AOMEI PE Builder 1.5

WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit) is the tool we all traditionally use to boot up our PC when something goes wrong.

That doesn’t mean that it is the most convenient for the job. AOMEI PE Builder allows you to build your own (and free) Windows Preinstallation Environment, complete with your own desktop and with all the tools you need to start up your PC and recover your valuable data.

Unlike Windows AIK (or Windows ADK from Windows 8), PE Builder works with an interface that you are familiar with – actually, your own desktop, which will remove a great deal of stress of an already highly stressful operation. From this friendly environment you can start searching for your data using a series of both Windows tools and AOMEI tools that have been embedded in the PE you created. Windows system recovery and repair, Windows Disk Management, and a wide range of portable and free utilities are included by default in your PE. 7-Zip, Everything, IrfanView, Notepad++, SumatraPDF, or Recuva are just some of them. Network tools (such as PENetwork, Filezilla, or QTWeb) and system management tools (like OSFMount, BOOTICE, and NTPWEdit) are also part of the package. However, if you feel that some portable tools that you already have on your system should also be part of your WinPE, you can add them to it during the building process, together with whatever drivers you think you may need to work on your PC.

AOMEI is kind enough to throw in to the package, from its extensive catalog of useful apps, two recovery tools – AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard and AOMEI Backupper Standard, which will allow you to resize, create, merge, or split partitions (among other options), and to create a backup of your valuable data or even a system image backup.

AOMEI PE Builder can store your bootable media on a CD or DVD, on a Flash drive, and as an ISO file. You can even have the three of them (just to be on the safe side), and the creation process won’t take but a few minutes. It all takes place in a wizard-like interface that makes much easier an already easy-to-do task. It is free, it makes your life easier, and it is extremely easy to work with – I can’t find a reason why anyone shouldn’t use it.