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Create an SDI Image

Create an SDI File on Your Development Computer

  1. On the Start menu, click All Programs, point to Microsoft Windows Embedded Studio, and then click SDI Loader. The Storage Device Image Loader dialog box appears.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Specify a new file name, for example recovery.sdi.
  4. Click Open, and then click Yes to confirm that you want to create the file.
  5. Specify the size of disk to create to hold your run-time image, and then click OK (490MB max!).

Found New Hardware notifications appear in the Taskbar notification area for the new SDI disk and disk drives.

  1. Click Done.

Initialize the SDI File as a Disk Drive

  1. On the Start menu, click Control Panel, and then double-click Administrative Tools.
  2. Double-click Computer Management, and then click Disk Management.
  3. The Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard appears.
  4. Click Next to accept the defaults, and then click Finish to complete the wizard.

Create a Partition on the SDI File

  1. In the bottom pane of the Computer Management window, locate the new disk you just created. Right-click the area where Unallocated appears, and then click New Partition.
  2. Create a primary boot partition, using the default value.
  3. Specify partition size. Accept the default value (slightly smaller than the size you specified for the SDI file).
  4. Assign a drive letter. Accept the default value, or change if needed.
  5. Specify the file system. Accept the default value (NTFS).
  6. Format the partition by selecting Perform a quick format and Enable compression on partition.
  7. Click Next, and then click Finish.
  8. Right-click the new volume, and then click Mark Partition as Active.

You should now have a drive with a drive letter, ready to receive your image.

Copy the Master Image to the SDI File/Mounted Drive

At this stage, the SDI file is used as a mounted drive. It appears in My Computer as a drive, and you can add files to it.

  1. Locate the folder or drive that contains your master image (for example, C:\WinPE), and copy the contents of that folder to the mounted SDI disk drive you just created (for example G:\).

Dismount the SDI Disk from Your Computer

  1. On the Start menu, click All Programs, point to Microsoft Windows Embedded Studio, and then click SDI Loader.
  2. Select the image you want to remove, and then click Remove Disk.
  3. In the Taskbar notification area, right-click the Safely Remove Hardware icon to dismount the SDI file.