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Article Number: 000130809

How to Create a Bootable WinPE USB for Dell Encryption Enterprise / Dell Encryption Personal

Summary: A Dell Data Security WinPE bootable USB may be created by following these instructions.

This article may have been automatically translated. If you have any feedback regarding its quality, please let us know using the form at the bottom of this page.

Article Content

Symptoms

This article explains how to create a bootable Windows Pre-installation Environment (WinPE) for Dell Encryption Enterprise (formerly Dell Data Protection | Enterprise Edition) or Dell Encryption Personal (formerly Dell Data Protection | Personal Edition) using a USB storage device.

Affected Products:

Dell Encryption Enterprise
Dell Data Protection | Enterprise Edition
Dell Encryption Personal
Dell Data Protection | Personal Edition
Dell Data Protection | Server Edition

Affected Operating Systems:

Windows

Cause

Not applicable.

Resolution

A bootable WinPE USB requires:

Note: Dell does not endorse nor support any listed third-party products. The listed clients are meant to be examples of potential products a customer can use. Contact the product’s manufacturer for information about setup, configuration, and management.
 
Warning: The USB storage device will be erased. Back up any data from the USB storage device before following these steps to avoid data loss.

The process differs depending on whether the targeted endpoint is using UEFI or Legacy BIOS boot mode.

Click the appropriate boot mode for more information.

To create a UEFI bootable WinPE USB:

  1. Plug the USB storage device into the computer.
  2. Right-click the Windows Start menu and then click Run.

Run

  1. In the Run UI, type cmd and then press OK.

Run UI

  1. Type diskpart and then press Enter.

Running DiskPart

Note: The computer that is listed will differ in your environment.
  1. Type list disk and then press Enter.

Listing disks

  1. Identify the disk number that is assigned to the USB storage device.

Identifying disk numbers

Note:
  • In the example, the disk number 1 is assigned to the USB storage device.
  • DiskPart results will differ in your environment.
  1. Type select disk [NUMBER] and then press Enter.

Selecting the disk number

Note: [NUMBER] represents the disk number that is assigned to the USB storage device in Step 6.
 
Warning: Data on the USB storage device must be backed up to another location before completing any further steps to avoid data loss.
  1. Type clean and then press Enter.

Cleaning the disk

  1. Type create partition primary and then press Enter.

Creating a primary partition

  1. Type select partition 1 and then press Enter.

Selecting the partition

  1. Type format fs=fat32 quick and then press Enter.

Formatting with FAT32

  1. Type active and then press Enter.

Marking the current partition as active

  1. Type assign letter=[LETTER] and then press Enter.

Assigning a drive letter

Note: [LETTER] represents an unused drive letter that is assigned to the USB storage device. In the example, the letter F is assigned to the USB storage device. This may differ in your environment.
  1. From the downloaded WinPE image, use a third-party file compression utility to extract it.

Extracting the WinPE image

Note:
  • UEFI bootable environments and Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) drives require an x64 WinPE image.
  • Your third-party file compression utility may differ from the screenshot example.
  1. Copy the extracted contents to the root of the USB storage device.

Copying the extracted WinPE image contents

To create a legacy bootable WinPE USB:

  1. Plug the USB storage device into the computer.
  2. Right-click the Windows Start menu and then click Run.

Run

  1. In the Run UI, type cmd and then press OK.

Run UI

  1. Type diskpart and then press Enter.

Running DiskPart

Note: The computer that is listed will differ in your environment.
  1. Type list disk and then press Enter.

Listing disks

  1. Identify the disk number that is assigned to the USB storage device.

Identifying disk numbers

Note:
  • In the example, the disk number 1 is assigned to the USB storage device.
  • DiskPart results will differ in your environment.
  1. Type select disk [NUMBER] and then press Enter.

Selecting the disk number

Note: [NUMBER] represents the disk number that is assigned to the USB storage device in Step 6.
 
Warning: Data on the USB storage device must be backed up to another location before completing any further steps to avoid data loss.
  1. Type clean and then press Enter.

Cleaning the disk

  1. Type create partition primary and then press Enter.

Creating a primary partition

  1. Type select partition 1 and then press Enter.

Selecting the partition

  1. Type format fs=ntfs quick and then press Enter.

Formatting with NTFS

  1. Type active and then press Enter.

Marking the current partition as active

  1. Type assign letter=[LETTER] and then press Enter.

Assigning a drive letter

Note: [LETTER] represents an unused drive letter that is assigned to the USB storage device. In the example, the letter F is assigned to the USB storage device. This may differ in your environment.
  1. From the downloaded WinPE image, use a third-party file compression utility to extract it.

Extracting the WinPE image

Note:
  • Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) drives require an x64 WinPE image.
  • Your third-party file compression utility may differ from the screenshot example.
  1. Copy the extracted contents to the root of the USB storage device.

Copying the extracted WinPE image contents

To contact support, reference Dell Data Security International Support Phone Numbers.
Go to TechDirect to generate a technical support request online.
For additional insights and resources, join the Dell Security Community Forum.

Article Properties

Affected Product

Dell Encryption

Last Published Date

20 Dec 2022

Version

9

Article Type

Solution

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