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WindowsXPLIVECD
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Any PC user can create a CD that runs Win XP without being
installed, and use it to troubleshoot and recover crashed
machines. 
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Postedby:
blackram@projectallabout
Editedby:
CairaC
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Thistutorialwaspostedbyblackram@projectallabout.
GR8Tutorialman!
ThisisoneofthebestwrittenandbestcomposedtutorialsIhaveseensofar,andnotonlyisitwelldonebutitis

CreatePlug‐insforPrograms  ………………………………………………  Page8
Changethelookandfeel  ………………………………………………  Page9
BONUS………………………………………… Page11
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Contact details ………………………………………… Page12 
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Most live CDs till now had been based on Linux, with the most popular one being Knoppix. But, now
there’s a live CD that runs Win XP. In this tutorial, we’ll talk about how you can create one. 
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5LETS GET STARTED
WHAT YOU NEED
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6

Besides the default plug-ins that come with PE-Builder, you can also download your own from here:
http://oss.netfarm.it/winpe/plugins.php These are available in .cab form. To add a downloaded plug-in to the list, simply click the Add button on
the Plug-ins list window and provide the path where you’ve downloaded it. After that, it will automatically
appear in the list, and you just have to enable/disable it.
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7.::*CREATE YOUR OWN*::.
.::*WINDOWS XP LIVE CD*::.

CREATING PLUG-INS FOR PROGRAMS AND GETTING
THE WIN XP LOOK AND FEEL
At the first of this tutorial we discussed how you can create a Win XP live CD from a licensed copy of Win
XP using a free tool called Bart's PE-Builder v3. But, that live CD gives a non-XP look and feel-it comes
with an NU2 wallpaper and NU Start button (but, no Menu bar).
If you want, though, you can change each of these. The most important, of course, is adding programs and
tools that you want. We will show you how to add a data-recovery tool in the Win XP live CD to recover
data from a deleted partition.
The steps required to add any program will be the same as the ones we will use to add the data-recovery
tool. Also, you can have any wallpaper that you want-be it any default Windows wallpaper or even an

and then create an .inf file (say, datarecover.inf) in this folder. This file helps to install the above-
mentioned files to the desired location.
Win XP live CD has a run XP look and feel.

To create a .inf file, write the following commands in a Notepad file.

; datarecovery.inf
; PE Builder v3 plug-in INF file
[Version]
Signature= “$Windows NT$”
[PEBuilder]
Name=”Data Recovery Tool”
Enable=1
[WinntDirectories]
a=”Programs\ datarecovery “, 2
[SourceDisksFiles]
abc.exe =a,,1
xyz.dll=a,,1
[Software.AddReg]
;Add to Start Menu\Programs
0x2,”Sherpya\XPEinit\Programs”,”DataRecovery Tool”, “%SystemDrive%\Programs\ datarecovery
\abc.exe”
Note that 'Sherpya\XPEinit\' associates other plug-in tools with XPE plug-in. To add the plug-in, save the
file and copy the entire folder in the plug-in folder, which is found in pebuilder\Plug-in. Now, when you
run pebuilder.exe, you will find the data-recovery tool plug-in that you just created in the plug-in list
window.


Win XP live CD after customization, with the familiar calling windows look and feel.

Double click on pebuilder.exe, click on Next, give the path of your installer CD and then click on Next
again. Now, you will get a plug-in list. Here, when you click on the Add button, it will open a window
where you have to give the path of the .cab file (xpe.cab).
Give the xpe.cab with the full path.

After adding it, check whether the XPE plug-in is enabled or disabled. If it is disabled then click on the
Enable/Disable button to include it in the live CD.

There is one more thing ……… but it’s on the next page 
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11

12CONTACT DETIALS

Youcancontactme,CairaC,ateitheroneofthefollowingForums.YouwillhavetoregisterandPrivateMessage
meforanyassistanceandIwilldothebesttomyknowledgetohelpyouout.
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ProjectAllAbout–www.projectallabout.org
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MoviezWarz–www.movieswarz.com
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PSPISO–www.pspiso.com
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ForumW–www.forumw.org
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Registerandsearchfortopicauthor“CairaC”oriftheoption isthere,clickonMemberList.
THE END