WinPE: Wireless Support in WinRE 10


When running dism /Get-Features agains the Windows 10 WinRE.wim, there is a Feature Pack installed called WinPE-WiFi.  You won’t find this in Boot.wim or ADK WinPE.wim, or as an ADK Optional Component.


Feature Name : WinPE-WiFi
State : Enable Pending

So what can we do with this?  Apparently if you have Wireless Drivers installed in WinRE (they are there by default for Surface Pro systems), you can use wireless with a few easy steps.

Existing Windows System

On an existing Windows system (Windows 7 or newer), you will have to export an existing Wireless Profile, making sure to use key=clear (WARNING: SSID PASSWORD WILL BE IN PLAIN TEXT).  Save this on a USB Drive.

7-30-2015 12-12-42 AM

WinPE 10 (using WinRE as the Boot WIM)

If you created WinPE using WinRE, or if booted to Recovery Environment, open a Command Prompt and a few commands later, you will be connected.

zoomit

I’ll have a write up soon enough on how to create WinPE from WinRE.wim, so yes, it will be possible to image a system over Wireless in WinPE (coming soon).