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How to create Windows XP Live CD, complete with preinstalled programs

Update: Looking for Windows 7 Live CD?

To create a Windows XP Live CD we will require

1. Bart PEbuilder
2. A CD burner like Nero
3. A bootable Windows XP CD and
4. Some pebuilder plugins to customize the CD.

Step 1: Download PeBuilder from here and install it. Make sure you have enough free space on the drive where you install the program. After you have finished adding all programs it will create an ISO to be burned into a disk. The size of the ISO will depend upon how many programs you add to your live CD. I would recommend atleast 700MB of free space.

Step 2: You may want to set a wallpaper that will appear on the desktop when you boot the CD. For this open the folder where you have installed PEbuilder and replace the file bartpe.bmp with the wallpaper of your choice.

Step 3: Download XPE plugin from here (direct download link). It's the GUI shell of the XP Live CD that will create the XP start button and taskbar. You are free to download as many plugin (applications) you want. Currently there are more than 500 applications to choose from. Both freewares and commercial applications are available. Antivirus programs like Kaspersky, NOD32, Avast; burning program Nero; media players like VLC; OpenOffice, Foxit PDF reader, Acrobat Reader etc are available.

Pebuilder plugins repository
More Plugins here

Step 4: After you have finished downloading all your favourite programs, open PEbuider and specify the source path to the Windows XP installation bootable CD. You can copy the CD to your hard disk and point the source to the copied file.



Step 5: Click Plugins and add all the plugins you have downloaded. Since we have added XPE, disable nu2shell and the startup group from the list of plugins.

Step 6: Specify the ISO image file and click Build. The program will integrate the plugins and create an ISO image.

Step7: Burn the image into a disk using any burning software and your live CD is ready.



The Live CD Desktop



Running Abiword



Running VLC Media Player


Source: Digit magazine Nov 2007 issue.

Comments

  1. west158

    lol, so so cool, yet so so simple, yet so so hard.....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Or just use Reatogo-X-PE @ http://www.reatogo.de/

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm having problems with it, lots of getFileVersion() failed about ntdll.dll and when enabling/disabling plugins. any idea???

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Jimmy: I think you should start afresh.

    ReplyDelete
  5. bartpe is not working with winpe its generate err message "error while executing shdovwc.dll pl hpl

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey i think this shit is really really cool. Think it helps if you have a crushed HDD. Thanks man it really helped me.
    Sammy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Plugin button is not working. There are errors in the link of Plugin Button.

    Otherwise, that a tremendous tool.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have problem with hard drive, I dont see my Harddisk in My Computer, in XP live. I dont know how to see it? pease help me.. Laci

    ReplyDelete
  9. Is your hard disk SATA? Does the live CD contains drivers for sata disk? Does your live CD has service pack2 installed? If not, download SP2 and the necessary drivers from the HDD manufacturer's site and integrate it into the live cd.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi, thaks for help. My disk is SATA and my Live CD has SP2. I´ll try download HDD drivers and itegrate to Live CD.My HDD is sharing in vista drivers.it´s the problem. Laci

    ReplyDelete
  11. hi can we install certian free wares in xpe
    eg. vlc k-lite
    if yes can u help me with that
    i am gassan, id [email protected]

    ReplyDelete
  12. reech tanks very good! realy help me to solve my prblems

    ReplyDelete
  13. whats the average boot time ? I mean how fast is this bootable CD. I guess it will be quite slow as compared with hdd Install

    ReplyDelete
  14. oi...........can we add america online 8.0 or 9.0???if can...............how.....:D

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow, it really works.It Saved my Valuable Data From Absolute Damage.Thanks 2 the person who saved mine but lost his own.Really Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  16. why whwn i burn a iso image and booting
    its appear
    "The file iaStor.sys could not be found,
    press any key to continue" ??????

    ReplyDelete
  17. Cool but, it does not go auto to Windows.

    ReplyDelete
  18. hi guys can any 1 pls help me i wnt to create silent installer my email address ([email protected])

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  19. Worked great. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks, this was great. Really cool and good description. Everything worked fine in the first short. Amazing stuff!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks - looks useful - but why does the source Windows XP CD need to be Bootable???

    ReplyDelete
  22. The source CD has to be bootable to make the Live CD bootable.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thank you very much
    this is exactly what I was looking for
    Thank again mate :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Great!With this i can copy my downloads from a 1-disk computer withhout windows!
    I dont want to install windows again!
    Tnx!

    ReplyDelete
  25. thanxxx it worked...

    ReplyDelete
  26. thanks for sharing this idea. I tried it, its good. The only problem i am facing is, i am not able to connect to the net. I have a LAN connection, i have setup the connection in the same manner when i was using my hard disk for booting windows.pl suggest me the remedy.thanking you

    ReplyDelete
  27. Any Kind Of virush Prob's Say Me
    And Any Pc Probl's

    Tarun Patel:9974802181

    ReplyDelete
  28. hey thanks for this..learnt alot from....
    could anyone please tell how to exactly integrate sata drivers with live cd...
    thanks

    ReplyDelete
  29. Man, you are great!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Another vote for Linux OS. Creating Live CDs is a native feature of Ubuntu (and, I believe, many others) and the whole OS (and most, if not all, of the easily installable programs) are completely free and changeable (i.e. Open Source).

    ReplyDelete
  31. hi, i follow this tutorial and successfully create windows live cd..i cant access usb drive in My Computer..is there any way i can access my usb drive? thanks

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hi,
    Can we get MS Office Plugin, if yes please share link.

    thanks in advance,
    Suresh Bhandari

    ReplyDelete
  33. Is there a way to understand how to use Windows XPE? This part you did not explain.

    It doesn't look too graphical to me and keep getting warnings when trying to use it saying never should be running a machine running windows.

    I don't understand it but your help would be helpful. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  34. i get a lot of error messages when trying to run aplications

    ReplyDelete
  35. How can I add software like .Net Framework 2.0, Firefox 3.6, etc (hich are on my hard disk and are .exe or .msi files)to the Windows XP live CD?

    ReplyDelete
  36. is it possible to run windows permanantly live. i can copy live CD to hard disk. and boot from it. this is to avoid viruses. please reply thanks [email protected]

    ReplyDelete
  37. @Hamid Awan: You can't EXE files only XPE plug-ins. I'm sure there is a way to convert EXE files to XPE. I will research on this.

    @jeewantha: No, it's not possible.

    I will try to add more screenshots of the process.

    ReplyDelete
  38. how do we add diferent hardware drivers such as ethernet or video card drivers with "partpe"

    ReplyDelete
  39. Going to test this tomorow :D


    @jeewantha: if you can use the live in your cd-drive, why then install it on your HDD?
    If you could install live onto the HDD it would not be any use, because then you would still be able to get viruses...


    Now i go to bed... :) ZZZzzzzZZZzzzz

    ReplyDelete
  40. HOW DO WE FIX THE ERRORS. IT WOULDN'T CREATE THE ISO BECAUSE OF THE ERRORS. IS THERE ANY WAY TO BYPASS THIS AND FORCE CREATE THE ISO?

    ReplyDelete
  41. how did you get the task bar to look like that in the image where you're running VLC Media Player?

    ReplyDelete
  42. Is there a citrix client plugin available?

    ReplyDelete
  43. Kaushik,

    This is a great info.
    How did you made this 'StartMenu' look like this? Please upload more detailed information of the process.

    Your work looks so nice and very useful.
    Why shouldn't you upload this (you work) on Rapidshare or any public torrent ?

    I request you to update your work and put it any public site.

    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  44. @Anonymous

    I know you think you understand what you thought i said but I'm not sure if you realize that what you heard is not what i meant

    ReplyDelete
  45. Can it be done for windows server 2008 as well, if yes, is it the same instructions? wicked stuff, thx

    ReplyDelete
  46. Hi Body, this is really sick!!!
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  47. i did not see any players

    ReplyDelete
  48. Why there is no Start Menu

    ReplyDelete
  49. Do you want Ready made Windows XP Live CD!!!

    Download it from the following link:

    http://www.filesonic.in/file/948613664

    Specifications:

    1. Boot up within a minute.

    2. Can run faster in slow PC's (Pentium 3)

    3. Service Pack 2 Integrated.

    ReplyDelete
  50. i cant add ghost in the live cd .... i dont hav ghost.cab file i only hav ghost.exe so plz suggest me .....

    ReplyDelete
  51. I'm getting a "missing kernelbase.dll" error and can't boot from the disc I made at all. Anyone else get this problem or know how to fix it?

    ReplyDelete
  52. Sir, I have a zte wireless net(bsnl wll) connection. Now how to add this software in a xp live cd. Biswajit Roy([email protected])

    ReplyDelete
  53. If anyone searching for Kaspersky or ESET node 32 activation codes get from here:-

    http://allantiviruskeys.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  54. i follow instruction but can not boot from my hp pavilion running win xp that is now broken hard drive. 256 mb ram. can somebody help?

    ReplyDelete
  55. See how to create windows xp live USB from here:-

    http://windowsxplivecd.blogspot.com

    Also learn how to make a bootable USB.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Hello.
    How can I make my own plugins for Bart PEBuilder?

    ReplyDelete
  57. it shows dunping error while booting with cd

    ReplyDelete
  58. Fewer and fewer people are interested in this. SAD. all $$ went to apple

    ReplyDelete
  59. how can i install graphic driver

    ReplyDelete
  60. Awesome post i am looking for this post from a long time ...thank you so much

    ReplyDelete
  61. Finally I got to create my Live CD with the bar of tasks, it is the Clue: in PÉ Builder window in Plugins when clicking appears a list of Plugins, in the option to activate / to disable clicks in the plugin (A43 Cribs Management Utility) that appears activated "yes" it disables him and the plugin (nu2shell) leaving the option "no"; OBS. before disabling the Plugins descompacte the file (xpe-1.0.7) lowered and put in the paste - C:\pebuilder3110a\plugin, later make the deactivation of Plugins.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Please can some one guide me on how to add a vlc plugin to the program because i cant fibd a vlc plug in to download to fix it into it

    ReplyDelete

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