Member Avatar for 07knev

Hi

I want to boot the Laptop / Desktop via network boot CD and get connected to shared folders. Shared folder contain Ghost image ( WinXP and Win7).

Please let me know how can i create a network boot CD

Thanks
Knev

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— was right to point toward PXE. Two practical, floppy‑free approaches work well for a network‑boot + Ghost workflow: (A) a tiny boot CD that runs iPXE and chainloads into a PXE/TFTP/HTTP server, or (B) a WinPE boot CD that contains Ghost32 and a short startup script that mounts the network share and runs the image. iPXE provides a ready ISO that can be burned to CD/DVD as a fallback boot device. (ipxe.org)

For an iPXE fallback CD (minimal work on each client): create or download an iPXE ISO and boot it. iPXE can fetch kernels/boot files over HTTP (much faster than TFTP) and can hand a Windows PE WIM to the client using wimboot, so the CD only needs to chain to iPXE and point at the server. Example iPXE script (host this as boot.ipxe on the web server):

#!ipxe
kernel http://server/wimboot
initrd http://server/boot/wim/boot.wim boot.wim
boot

Use wimboot if the goal is to boot a WinPE WIM over HTTP. (ipxe.org)

For a WinPE approach (Ghost images on SMB share): build WinPE with the Windows ADK, add Ghost32.exe plus any NIC/storage drivers, and add a short start script that runs network init and maps the share before launching Ghost. A simple sequence in startnet.cmd looks like wpeinit / wpeutil waitfornetwork then net use \\SERVER\IMAGES /user:DOMAIN\user password and run Ghost32 from the mapped volume. Use the ADK to create and customize the WinPE WIM. (learn.microsoft.com)

If the goal is automated imaging at scale, consider a network imaging solution rather than manual Ghost restores — FOG or Clonezilla SE provide server-side capture/deploy workflows and PXE integration and avoid per‑machine scripting. Test the chosen method on one machine first, confirm BIOS/UEFI and Secure Boot behavior (UEFI may require EFI images or signed binaries), verify NIC PXE support or use the iPXE CD fallback, and validate credentials/driver availability in WinPE before wide roll‑out. (fogproject.org)

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Member Avatar for L7Sqr

Hi

I want to boot the Laptop / Desktop via network boot CD and get connected to shared folders. Shared folder contain Ghost image ( WinXP and Win7).

Please let me know how can i create a network boot CD

Thanks
Knev

Have you looked into something like PXE booting?

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