
Windows 11 PE Audiophile Creation Guide
#1
Posted 26 November 2021 - 08:23 AM
- nik.d, Adrian, BernieK and 13 others like this
#2
Posted 26 November 2021 - 10:19 AM
Great stuff ! I will try it right now and share later experiences.
Audio PC Core 2016 AO2.0, SOTM, Gustard U16, DAC DIY, Pass Labs XA160, Wilson Audio Sasha v2, Speaker Silver cables DIY, Qyaide.
#3
Posted 26 November 2021 - 11:18 AM
#4
Posted 26 November 2021 - 07:17 PM
Do you have an opinion on if Win11PE or Win10PE sounds better in your system?
#5
Posted 27 November 2021 - 05:43 AM
#6
Posted 27 November 2021 - 04:00 PM
My system is currently all SS but for a number of years prior I was running tubes, so that is helpful. In truth, my stripped W10 is sounding a little too analytical with sharp transients and occasional harshness, so I may well play with W10PE to balance things out.
#7
Posted 28 November 2021 - 07:43 AM
Boot iso file Windows PE from system BCD:
Extract iso to a folder,
#8
Posted 08 December 2021 - 09:33 PM
About done stripping/disabling at this point and will post more thorough observations once I’m about finished and have things going.
Thank you to samotc!
#9
Posted 12 December 2021 - 05:32 AM
- using samotc’s guide, I have successfully created a bootable Win10PE USB stick by creating an ISO with Win10XPE and then burning it to a USB thumb drive with Rufus. This USB stick boots into WinPE just fine.
- afterward, I’ve spent some time with a flatboot VHD, also with samotc’s guide, which also booted successfully after being added to my host OS’s boot menu and I’ve been able to edit registry settings and add programs etc. to my liking via this method, as samotc indicated in his guide.
- here is where I am running into trouble: using samotc’s guide’s method, I have converted the edited VHD’s contents back into a WIM format with DISM++, then replaced the original Win10XPE ISO’s boot.wim with the newly created WIM via UltraISO as samotc instructs, saving the new ISO, and loading it with Rufus onto a USB drive. However, when I reboot, the “Loading files” screen goes by with no issue, as well as the Windows logo and loading icon screen, but instead of proceeding to the configuration screen as it did in the original USB drive boot or in flatboot, it simply reboots back to POST.
- surprisingly, this does not seem to be due to something I did during editing the flatboot. I can have a completely unedited VHD with the contents of the originally created Win10XPE’s boot.WIM in it, convert that unedited VHD back to WIM, place that back into the ISO, load to USB, and the USB stick will still not load WinPE and instead reboot endlessly, so there seems to be something I am doing or not doing in the conversion between USB RAM disk boot to VHD and back that is causing the problem and not any edits I have made to the flatboot/VHD contents.
A user on the Win10XPE thread on tenforums seemed to think I needed to copy the original Win10XPE ISO file’s boot and efi folders back into the VHD contents before converting them back to WIM, but that did not resolve the issue. I am curious about whether they are right and it has something to do with the boot stores, but I have tried various combinations in Bootice with no resolution.
Thanks for any suggestions!
#10
Posted 12 December 2021 - 06:19 AM
Boot iso file Windows PE from system BCD:
Extract iso to a folder,
Copy boot.sdi file to a folder (SDI, NST .... or any other name) at the root of drive C:Open Bootice.exeOpen "BCD" tabOpen tab "Easy Mode"Create new entry "New WIM boot entry"Select disk, partition where boot.wim is locatedFile: full path to boot.wimSDI File: Full path to boot.sdiSave Changes.Get out,
#11
Posted 12 December 2021 - 12:49 PM
Aside incorrect statements, please note that writing in upper case letters on forums means shouting. There's no reason to shout on anyone here.
#12
Posted 12 December 2021 - 09:31 PM
Well that sure was all something.
Anyway,
When doing VHD >> WIM conversion with DISM ++ is the "bootable" box checked?If not, check it.Have you tried booting the WIM from the BCD System?
This worked! I knew it would be something minor I was overlooking. Thanks so much, was really giving me a headache.
To save others trouble, you need to have DISM++ in "Expert Mode" for the "Bootable" checkbox to be functional, apparently. It was greyed out before (unable to be checked or unchecked), but its default was checked so I assumed that it was being applied to the resultant WIM file outside of "expert mode," but it was not. You can tell if it is properly being applied because your WIM file will be significantly larger if it is not (e.g. a base Win10XPE created ISO for me was ~475MB, one with a boot.wim reconverted back with DISM++ without the "Bootable" box checked was ~600MB).
Thanks again!
#13
Posted 13 December 2021 - 12:11 AM
Given your highly objectionable posts which contribute nothing of value to this discussion and apparently are intended only to create discord, the posts in question have been deleted and your ability to post on this Forum has been disabled.
- NickD and Griddy99 like this
Control Point: Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, 128Gb storage, 4Gb RAM, Bubble UPnP 3.8.0.2, or Dell Inspiron 15 5510 laptop (Windows 10 Professional Ver 21H2 build 19044.2130, Intel Core i7-11390H, 2.93 GHz, 512Gb KIOXIA M2 PCIe NVMe (RAID) SSD, 16Gb DDR4 3200 MHz RAM), Upplay 1.6.4
Single PC: Dell Inspiron 15R SE laptop, Intel Core i7-3612QM, 2.1 GHz, 1Tb 5400 rpm SATA HDD, 16Gb DDR3L 1600 MHz RAM
Control and Audio-PCs: Asus Mini PC PN60, Intel Core i5 8250U 1.6 GHz, 250Gb Kingston A2000 M2 NVMe SSD and 8Gb DDR4 2400 MHz RAM.
OS: Windows Server 2019 (Standard Edition) in highly optimized Desktop mode, command prompt shell for initial setup after which mouse disconnected from Single PC, and Control and Audio-PCs run headless (monitor, keyboard and mouse disconnected)
Optimization: Audiophile Optimizer 3.0, ES66 (Network Service) on RAM Disk on Control-PC, ES65 (Local Service) on RAM Disk on Audio-PC via TrustedClean 2.88 on RAM Disk on both PCs (Default Settings, CPU Optimizer, Portable Mode). LE50 (Local Service) plus MC288 (Network Service) on RAM Disk via TrustedClean 2.88 on RAM Disk in Single PC (Default Settings, CPU Optimizer, Portable Mode), Process Lasso Server Edition 12.2.0.16, additional Windows processes/services stopped via registry editor, task manager and a modified CAD DSK script. For the full optimization procedure download my Guide for Optimizing WS2019 in a Dual or Single PC JPLAY Femto-Based System (revised 16 April 2023) from here.
RAM Disk: Guides for automatically creating a RAM Disk that uses TrustedClean 2.0, 2.3 or 2.88 to install MajiorityClean, LemonadeElitest, ExerciseStabilizer or ExtremeStabilizer as a service can be downloaded from TC2.0 (23 April 2023), TC2.3 (23 April 2023) or TC2.88 (1 May 2023).
Renderer: JPLAY FEMTO 7.0D UPnP (Alternative version), Server: JPLAY FEMTO 7.0D femtoServer, File Manager: Q-Dir 11.2.6.0, Library Manager: JRiver MC 30.0.59
JPLAY Settings: Playing via: KS, Engine: ULTRAstream, Bitstream: Native, Bitperfect Volume: OFF, DAC Link: 700 (Single PC), 1000 (Control-PC), XtreamSize: 1000, Throttle: ON, Hibernate Mode: ON
Single PC Equipment Configuration: Control Point Tablet > WiFi > Single PC + JCAT USB Enhancer > 1m Chord Silver Plus USB Cable > Denon PMA 2500NE > DIY speaker cables (Tycab PVC doubly insulated 11 AWG OFC wire, TechFlex braid, Neotech Banana/Spade connectors) > Monitor Audio Silver 500 7G Speakers
Dual PC Equipment Configuration: Control Point Tablet/Laptop > WiFi > Control-PC > 1m SUPRA Cat 8 Ethernet Cable > Audio-PC > 3m Chord C-USB Cable > Rotel 1590C > 1.5m Pro 2 RCA cable > Rotel 1590B > DIY speaker cables (as above) > Bryston PX-1 external crossovers > DIY speaker cables (as above) > Bryston Model T Signature Speakers
Music Storage: Main Library: 6Tb Seagate HDD/Hub+6Tb Seagate HDD (all connections via 0.5m Avencore Premium USB 3.0 cables); Backups: as per Main Library (x2)
#14
Posted 13 December 2021 - 07:03 AM
Well that sure was all something.
Anyway,
This worked! I knew it would be something minor I was overlooking. Thanks so much, was really giving me a headache.
To save others trouble, you need to have DISM++ in "Expert Mode" for the "Bootable" checkbox to be functional, apparently. It was greyed out before (unable to be checked or unchecked), but its default was checked so I assumed that it was being applied to the resultant WIM file outside of "expert mode," but it was not. You can tell if it is properly being applied because your WIM file will be significantly larger if it is not (e.g. a base Win10XPE created ISO for me was ~475MB, one with a boot.wim reconverted back with DISM++ without the "Bootable" box checked was ~600MB).
Thanks again!
In the end how does it boot, from usb or from bcd?I do it from BCD, for me it is more comfortable than booting from the BIOS start menu, and faster.Tell us what you think about the sound of WinPE compared to Windows 10 stripped down.The most interesting would be Win10 without stripping against Win10XPE under the same conditions, the comparison will be more equitable.
#15
Posted 13 December 2021 - 07:48 AM
#16
Posted 13 December 2021 - 09:17 AM
Guys, markoliver is banned.
Regards,
Marcin
Follow my hi-fi journey on YouTube
JPLAY FEMTO: a complete network music software player for the most demanding audiophile.
Want to squeeze more from your PC-audio? Hear the difference with JCAT
#17
Posted 13 December 2021 - 04:52 PM
I still am stripping/playing with registry edits and disabling for the Win10PE build, but I am pretty close. Last night, for instance, I discovered I could disable and delete “vdrvroot” and “storahci” for USB boot (but not flatboot, these are related to both VHD and SATA AHCI mode), so now I’m looking to see what else USB boot will allow vs flatboot and vice versa. Also, I noticed that programs such as Process Hacker will allow you to set processor and I/o priority and affinity for processes that normal W10 would give you a access denied error for (e.g. csrss.exe and services.exe) - very cool!
I will report back!

#18
Posted 15 December 2021 - 11:38 AM
#19
Posted 16 December 2021 - 03:00 AM
i have just finished making a custom WinPE ISO of my own using samotc's guide primarily and am very much enjoying the sound. Because I just finished, I am pretty familiar with the process and will try to help you:
The WinPE Strelec is a pre-made customized WinPE ISO made by another person that contains a lot of recovery software and other software. I did not use it, I just downloaded the programs that samotc recommended from the internet (WinNTSetup, DISM++, Bootice, Rufus, RegistryChangesView, UltraISO, and others). The only program that is not available elsewhere that is included in the WinPE Strelec is "Remote Registry," but you can use another registry editor program on another running Windows 10 Pro image, load the hives from the VHD of the flatboot of WinPE (located in Windows\system32\config -- the two relevant hives are "SOFTWARE" and "SYSTEM") and then unload them when done editing the VHD flatboot registry. If you want to use the WinPE Strelec instead, you would need to load it onto a USB drive or its own VHD/flatboot, and boot from it, then work on the VHD flatboot by mounting it from within WinPE Strelec. I am unsure why DISM++ is not able to extract the programs from within the images files for WinPE Strelec, but WinPE Strelec is so heavily modified that may be the reason.
For the brightness control, I am unsure, it would be dependent on whether it is a setting in your laptop's hardware or not. Unfortunately, "PeCMD.exe" and "FixScreen.exe," which are related to display settings, have limited functionality in WinPE vs. Win10’s full display settings, so if the brightness control is located in Windows, you may have some trouble. You could try adding your normal graphics drivers (Intel or NVIDIA or whatever is your normal GPU drivers) to WinPE in the Win10XPE program before making the WinPE ISO. For the system simple sounds and ethernet settings, the same would apply -- there are checkboxes in Win10XPE for including system sounds, as well as for network drivers. If the "PENetwork" software included does not work for your ethernet connection, you can try the option to "add host network drivers" in Win10XPE, which is what I did to allow my JCAT FEMTO Ethernet card to work. This way, I do not have to use the PENetwork software, and do not include it in my Win10XPE created ISO.
I hope this helps.
I will be following up this post with a more detailed impressions post as well as some more thoughts about the process of creating the ISO.
#20
Posted 16 December 2021 - 11:58 AM
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