Booting WinPE from Linux

[umar.shaikh]

Hi guys,

Well i have this scenario in which i have to try and boot into WinPE from GRUB.
The scenario is thus:
I have booted into a small Linux via DHCP and TFTP. In this Linux i will have to create partitions (say NTFS or ext2 etc), then put in the required WinPE files into some partition (which would be NTFS right?) and then install GRUB on the hard disk and tell it to boot from the WinPE partition.

I am not sure if this is possible and have googled around this problem in vain.

My concerns here were that if we used something like chainloader or something, would not the bootloader of WinPE need to be installed forst or be in the first sector of the partition atleast?

Hope my questions were clear enough

Basic question : Can i boot WinPE from GRUB?

Thanks in advance...

[jayd512]

Welcome to the Forums!

While it's not *necessary* to do so, it is usually best to install Windows first as it likes to take over the MBR. Install your distro of choice afterwards.
This thread should start you with some good information.
Good luck with it, and let us know how it goes!


:EDIT:
Forgot to mention... You can indeed boot Windows using GRUB during the boot process.

[umar.shaikh]

Hi, thanks for ur response...
But i dont think i was clear enough..

Well, its a little complicated scenario.. i hv booted into linux which itself is a pre-boot env (loaded in RAM) and want to boot into WinPE the next time i reboot..
I basically want to install windows automatically from my linux PE. What would be the steps I would have to follow? And is this possible at all?

As to why i am not using WinPE to install windows, its because i want to use just 1 PE for all systems.

Hope the scenario is more clear now..

It does not have anything to do with dual boot.

[jayd512]

i hv booted into linux which itself is a pre-boot env (loaded in RAM) and want to boot into WinPE the next time i reboot..
I basically want to install windows automatically from my linux PE.

Do you mean that you are booting a LiveCD... and want to use that environment to boot to Windows? If so, this can't be done because a LiveCD makes no changes to the boot parameters of the system. Also, while GRUB can load Windows, it doesn't do so directly. It uses a chainloader. So what you're trying to do isn't really feasible. If I made a mistake in reading what it is you're trying to do, please post back and we'll try to get you running properly.

[umar.shaikh]

Ok, well, i'll take it this way...

Could you tell me how would you load windows vista from GRUB? Do i need to have an NTFS partition as such? And do i need to have windows already installed? Is there a way in which i just place the required boot loading files on an NTFS partition and tell GRUB to boot from there?

Coz, for LINUX, i can do that, i just put my initrd and vmlinuz on a partition and tell GRUB to boot that up. I want something similar for windows.

[jayd512]

You can check this site for some info on adding Windows to GRUB, and this thread covers a similar situation of using GRUB for Windows only.

If these don't fit your needs, I would suggest just using your PE to do a standard install.
Good luck!

[umar.shaikh]

Thanks, I'll go through these..