So I ignored the previous (errant) BartPE entry I had created, and just repeated the process to create
BartPE2 ... again, I'm attempting to have this reference the
\I386\setupldr.bin on the USB during boot.
Selected a Windows entry again, named it
BartPE2, and hit ADD ENTRY; soon as I did, I get the message:
Valid BCD Registry not Detected.
Easy BCD has detected that your BCD boot data and MBR are eitehr not from the latest version of Windwos Vista, or don't yet exist.
If you'd like EasyBCD to correct these issues, press OK. This will modify the MBR and requires that you have Windows Vista installed on this machine. you can cancel at any time. Press 'No' to exit EasyBCD now.
This is the same error that had occurred when I attempted to create the first
BartPE BCD entry - when I hit YES, I get another message:
BootDrive
Unfortunately, EasyBCD could not automatically detect the drive letter of your boot device. This can be caused by a non0standard MBR, use of a 3rd-party bootloader, or a failed Windows Vista install.
To proceed, please enter the letter of your boot drive below. The boot drive is identified by the presence of special files <etcetc>
So I selected C:\ (only available option) as the 'Correct Boot Drive' and hit OK...next msg was:
EasyBCD is now attempting to recreate the BCD registry from scratch. In order for this process to succeed, we need you to pick the letter fo a Windows Vista to be the default boot target.
Again, selected C:\ (only available option) as the 'Vista Drive Letter' and hit OK...next msg was:
The store import command is invalid. Run "bcdedit /?" for command line assistance.
Dismissing this error brought up the original
Valid BCD Registry not Detected again; at this point I hit NO and EasyBCD exited. Upon restarting EasyBCD and opening the USB's BCD, this time I didn't see any reference to
BartPE2, which was odd because when I created the
BartPE entry I followed the above steps.
Note, also, that this all occurred on a release (not beta/RC/etc) version of Windows Vista, and in fact the USB bootable media was created on the same system.