The ARM64 WinPE-HTA cabs have been included in this build.
The ARM64 WinPE-HTA binaries are enabled in the package build.
BCD Boot
CopyPE was updated to support staging boot binaries signed with the new "Windows UEFI CA 2023" CA. This also included changes to the MakeWinPEMedia.cmd script to leverage these new binaries for creating bootable WinPE media for machines that support this new CA. When creating Windows PE for 2023 certificate support, please create it with the /bootex option in MakeWinPEMedia.cmd.
Assessment Toolkit
Added Restrict Standby and Adaptive Hibernate to Modern Standby cycling utility.
Fixed various bugs in the Modern Standby Energy Efficiency, signing, and connectivity status checking.
Improved the usability in App automation.
Updated the event provider in the Edge workload.
What's new in the ADK 10.1.26100.1 (May 2024)
Note
The ADK 10.1.26100.1 (May 2024) version has been replaced with a new link for the ADK 10.1.26100.2 (November 2024). If you are using older ADK versions we recommend you upgrade to the latest version of ADK.
Assessment Toolkit
Added new metrics for Hypervisor and VSM delays in Boot performance (Full Boot) assessment
Updated to support full end-to-end Windows Assessment Console (WAC) UI and execution flow on ARM64 platform
Updated to support AC mode for Energy Efficiency jobs
Optimized user experience in EdgeAutomation and WinappAutomation jobs
Fixed various bugs in Energy Efficiency web browsing and Microsoft Teams workloads
Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA)
New Welcome Screen: to streamline the workflow for users by enabling pre-analysis configuration.
New WPA Launcher: provides a convenient access point for recently used files, settings configuration, plugin management, Getting Started documentation, and many other features
Settings Configuration: WPA now features a centralized settings hub within the launcher, designed to streamline the customization and management of the application. This unified settings page offers users the convenience to adjust application text, switch between light and dark themes, and seamlessly access and copy WPA's about information for troubleshooting purposes.
Refreshed diagnostic console: The Diagnostics console has been revamped with better grouping/filtering support. Diagnostics are now logged in respective "channels" based on which component logged a given message. The user can now filter logs based on the log level and logging type.
Analysis: In the era where Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are not just buzzwords but essential drivers of innovation, the importance of specialized hardware like Neural Processing Units (NPU) cannot be overstated. Recognizing this, we're excited to unveil ana Neural Processing Profile PU analysis within the Windows Performance Recorder (WPR.exe & WPRUI.exe) to record NPU usage and new table & graphs in Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA).
New Gantt chart modes: Timeline views were hard to visualize but with the new Gantt chart modes, users can visualize the timeline to help them understand the parent-child relationships. You can select the Grant chart mode by clicking on the button besides the chart preset dropdown. You have two modes "Combine as Grouped" and "Combine as Related"
Combine as Grouped: This is the most common Gantt chart mode. The relationship is 1:1 with the group of the table. In the below graph, several new thread Id are grouped under Explorer.exe.
Combine as Related: This Gantt chart mode illustrates the timeline and interdependencies of various tasks within a collection & its grouped by their relationships to their parent group. In the below image, as we drill into Explorer.exe, we can see the data points converging, all linked to the parent group.
Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT)
Added support for Windows Server 2019 product keys
Added support for Windows Server 2025 product keys
Added support for IoT Enterprise/Client LTSC 2024
Windows Configuration Designer (WCD)
Added support for new settings and policies
Media eXperience Analyzer (MXA)
QoS (quality of Service) and Epp support added to Scheduler view
New properties
New views
Interval Stack diagnosis module for Graphics call stacks
Miscellaneous bug fixes
Supply Chain Trust Tools
New supply chain trust tools added: sbom-tool and CoseSignTool. These tools are used at Microsoft to create and sign our SBOMs. We've decided to share these tools with the community to help improve the observability of components across the industry. While there are other methods to produce SBOMs, we believe that teams using our tools will have an easier time creating clarity with their partners, both within and outside of Microsoft.
App-Sequencer and App-V Auto sequencer components are now default unselected as part of the ADK installation, previously they were default selected.
Deprecation notes have been added to the App-V Sequencer & Auto Sequencer descriptions section displayed as part of the ADK installation, as well as to the App-V Sequencer UI launch screen.
Registry Hive Recovery Tools
Removed registry hive recovery tool required for loading uplevel registry hives on Win 8 or earlier OS's. If you still have a need for this tool, copy in any prior version of the ADK can be used.
Known Issues in ADK 10.1.26100.1 (May 2024) and Win PE
Issue Description
Status
Resolution
An error code (0x800f081f) encountered while attempting to install the LCU into WinPE.
In the 24H2 Windows PE, some DISM cmdlets fail on Windows OS images from prior to the 24H2 release; an error, stating "request is not supported" is encountered. This error affects the functionality of certain PowerShell commands in full OS/WinPE, particularly when targeting previous versions of offline Windows 11.
What's new in the ADK 10.1.25398.1 (Republished in January 2025)
Overall
Fixed ADK and WinPE add-on installers to remove a vulnerability. More details can be found here. There were no changes made to the composition of the kit otherwise. Make sure you install the latest version of ADK to stay most up-to-date. If you have to keep using this version of ADK, make sure you re-install the version of the ADK you have running on your devices. All download links on the Download and install the Windows ADK page have been updated to the new re-published version of ADK 10.1.25398.1.
On devices with Universal Flash Storage (UFS) storage, using DISM or other imaging tools to apply or capture an OS image in WinPE may result in a DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION or DRIVER_PNP_WATCHDOG bugcheck. This issue is planned to be fixed in a future Cumulative Update. Until a fix is available, mitigate this issue by using the "Windows PE add-on for the ADK for Windows 11, version 22H2" from Other ADK downloads.
Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA)
WPA is now built on .NET 6, which includes native ARM64 support.
Improved Trace Processing and Performance Improvements
What's new in the ADK for Windows 11
Assessment toolkit known issues
Modern Standby performance assessment:
If you enable the new LockScreen option: For the "When should Windows require you to sign-in again" question in the Settings app sign-in options, make sure to select "When PC wakes up from sleep".
Some regions of interests may randomly appear in the Windows Assessment Toolkit assessment report due to a known issue in Windows Performance Toolkit. Re-analysis of the results may correct the issue.
Microsoft Edge performance assessment: On entry-level hardware with low memory or two cores, the results may show an large amount of outliers in the results distribution due to a race condition in the test logic. In that case, only the fastest iterations should be considered valid.
Microsoft Store App performance assessment: If you don't specify a filter the test may fail on Arm64 when trying to assess some infrastructure appx packages. If this happens, you can specify a filter to only test the apps you desire, or add the failing package name to blocklist.txt.
WPA's code structure and tooling has been rewritten with early support of the Performance Toolkit SDK. With the rewrite, WPA is now a self contained .NET Core 3.1 application, allowing for extensibility by loading plugins to process any specific data sources (outside of ETL).
What's new in the Windows ADK for Windows 10, version 2004
Windows Performance Recorder (WPR)
New SkipPDBGen Option - During WPR stop, you can now specify in the command line the ability to skip generation of PDBs (NGen & Embedded) to help reduce trace stop time.
What's new in the Windows ADK for Windows 10, version 1903
Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA)
The latest WPA has two new features:
Right-Click Tooltips for Column Headers - Use this for "one click" changes to Column Aggregation, Format, and Modes.
Utility Columns for CPU Tables (Sampled & Precise) - This augments the Weight or Usage columns values by performance characteristics of the Processor Architecture.
Windows System Image Manager known issue
When using Window System Image Manager (SIM), you might encounter errors if the ADK is installed on a device running a 64-bit version of Windows. To create unattended Windows Setup answer files on a 64-bit version of Windows, download the WSIM 1903 update, and follow the included installation instructions.
The Fast Startup assessment may not automatically reboot some systems using an ACPI Time and Alarm device after shutdown when the "use wake timers" option is selected in the assessment configuration. If this is blocking test automation, clear the option and retry.
What's new in the Windows ADK for Windows 10, version 1809
Windows PE
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, download the Windows PE Addon and run the included installer after installing the ADK. This change enables post-RTM updates to tools in the ADK. After running the installer for the WinPE add-on, the WinPE files will be in the same location as they were in previous installs of the ADK.
With the latest version of Windows Performance Recorder (WPR), WPR Profiles (WPRP) with Custom Events in TraceMergeProperties now work as intended. Due to this change, if a custom WPRP contains an TraceMergeProperties XML element with an empty set of Custom Events, this will no longer include the default set of Custom Events (ImageIDs, WinSat, etc).
To keep the same behavior with previous versions, make sure to include the following attribute as part of the TraceMergeProperties element:
Base="TraceMerge_Default"
With the latest version of Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA), .NET 4.5.2 framework is required for certain components when running on Windows 8 installations. To ensure proper use of WPA, download the latest version of .NET.
Retail Demo Experience (RDX)
RDX 3.0 is available in Windows 10, version 1809, and will be automatically updated on Windows 10, version 1803 for connected devices. Updates include a new webpage-style layout, a new API to allow you to manage your own assets, and a digital fact tag that can be updated locally from the sales floor.
What's new in the Windows ADK for Windows 10, version 1803
PowerView
PowerView is a new tool used to visualize data from Energy Estimation Engine logs produced by powercfg /srumutil, and Windows Assessment Toolkit battery life tests.
New in Windows Assessment Toolkit
Standby (S3) and Hibernate (S4) battery life workloads
Productivity Workload (prerequisite: install Microsoft Office 2016 before executing the test)
You can find ADK tools located in the following directory:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit
What's new in the Windows ADK for Windows 10, version 1703
Windows Configuration Designer
Previously known as Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer (ICD), the tool for creating provisioning packages is renamed Windows Configuration Designer. Windows Configuration Designer in Windows 10, version 1703, includes several new wizards to make it easier to create provisioning packages.
What's new in the Windows ADK for Windows 10, version 1607
Pick and choose desktop applications
With siloed provisioning packages, you can now pick and choose which desktop applications to add to your images during deployment. You no longer need to recapture the entire set of applications into your recovery image, they're added in automatically. These packages support space-saving features like Compact OS and single-instancing.
Build IoT Core images for large-scale deployment
Capture your apps, drivers, and settings, and deploy them securely to new devices. Learn how with the IoT Core manufacturing guides.
The Chinese (Hong Kong SAR) language pack (zh-HK) is no longer used
The Chinese (Taiwan) language pack (zh-TW) supports both Taiwan and Hong Kong SAR locales. For more information, see Available Language Packs for Windows.
You can limit access to a single Windows app (assigned access)
Push-button reset incorporates system updates by default
Users can now refresh or restore their PCs to the updated version of the system files, instead of having to reinstall each update individually.
Partial language packs now available
Want to add more languages for users when they turn on their device? Instead of adding full language packs, save space by adding just the base user interface files for a language. Later, if your user needs handwriting or voice recognition capabilities, Windows can download them as needed.
This new Windows package type lets you request services like Microsoft .NET or languages without specifying the version. Use the DISM tool to search multiple sources like Windows Update or your corporate servers to find and install the latest version.
Save space by running Windows from compressed OS files
You can now run Windows directly from compressed files. This is similar to WIMBoot, introduced in Windows 8.1 Update 1. This new process uses individual files instead of a static WIM file. When updating system files, Windows now replaces the old files instead of keeping both copies.
Plan and execute an endpoint deployment strategy, using essential elements of modern management, co-management approaches, and Microsoft Intune integration.