MDT 2010: BGInfo in WinPE

One thing that I always wanted was to get a BGInfo background in WindowsPE during my Lite-Touch deployments. I did it a while back during a phase of testing when I just wanted to start-up a PC and see if it had obtained an IP address etc. Plus, I wanted to see the MAC Address and UUID without having to run scripts or WMIC every time. Anyway, it looks like this:

UPDATE: There is an x64 version of BGInfo now in MDT 2012 this tip can be replicated for both architectures. To do this for x86, you’ll need to create the following:

• An ‘Extra Files’ folder in your DeploymentShare
• A *.BGI customised background for use in Windows PE.
• a custom Unattend.XML to call the commands

ExtraFiles

1. Create a folder called ‘ExtraFiles’ in your deployment share.
2. Next, create a folder called Windows with a subfolder called System32 beneath it.
3. In the Deployment Workbench, Right-Click on the Deployment Share and select properties. Then click on the Windows PE x86 Settings Tab
4. In the Windows PE Customizations section browse to the ExtraFiles folder

Customised BGInfo

1. Boot into your LiteTouchPE_x86 environment
2. Press F8 to open a command prompt
3. Type Z:\Tools\x86\BGInfo.exe (or copy it to the x:drive to run it faster)
4. Customise your desktop background and save it to Z:\ExtraFiles\Windows\System32

Unattend.XML

1. Open Windows System Image Manager and select a DeploymentShare
2. Then select a Windows Image
3. Then create a New AnswerFile
   
   
4. Add the following settings to the Answer File in the WindowsPE configuration Pass

Microsoft-Windows-Setup | Display

ColorDepth=16
HorizontalResolution=1024
RefreshRate=60
VerticalResolution=768

Microsoft-Windows-Setup | RunSynchronous | RunSynchronousCommand

Description=Set Background
Order=1
Path=Bginfo.exe Win_PE.bgi /silent /timer:0 /NOLICPROMPT

Description=Lite Touch PE
Order=2
Path=wscript.exe X:\Deploy\Scripts\LiteTouch.wsf

5.  Save the file as z:\ExtraFiles\Unattend.XML

Finally, copy BGInfo.exe to z:\ExtraFiles\Windows\System32\ and update the deployment share to recreate the LiteTouchPE_x86.wim