- WinBuilder
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WinBuilder 
WinBuilderOriginal author(s) Nuno Brito Developer(s) Peter Schlang Stable release WinBuilder 082 / August 14, 2011 [1] Development status Stable Written in Delphi 7 Operating system Microsoft Windows
ReactOSPlatform Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Installation Disc Size 928 KB (version 082) Available in Multilıingual with language files, English without them Type System Diagnostics and Administration, Live CD License Freeware Website winbuilder.net WinBuilder is a free application designed to build and customize boot disks (Live CDs) based on Microsoft Windows (WinPE).
Contents
Scripts
Scripts are the building blocks of Live CD compiled with Winbuilder are used to build the core components of the Live CD, for adding applications, and for configuration of a specific project. Scripts consist of a human readable text file with the .script extension and can contain Winbuilder scripting commands, the scripts graphical user interface, and sometimes encoded applications to be extracted when needed.
There is a paper explaining in detail the scripting framework of WinBuilder at Slideshare that provides a comprehensive description of how it works.
Projects
A Project is a collection of Winbuilder scripts maintained for building a complete Live CD. Each project contains multiple scripts, each responsible for adding features or applications to the build.
Users may build their own projects from scratch or use one of many projects actively developed by the boot-land community. Projects can be downloaded directly using Winbuilder's built-in download manager and used as-is or further customized to meet the individual's needs.
Actively developed projects
- LiveXP - Based on nativeEx, contains a large archive of programs targeted for computer repair and administration
- MultiPE Leopard - Live CD/DVD that can be built from either Windows 7 or Windows Vista sources.
- nativeEx_multiPE - Live CD/DVD / UFD that can be built from either Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 x86 sources.
- NaughtyPE - Windows XP PE boot disk with sound support and other multimedia features.
- VistaPE CAPI - Based on VistaPE VistaPE CAPI provides bugfixes and enhancements to the original project and support for newer Winbuilder versions.
- Win7PE_SE - Live CD/DVD that can be built from either Windows 7 or Windows Vista sources. A fork of Multi 7PEs.
Inactive Projects
- BartPEcore - running bartPE inside a winbuilder environment
- BB-7PE - A Windows 7 based Rescue focused PE using bbLean as its shell.
- Multi 7PEs (formally Win7PE) - Live CD/DVD that can be built from either Windows 7 or Windows Vista sources
- NativeEx - Small sized Windows XP PE boot disk (~50Mb)
- PicoXP - Minimalistic 14 MB boot disk based on XP
- UXP - Based On Windows XP for making a multiboot CD/DVD which includes The LiveXP and WinRoot ( also for customization of the CD/DVD there are other apps used such as Nlite , etc.
- VistaPE - Based on Windows PE 2.0 (included on Windows Vista DVD and WAIK)
- Win7RescuePE - Live CD/DVD based on Windows 7
All of these projects are developed and distributed freely and aim to provide an alternative to other popular Live CD distributions based on Linux such as Knoppix, Slax, Damn Small Linux, which are known for their use in rescue or administrative actions on PCs.
Use and reception
Use of the software to build various customized boot disks has been covered in articles from PC Quest,[1] PC-Welt[2] (the German edition of PC World, which also offers some customized scripts for building disk images including additional utilities, branded as pcwVistaPE[3] and pcwWin7PE[4]), the Russian edition of CHIP,[5] and by TeraByte Unlimited.[6]
CNET editor's review found that "WinBuilder is one of the most easy-to-use boot disk creation tools in the genre," and praised it for its "novice-friendly interface", but at the same time warned that the "program expects experienced users. For the most part, boot disk applications are for experts only." The built-in Download Center was remarked because it "simplifies procuring the boot disk applications." Other features praised were "its small size, fair memory overhead, simple instructions, and robust application installation wizards."[7]
Gallery
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WinBuilder building VistaPE
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VistaPE Live CD (created with WinBuilder)
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Live CD of Windows XP (created with WinBuilder)
See also
- BartPE
- Windows Preinstallation Environment
- List of Microsoft Windows components#Core components
- List of Microsoft Windows components
- nLite and vLite
- Scripting
- VistaPE
- Windows To Go
External links
- Official WinBuilder download and support forum
- Winbuilder Documentation
- Additional documentation by Paraglider
References
- ^ Anindya Roy, (February 01, 2008) Live Vista, PC Quest
- ^ (German) Christian Löbering, (10 Dec 2009) Der USB-Stick als Notfallsystem (The USB flash drive as a backup system), PC-Welt, also appeared in freenet
- ^ pcwVistaPE
- ^ pcwWin7PE
- ^ (Russian) Максим Амелин (August 2007) Windows PE: Vista, которая всегда с тобой (Vista, which is always with you), CHIP, pp. 38–42
- ^ Creating a Win7RescuePE Boot Disc Containing Image for Windows and Creating a VistaPE Boot Disc Containing Image for Windows, TeraByte Unlimited How-To Guides
- ^ CNET Staff, (December 25, 2007) WinBuilder 074 CNET editors' review, CNET
- Notes
- Menno Schoone, VistaPE: manual for a Windows Vista based PE, OptimizingPC
- (German) Sascha Mölck, Notfall-CD 2008 für Windows XP/Vista, pp. 41–44, ComputerWissen.de N 059/01
- (Spanish) Xavier Cardona Peris, Sistemas Operativos Monopuesto, pp. 102–103 ISBN 849916269X
Categories:- Operating system distributions bootable from read-only media
- Windows administration
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