Overview
In case you’ve been living under a rock, OSDCloud is a PowerShell-based tool that rebuilds a Windows device from scratch using WinPE. It downloads Windows and drivers from Microsoft and OEM sources, making it an effective offline recovery solution for Intune-managed devices. Written by David Segura (several years ago now!) it has recently been brought under the Recast umbrella. See About OSDCloud | OSDCloud by Recast for more information on the official site.
This is a great module but I have struggled a bit in the past with the site’s documentation. Although there is a lot of it (good) I have found that it’s not always terribly linear in its presentation. Recently I had a possible rescue scenario I wanted to implement which would require a full offline OS Autopilot recovery. OSDCloud is a tool that can address this and I wanted to put together a quick no-nonsense, step-by-step document to produce a fully self-contained USB drive. The OS image and driver pack are stored on the USB itself, so no internet connection is required during recovery.
Note – I have tailored this for a low-end Dell laptop but please change parameters where necessary to cater for Lenovo, HP or any other device driver packs.
What You Need
- A Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC with admin rights (the ‘build PC’)
- Internet access on the build PC to download tools and content
- A USB flash drive, 16 GB or larger (recommended: Samsung BAR or Samsung FIT) — all data will be erased
- The Windows ADK and Windows PE add-on installed on the build PC
Part 1 — Install the Windows ADK
The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) is required to build the WinPE boot environment. Install this on your build PC (the physical Windows host).
Step 1 — Download and install the ADK
Go to the Microsoft ADK download page and install both components:
- Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit — select Deployment Tools only
- Windows PE add-on for the ADK (a separate download on the same page)
URL: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/get-started/adk-install
Part 2 — Set Up OSDCloud on the Build PC
Run all commands in this section in PowerShell as Administrator.
Step 2 — Install the OSD PowerShell module
| Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Force |
| Install-Module OSD -Force |
Step 3 — Create the OSDCloud template and workspace
| Import-Module OSD -Force |
| New-OSDCloudTemplate |
| New-OSDCloudWorkspace -WorkspacePath C:\OSDCloud |
Part 3 — Build WinPE and Create the USB
Step 4 — Build WinPE with drivers and auto-install startup
This command builds the WinPE boot image, injects cloud drivers, and configures WinPE to automatically begin installing Windows 11 25H2 when booted — with no prompts or confirmations required.
Wi-Fi and all other device drivers are included in the Dell driver pack added to the USB in Step 7. OSDCloud applies these during recovery, so drivers will be fully functional by the time the device reaches OOBE.
| Edit-OSDCloudWinPE -CloudDriver * ` |
| -StartPSCommand “Start-OSDCloud -OSName ‘Windows 11 25H2 x64’ -OSLanguage en-gb -ZTI -Restart” |
| ⚠ Note: Every time you run Edit-OSDCloudWinPE, the startup resets to default first. Always include all parameters (-CloudDriver, -StartPSCommand) in a single command. |
| ⚠ Warning: The -ZTI and -Restart flags mean the USB will immediately and silently wipe and reinstall Windows with no confirmation. Only boot from this USB on a device you intend to rebuild. |
Step 5 — Plug in the USB drive
Insert the USB drive into the build PC. All data on it will be erased in the next step.
Step 6 — Create the OSDCloud USB
| New-OSDCloudUSB |
You will be shown a list of USB drives. Enter the DiskNumber of your USB drive and confirm when prompted. OSDCloud will erase, partition, and format the drive with two partitions: a large NTFS partition for OSDCloud data and a small 2 GB FAT32 partition for WinPE boot.
Part 4 — Add the OS and Drivers to the USB
These steps add the offline content to the USB so no internet connection is needed during recovery.
Step 7 — Add the Dell driver pack
This downloads the driver pack for your specific Dell model and stores it on the USB. A GridView window will appear — find and select your model (PC14255) and click OK.
| Update-OSDCloudUSB -DriverPack Dell |
To download the driver pack for whichever PC you are currently running the command on:
| Update-OSDCloudUSB -DriverPack ThisPC |
Step 8 — Add the Windows 11 25H2 OS image
| Update-OSDCloudUSB -OSName “Windows 11 25H2” -OSLanguage en-gb |
This downloads the Windows 11 25H2 en-gb ESD file (~4-5 GB) and saves it to the USB. This may take some time depending on your connection speed.
| ⚠ Note: Note the difference in OSName format: Update-OSDCloudUSB uses “Windows 11 25H2” (no x64), while Start-OSDCloud uses “Windows 11 25H2 x64”. Using the wrong format will produce a parameter validation error. |
Part 5 — Keeping the USB Up to Date
Run the following on the host PC whenever you want to refresh the USB content. You do not need to return to the Hyper-V VM unless you are rebuilding WinPE from scratch.
Update the OSD module
| Update-Module OSD -Force |
Refresh the OS image
| Update-OSDCloudUSB -OSName “Windows 11 25H2” -OSLanguage en-gb |
Refresh driver packs
| Update-OSDCloudUSB -DriverPack Dell |
Update WinPE after any changes
If you have rebuilt WinPE (re-run Edit-OSDCloudWinPE), push the updated WinPE to the USB:
| Update-OSDCloudUSB |
Restore a workspace from the USB
If you need to update the USB from a new PC that does not have a workspace, you can restore one directly from the USB:
| New-OSDCloudWorkspace -fromUsbDrive |
Part 6 — Recovering a Device
Step 9 — Boot the target device from the USB
- Insert the USB into the device to be recovered
- Power on and press the boot menu key — F12 on most Dell devices
- Select the OSDCloud USB drive from the boot menu
Step 10 — Automatic installation
WinPE will load and OSDCloud will begin immediately with no prompts. It will:
- Read the Windows 11 25H2 OS image from the USB
- Apply the Dell driver pack from the USB
- Install Windows to the internal drive
- Reboot automatically when complete
The device will boot to the Windows Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE) and can be enrolled into Intune/Autopilot as normal.
| ⚠ Note: Recovery is fully offline. No internet connection is required. Firmware updates and Autopilot module downloads (which do require internet) are skipped in this configuration. These can be applied after enrolment via Intune. |
Command Reference
| Purpose | Command |
| Install OSD module | Install-Module OSD -Force |
| Update OSD module | Update-Module OSD -Force |
| Create WinPE template | New-OSDCloudTemplate |
| Create workspace | New-OSDCloudWorkspace -WorkspacePath C:\OSDCloud |
| Build WinPE (auto-install) | Edit-OSDCloudWinPE -CloudDriver * -StartPSCommand “…” |
| Create USB | New-OSDCloudUSB |
| Add Dell driver pack | Update-OSDCloudUSB -DriverPack Dell |
| Add OS image | Update-OSDCloudUSB -OSName “Windows 11 25H2” -OSLanguage en-gb |
| Rebuild WinPE after changes | Update-OSDCloudUSB |
| Update USB after changes | Update-OSDCloudUSB |
Notes
- OSDCloud downloads Windows directly from Microsoft and drivers directly from Dell, HP, Lenovo, or Microsoft Surface.
- After recovery the device boots to OOBE and can be enrolled into Intune or Autopilot as normal — no additional configuration is needed.
- Keep the USB updated periodically to ensure you have the latest driver pack and OS build.
Based on OSDCloud documentation at osdcloud.com