinPE version is available does not mean that Paragon will support it. Again, I don't use Paragon, but based on experience with Macrium Reflect, they currently don't allow their application to build using newer WinPE versions until Macrium has tested them. You can work around this because they technically do allow you to specify a completely custom WIM file for Reflect to build from, and that WIM can include a newer version and even some other customizations of your own, but in that case compatibility can't be guaranteed.
Mal25
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May 3rd, 2018 09:00
Many thanks to both of you.
Have great day.
Chris