WinBuilder - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

WinBuilder is a free application designed to build and customize boot disks (Live CD

Live CD

A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...

s) based on Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

(WinPE).

Scripts

Scripts are the building blocks of Live CD compiled with Winbuilder are used to build the core components of the Live CD, for adding applications, and for configuration of a specific project.
Scripts consist of a human readable text file with the .script extension and can contain Winbuilder scripting commands, the scripts graphical user interface, and sometimes encoded applications to be extracted when needed.

There is a paper explaining in detail the scripting framework of WinBuilder at Slideshare that provides a comprehensive description of how it works.

Projects

A Project is a collection of Winbuilder scripts maintained for building a complete Live CD. Each project contains multiple scripts, each responsible for adding features or applications to the build.

Users may build their own projects from scratch or use one of many projects actively developed by the boot-land community. Projects can be downloaded directly using Winbuilder's built-in download manager and used as-is or further customized to meet the individual's needs.

Actively developed projects

LiveXP - Based on nativeEx, contains a large archive of programs targeted for computer repair and administration
MultiPE Leopard - Live CD/DVD that can be built from either Windows 7 or Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

sources.
nativeEx_multiPE - Live CD/DVD / UFD that can be built from either Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 x86 sources.
NaughtyPE - Windows XP PE boot disk with sound support and other multimedia features.
VistaPE CAPI - Based on VistaPE VistaPE CAPI provides bugfixes and enhancements to the original project and support for newer Winbuilder versions.
Win7PE_SE - Live CD/DVD that can be built from either Windows 7 or Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

sources. A fork of Multi 7PEs.

Inactive Projects

BartPEcore - running bartPE inside a winbuilder environment
BB-7PE - A Windows 7 based Rescue focused PE using bbLean
BbLean
bbLean is a shell replacement for Microsoft Windows. It is a development branch of BB4Win, and like that shell, it has a minimalist look. bbLean deviates slightly from the minimalist intent of its parent by offering added functionality while retaining the basic simplicity of BB4Win.Despite this...

as its shell.
Multi 7PEs (formally Win7PE) - Live CD/DVD that can be built from either Windows 7 or Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

sources
NativeEx - Small sized Windows XP PE boot disk (~50Mb)
PicoXP - Minimalistic 14 MB boot disk based on XP
UXP - Based On Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...

for making a multiboot CD/DVD which includes The LiveXP and WinRoot ( also for customization of the CD/DVD there are other apps used such as Nlite , etc.
VistaPE - Based on Windows PE 2.0 (included on Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

DVD and WAIK)
Win7RescuePE - Live CD/DVD based on Windows 7

All of these projects are developed and distributed freely and aim to provide an alternative to other popular Live CD

Live CD

distributions based on Linux such as Knoppix

Knoppix

Knoppix, or KNOPPIX , is an operating system based on Debian designed to be run directly from a CD / DVD or a USB key , one of the first of its kind for any operating system. Knoppix was developed by Linux consultant Klaus Knopper. When starting a program, it is loaded from the removable medium...

, Slax

SLAX

Slax is a LiveCD Linux distribution based on Slackware and is currently being developed by Tomáš Matějíček. Packages can be selected in a website where users can build a custom Slax iso image. Slax slogan refers to the software as a "Pocket Operating System"...

, Damn Small Linux

Damn Small Linux

Damn Small Linux or DSL is a computer operating system for the x86 family of personal computers. It is free and open source software under the terms of GNU GPL and other free and open source licenses. It was designed to run graphical applications on older PC hardware—for example, machines with...

, which are known for their use in rescue or administrative actions on PCs.

Use and reception

Use of the software to build various customized boot disks has been covered in articles from PC Quest

PC Quest

pc Quest was a pop music group in the 1990s from Oklahoma. They were managed by George Tobin and Tim James, and signed to Headliner Records & RCA Records. Chad Petree of Shiny Toy Guns was one of their lead singers...

, PC-Welt (the German edition of PC World

PC World (magazine)

PC World is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal-technology products and services...

, which also offers some customized scripts for building disk images including additional utilities, branded as pcwVistaPE and pcwWin7PE), the Russian edition of CHIP

CHIP (magazine)

CHIP is a computer and communications magazine published by the CHIP Holding in 15 countries of Europe and Asia...

, and by TeraByte Unlimited.

CNET

CNET

CNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...

editor's review found that "WinBuilder is one of the most easy-to-use boot disk creation tools in the genre," and praised it for its "novice-friendly interface", but at the same time warned that the "program expects experienced users. For the most part, boot disk applications are for experts only." The built-in Download Center was remarked because it "simplifies procuring the boot disk applications." Other features praised were "its small size, fair memory overhead, simple instructions, and robust application installation wizards."

External links