Add Drivers to a Windows 8.1 Deployment with Windows PE Using Configuration Manager

Applies To: Windows 8.1

In this topic, you will learn how to configure the Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) to include the network drivers required to connect to the deployment share and the storage drivers required to see the local storage on machines. Even though the Windows PE 5.0 boot image and the Windows 8.1 operating system contain many out-of-the-box drivers, it’s likely you will have to add new or updated drivers to support all your hardware. In this section, you import drivers for both Windows PE 5.0 and the full Windows 8.1 operating system.

For the purposes of this topic, we will use CM01, a machine running Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard that is a member of the domain contoso.com for the fictitious Contoso Corporation. For more details on the setup for this topic, please see Proof-Of-Concept Environment.

In this topic

• Add drivers for Windows PE 5.0

• Add drivers for Windows 8.1

See also

• Integrate Configuration Manager with MDT 2013

• Prepare for Zero Touch Installation of Windows 8.1 with Configuration Manager

• Create a Custom Windows PE 5.0 Boot Image with Configuration Manager

• Add a Windows 8.1 Operating System Image Using Configuration Manager

• Create an Application to Deploy with Windows 8.1 Using Configuration Manager

• Create a Task Sequence with Configuration Manager and MDT

• Finalize the Operating System Configuration for Windows 8.1 Deployment with Configuration Manager

• Deploy Windows 8.1 Using PXE and Configuration Manager

• Monitor the Windows 8.1 Deployment with Configuration Manager

• Refresh a Windows 7 SP1 Client with Windows 8.1 Using Configuration Manager

• Replace a Windows 7 SP1 Client with Windows 8.1 Using Configuration Manager

Add drivers for Windows PE 5.0

This section will show you how to import some network and storage drivers for Windows PE 5.0. This section assumes you have downloaded some drivers to the E:\Sources\OSD\DriverSources\WinPE x64 folder on CM01.

1. On CM01, using the Configuration Manager Console, in the Software Library workspace, right-click the Drivers node and select Import Driver.

2. In the Import New Driver Wizard, on the Specify a location to import driver page, below the Import all drivers in the following network path (UNC) option, browse to the \\CM01\Sources$\OSD\DriverSources\WinPE x64 folder and click Next.

3. On the Specify the details for the imported driver page, click Categories, create a category named WinPE x64, and then click Next.

4. On the Select the packages to add the imported driver page, click Next.

5. On the Select drivers to include in the boot image page, select the Zero Touch WinPE 5.0 x64 boot image. Also select the Update distribution points when finished check box, and click Next twice.

Figure 22. Adding drivers to Windows PE 5.0.

Note

The Updating Boot Image part of the wizard will appear to hang when displaying Done. It will complete in a minute or two.

Figure 23. Configuration Manager taking a power nap (still working in the background).

Add drivers for Windows 8.1

This section illustrates how to add drivers for Windows 8.1 through an example in which you want to import Windows 8.1 drivers for the HP EliteBook 8560w model. For the purposes of this section, we assume that you have downloaded the Windows 8.1 drivers for the HP EliteBook 8560w model and copied them to the E:\Sources\OSD\DriverSources\Windows 8.1 x64\HP EliteBook 8560w folder on CM01.

1. On CM01, using the Configuration Manager Console, right-click the Drivers folder and select Import Driver.

2. In the Import New Driver Wizard, on the Specify a location to import driver page, below the Import all drivers in the following network path (UNC) option, browse to the \\CM01\Sources$\OSD\DriverSources\Windows 8.1 x64\HP EliteBook 8560w folder and click Next.

3. On the Specify the details for the imported driver page, click Categories, create a category named Windows 8.1 x64 - HP EliteBook 8560w, and then click Next.

   Figure 24. Creating driver categories.

4. On the Select the packages to add the imported driver page, click New Package, use the following settings for the package, and then click Next:

   1. Name: Windows 8.1 x64 - HP EliteBook 8560w

   2. Path: \\CM01\Sources$\OSD\DriverPackages\Windows 8.1 x64\HP EliteBook 8560w

Note

The package path does not yet exist, so you have to type it in. The wizard will create the new package in that folder.

![](images\Dn744286.13a4d778-33e4-4e53-becd-608c6e8c745f(WS.11).png) Figure 25. Creating a new driver package.  
  

5. On the Select drivers to include in the boot image page, don’t select anything, and click Next twice. After the package has been created, click Close.

Note

If you want to monitor the driver import process more closely, you can open the SMSProv.log file during driver import.

Figure 26. Drivers imported and a new driver package created.