How to manually add PreBoot drivers to Deployment Solution or Ghost Solution Suite

Products

• Deployment Solution
• Ghost Solution Suite

Issue/Introduction

 

Resolution

You need to manually add PreBoot drivers to Deployment Solution 6.9 and later or Ghost Solution Suite 3.x.

There are two versions of the Boot Disk Creator included in Ghost Solution Suite.

• The Boot Disk Creator that is integrated into the console.
  This is used to make Automation Boot packages including PXE, automation folders, and automation boot disks. These are intended to boot a client system and connect it to the Ghost Console to perform a job created on the console.
  
  Location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Altiris\eXpress\Deployment Server\Bootwiz\platforms
   
• The Standalone Boot Disk Creator that is installed separately from the console.
  You can install this on a computer to make Ghost boot disks which launch the Ghost GUI and allow the user to use the Ghost GUI to make and restore images.
  
  Location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Ghost\bootwiz\Platforms\

Start by navigating to the appropriate folder location, and open the platform folder that you are adding drivers to. For example, "Winpe5" and "x64" when using the 64-bit Winpe5 for your boot images. If you have a mix of x86 and x64, you need to perform these steps for both subfolders.

Example targeting the x64 winpe5 version

1. Navigate to one of the following locations, depending on which version you are adding drivers for:
   • C:\Program Files (x86)\Altiris\eXpress\Deployment Server\Bootwiz\platforms\Winpe5\x64\Drivers
   • C:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Ghost\bootwiz\Platforms\WinPE\x64\Drivers
2. Open the CUSTOM folder (e.g. \x64\Drivers\CUSTOM).
   If there is not a folder named "CUSTOM", create a new one.
3. Open the \x64\Drivers\CUSTOM\Drivers folder.
   If there is not a folder named "Drivers", create a new one.
4. Create a new folder with the same name as the .INF driver you are adding.
5. Copy the extracted drivers to the new folder.
6. Open the Boot Disk Creator.
7. Select the configuration you want to use, or create a new configuration.
8. Select the WinPE version that you are updating, and create a new boot disk or boot package.

CAUTION:  Each driver directory should have at least an .INF file, a .SYS file, and a .CAT file. If a driver directory does not include these files, then the driver is incomplete and will not work.