China DOS Union

Mentioning WINPE, do you guys have any idea? This is one of the most popular topics on the bbs.wuyou.com forum.

WINPE, namely the Windows Preinstallation Environment. It is a command-line method provided by Microsoft for OEM manufacturers to develop drivers and debug hardware (there are different versions like WIN2000/XP/2003, etc.). Essentially, it is an operating system that only provides the basic kernel and basic drivers of WINNT. The main features are: it is only over 100MB, can run directly on a CD-ROM without accessing the hard disk. Previously, WINPE was not well-known. Later, the appearance of the third-party software ERD (simulating the WINXP interface) changed the fate of WINPE, making it famous at once.

The main functions of ERD are:
1. Login password cracking
2. Undelete, undelete format.
3. Resource manager
4. Arbitrarily add applications that can run in the WINXP environment. (The most powerful part, such as powerful tools like WINHEX can run. You won't be unfamiliar with this tool; it is equivalent to DISKEDIT under DOS, which can directly edit the reserved sectors and memory without any restrictions.)

Nowadays, in the popular computer fault repair CDs, there is universally the WINPE + ERD method.

Back to DOS, DOS still has certain advantages in system emergency rescue (habitual power and numerous software support). The file management and hardware support, etc., have been improved with the efforts of experts like Wengier. But it is still relatively backward in multimedia and network aspects. Although there is QV in multimedia, automatic sound card identification is a tough problem. Although WINPE can't solve this temporarily, it has made progress in network aspects, such as ADSL internet access. I will focus on this function.

Deep Mountain Red Leaf Super System CD-ROM http://doshome.com/soft/SoftView/SoftView_79.html
Among them, the 2004 New Year edition, I used it and had a deep impression.

1. Automatically configure the network card (need to wait for a while)
2. Start the PPPOE method
3. Establish a connection, enter the account and password, and press Enter.

yeah! Logged in successfully, open the OP browser, enter doshome.com and press Enter (my website, I'm used to it, as soon as I open IE, the first thing I enter is it), and it actually succeeded! Then try the download speed, which is equivalent to the speed in the real WINXP environment. (The hard disk light didn't flash, indicating that all operations are in memory. It's really amazing.)

In conclusion, if we say that the common point between DOS and WINPE is both "portable systems" (hardware-independent systems).

The conclusion drawn from this practice is:

"Whether it's a white cat or a black cat, the one that can catch mice is a good cat",
"Whether it's DOS or WINPE, a portable system that can access the internet is a good system"!!!

There are too many viewpoints to elaborate one by one. Please be quick-witted. If you have any questions, please post a reply.

Does the "Deep Mountain Red Leaf Super System CD" include WinPE with automatic internet access? That's right. DOS is indeed not as good as WinPE when it comes to real internet access. Although browsers under DOS can access Chinese and English websites, they are just usable, not easy to use, and the problem of automatic network card driver installation has not been completely solved. DOS was originally designed for use in personal computers, while Unix/Linux were designed for network computers, so they have always been strong in network functions.

WINXP comes with many common network card drivers and general ADSL modem drivers. You need to run the "Auto Configure Network Card" function to activate it. Just download one and try it to know, because the functions of WINPE are extremely powerful, which can't be finished in a short while.

BT and ed2k downloads are the most difficult, sometimes even impossible to download at all. HTTP downloads are still better.

"Essentially, it is an operating system that only provides the WINNT basic kernel and basic drivers"
This sentence has a bit of an issue. To execute applications like WinHex, you must have the Win32 subsystem (CSRSS), Win32 services, etc.
The only ones I've seen running under the basic kernel and basic drivers are the Fault Recovery Console and bluecon.

The following is a quote from aria on 2004-4-24 9:10:08:
"The essence is just an operating system that only provides the WINNT basic kernel and basic drivers"
There is a problem with this sentence
To execute applications like WinHex, you must have the Win32 subsystem (CSRSS), Win32 services, etc.

The only ones I've seen running under the basic kernel and basic drivers are the Recovery Console and bluecon

Learned a trick, impressive!

The functional positioning of PE is not for end users, but for system suppliers. So some functions (such as multimedia) MS naturally has not been made public.

The hardware requirements for WinPE are high, and the product cost can't bear it.

Using GHOST to restore the system under WINPE often encounters errors. But it generally doesn't under DOS.

PE is just a tool. Although it can add many "third-party" tools to realize PC usage, it still can't get rid of the essential characteristics. Only today, with the development of memory, it can be put to use.

Although DOS has limitations in function expansion, there are still many unknown spaces worth in-depth exploration... Hehe, a bit advertising - like.

[ Last edited by edison on 2009-11-4 at 19:36 ]

WIn terms of the personal use of WInPE, if it is for testing users, of course, there are their own positions and angles. If it is just for the purpose of rescuing hard disk data, then there is another way of saying it!!

WINPE is convenient and more suitable for people with intermediate level,.. while DOS can only be used beautifully by real experts.

Nowadays, PE (Pre-installation Environment) already has CSRSS, SMSS and even reaches the level of shell (explorer), which can be regarded as an extremely streamlined WIN. Due to the limitations of its architecture, most people abandon DOS (especially hardware manufacturers). So unless in extremely rare cases, there is really no need. To be honest, the so-called new functions of the current DOS are not provided by the DOS API, but implemented by programmers through BIOS or I/O. To put it simply, it can be directly placed in the MBR for execution with a little modification, and even executed better (the limitations of DOS are really very annoying. If not handled properly, reentrancy or memory chain breakage may easily cause a system crash), such as grub. When programmers use a system, the key is to value its API. Now, graphics are completed by ourselves, peripheral access is made up by ourselves, and even shutting down has to be done by ourselves. The only thing the DOS API can provide us is a few types of data media with greatly limited get and put. Since the DOS API cannot provide functions that satisfy us at all, and instead has restrictions everywhere (such as reentrancy problems), then what reason is there to say goodbye to the outdated DOS API? Why not use WIN, Linux, or even implement data access by ourselves (this is also the extremely limited thing that the DOS API can still do for us)? For example - writing a text editor that can open large files is not difficult with WIN and Linux, but with DOS it is even more troublesome than directly using MBR.

[ Last edited by netwinxp on 2010-6-29 at 01:13 ]

I haven't really used WinPE yet

Hehe. When doing system maintenance, one of the biggest drawbacks of PE is that if there is no Serial ATA hard disk driver, the hard disk cannot be found, and then ghost32 cannot be used to restore the system, so this PE is useless. But under DOS, it can naturally recognize the Serial ATA hard disk driver, and it is quite convenient to use ghost to maintain the system. So, there is no question of one replacing the other between DOS and PE.