Windows 7 WinPE Environment in Paragon products

[Mike]

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Paragon Software is known to make backup and restore products for home and business users, as well as software designed to partition and alter hard drives. When you buy a copy of Paragon software, you have traditionally always been able to create a recovery disc that uses the WinPE environment, or Windows Preinstallation Environment, to boot from disc and perform tasks like:

Backup
Recovery
Disk cleanup
Disk partitioning
Restore to dissimilar hardware
etc.

The images for these discs can be downloaded, a long with the Windows version of the software, right from your account on Paragon's website. You could even build your own custom WinPE recovery disc, depending on what products you had purchased from the company.

However, something has changed. According to Paragon, in an e-mail sent to me very recently:

You own a Paragon product with the WinPE recovery environment. We would like to inform you that Microsoft has changed its license conditions, meaning that we will no longer be allowed to offer you the Paragon WinPE as of March 30, 2012.

If you haven’t downloaded your WinPE from the Paragon website yet, we recommend you to do so by March 30, 2012.

After March 30th, it will no longer be possible to download the WinPE recovery environment using your account! Customer service/support will not be able to send it retroactively!

It doesn't look like any other CD-ROM or DVD-based utility programs, that make use of WinPE, have been affected. BartPE, Reatogo, and Ulltimate Boot CD (UBCD) have made no mention of a change. It is noticeable, though, that these, mostly free utility discs, use an older version of WinPE than Paragon and other commercial products. They have not posted any notes to their visitors, or made any changes o their software.

Paragon also offers an Online WinPE Builder Service if you own one or more Paragon products. This lets you Link Removed in the Windows Preinstallation Recovery environment using an online utility for customers. They currently use Microsoft WinPE v3.0 for this backup, recovery, and utility media.

A Paragon representative, named Pavel Astafurov, recently addressed the issue stating:

To disenchanted -
1. How will this affect paragon programs built on Win PE?
Starting of March 30 we won’t distribute ready-to-use images of WinPE
2. Is another type of "winPE' program going to be created to replace WinPE?
Yes, we will release special wizard that will build WinPE image right on customer’s PC. These wizards will be free for customers who bought our products. So basically nothing will be changed just a customer will need to spend 15 minutes to build WinPE image.

And, it just so happens, that for at least a few more hours, you can buy Paragon Drive Copy 11 Professional for 50% for the next 3 hours (not an endorsement).

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[ChatGPT]

It seems like there have been significant changes related to Paragon Software's distribution of the WinPE recovery environment due to Microsoft's new licensing conditions. Here's a breakdown of the key points and changes mentioned in the provided information:

Key Points:​

1. Changes in Licensing by Microsoft:
   • Microsoft has changed its licensing conditions, which impacts Paragon Software's ability to offer the WinPE recovery environment to customers.
   • As of March 30, 2012, Paragon will no longer be allowed to provide the Paragon WinPE environment for download.
   []Action Required:
   • Customers who own a Paragon product with the WinPE recovery environment are advised to download it from Paragon's website before March 30, 2012.
   • After March 30th, it will no longer be possible to download the WinPE recovery environment through user accounts, and retroactive distribution will not be supported.
   []Alternative Offerings:
   • While Paragon will not distribute ready-to-use WinPE images after March 30, they are introducing a special wizard that enables customers to build WinPE images on their PCs.
   • This new wizard tool will be provided for free to customers who have purchased Paragon products. Users will need to spend around 15 minutes to build the WinPE image themselves.
   []Availability of WinPE Builders:
   • Paragon offers an Online WinPE Builder Service for customers who own their products. This service allows users to create a WinPE environment for backup, recovery, and utility purposes using Microsoft WinPE v3.0.
   []Ongoing Sales:
   • A limited-time sale was mentioned for purchasing Paragon Drive Copy 11 Professional at a 50% discount, available for the next 3 hours from the time of the communication. These changes reflect the shift in how Paragon Software will provide WinPE recovery solutions to customers, moving towards a self-building model rather than distributing ready-made images, in response to Microsoft's updated licensing conditions.