Download Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) and WinPE Addon for Windows 8, 8.1,10 and 11

Before making a Windows PE bootable USB/CD in Windows 8/8.1/10/11, you may need to download and install the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK).

AOMEI Post By AOMEI Updated November 24, 2023

What is Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)?

Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) is a tool that can be used to customize Windows images for large-scale deployment to test the quality and performance of your system, its added components, and the applications running on it. 

The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) and Windows PE add-on has the tools you need to customize Windows images for large-scale deployment and to test the quality and performance of your system, its added components, and the applications running on it. The Windows ADK includes:

  • The Windows Assessment Toolkit and the Windows Performance Toolkit to assess the quality and performance of systems or components.
  • The Compatibility Administrator and the Standard User Analyzer tool.
  • Deployment tools such as Windows PE, Sysprep, and other tools that you can use to customize and deploy Windows 11 images.
  • The Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) as a separate download from the Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK). To add Windows PE to your ADK installation, download and install the Windows PE add-on after installing the ADK.
 
 

ADK

 

Download Windows ADK for Windows 8/8.1/10/11

When you try to create a bootable media for AOMEI programs, it may fail to finish as the program cannot find the necessary environment to create the bootable media. In this case, installing the Windows ADK toolkit (with the Windows PE feature selected) is required.

Starting with Windows 10, version 1809, Windows Preinstallation Environment (PE) is released separately from the Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK). To add Windows PE to your ADK installation, you also need to download and install the Windows PE Addon after installing the ADK. This change enables post-RTM updates to tools in the ADK.

You can download the right version of Windows ADK and WinPE Addon tool (if necessary) as per your system version from Microsoft's official site. Then, please run the ADK and WinPE Addon installer to install them on your computer following the installation process.

Once installed successfully, the WinPE files will be in the same location as they were in previous ADK installs. And then, you can just create a WinPE bootable media with AOMEI programs.

Note:

  • If you are running Windows 7 or XP, you need to download and install AIK for deployment.