The drivers included in WinPE depend on the version of WinPE you are using. If the WinPE image is based on Windows 8, then you have the same NIC drivers that are built in to Windows 8. Same for WinPE based on Windows 7. The drivers included in the base OS are known as inbox drivers. You might be able to locate a list by searching for Windows 7 inbox drivers.
The bitness of the driver has to match the bitness of WinPE. You tell your Task Sequence what WinPE boot disk to use, the OSD process doesn't just choose what WinPE boot disk to use on its own. If you are using WinPE x86 (which I think all here would suggest) then you MUST load x86 drivers for the NIC you are using and for the Mass Storage you need if those drivers are not included in inbox drivers. Drivers for those two pieces of hardware are critical for a successful deployment. If the drivers for those two devices are not included in the WinPE image by default - you must import them into WinPE. It is not enough to just add the drivers to a driver package in SCCM - you must also add those drivers to your WinPE image. You can use WinPE 64bit to deploy OSes, but WinPE 64bit can only deploy 64bit images. WinPE 32bit can deploy both 32 and 64bit oses, which is why nearly everyone uses 32bit WinPE images for deploying OSes. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of HELMS, DAVID C Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2014 8:57 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [MDT-OSD] WinPE NIC drivers I'm having issues where WinPE doesn't load on an older HP server using PXE. I haven't been able to determine if it's a DHCP issue or a NIC driver not in WinPE. I am still working through this, but wanted to ask a few questions. Here is the NIC driver that I need. [cid:[email protected]] 1. Is there a list of already supported drivers within WinPE? I'm running Config Manager 2012 R2 boot images ver 6.3.9600.16384. 2. When adding a NIC driver to WinPE, do I need to add the x86 driver to the x86 boot image or does it matter? I have both boot images, but the x86 seems to be the one used and the NIC driver that I downloaded was for Windows 2012 which is a 64 bit driver. I'd appreciate if anyone could clear up this confusion on my end. Thanks, David ________________________________ Notice: This UI Health Care e-mail (including attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. 2510-2521, is confidential and may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any retention, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Please reply to the sender that you have received the message in error, then delete it. Thank you. ________________________________
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