Depending on what you need the .wim file for, you can create it manually or automatically.
- To manually create a .wim file (capture image) you need a bootable CD with Windows PE (with ImageX.exe included) that you can create using Windows Automated Installation Kit.
The basics steps are:
- Boot your computer using Windows PE disk.
- In the Windows PE command prompt navigate to the folder with ImageX.
- To capture the C: partition, use the following example:
imagex.exe /capture C: D:\CapturedImage.wim “My captured image”Where: C: is the partition to be captured; D:\CapturedImage.wim is the place of the captured file; “My captured image” is the name of the file.
More switches can be found on the ImageX Command-Line Options page.
If you need the image for deployment, do not forget to run sysprep before capturing the image!
- To automatically create a .wim file you can use a capture media created using Configuration Manager.
If you want to capture a Windows XP OS, copy sysprep files to C:\sysprep. Newer operating systems have sysprep files installed by default.
To use capture media:
- Insert the CD into your CD/DVD drive and shortly autoplay will open Image Capture Wizard.
- Clicking Next will show you Image Destination page. Select where to save the wim file.
- On the next page enter some information about the image.
- On the Summary page click Finish. The task sequence will start sysprep and restart the computer. After restart, the computer will boot to Windows PE and will capture a image of the machine.
(4 votes, average: 3.75 out of 5)
Loading ...
alex pascanu says:
Very nteresting post,i’ve been looking for how to make wim image,but i’ve gpt some questions if you don;t mind:
Sunday, January 3, 2010, 14:341)Whici is the role of sysprep in making a wim image
2) How could i deploy thet image via RIS service -> a comprehending tutorial if you don;t mind?
Best Regards!
Vitalie Ciobanu says:
Hi Alex,
Thanks for reading and posting your questions here.
Regarding Sysprep: if you install and customize an operating system and want to capture it as a .wim file so you can later deploy it, Sysprep prepares the installation so that you can create an image, the .wim file. An operating system includes some unique elements that cannot be copied over to new systems, and here is where sysprep helps us. It generalizes (deletes) these elements so that you can deploy the image to other computers. After the image is copied onto a destination computer, and you start the destination computer, a shortened version of the Windows Setup program runs. The shortened version of Setup configures only user-specific and computer-specific settings, such as computer name, domain membership, and regional options. You can automate this last part of the setup process by using an answer file, a simple text file that instructs the Setup program how to configure the various operating system settings.
Regarding you second question, as far as I know, deploying .wim files is not supported with RIS. Instead, you can use WDS. See here for details on how to get started with WDS http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744343(WS.10).aspx.
Sunday, January 3, 2010, 17:19alexpascanu says:
Thank yiu again for your answer!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 08:59I have anather question if you don’t mind of course:
After i’ve got the wim file what i have to do in order to deploy it on a clean machine(unformatted hdd)?
Thank you!
Vitalie Ciobanu says:
Hi Alex,
It depends on how you want to deploy your image. You can either create a DVD with your customized image and install manually (also known as Windows Setup), apply the image from a share using ImageX or deploy it using WDS.
See this article for steps on how to deploy your image.
See this article as a step-by-step on how to get started with Windows Deployment Services.
Regards,
Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 10:45Vit