When you want to periodically install Windows with the same set of programs and settings, you can prepare your own Windows WIM installation image. Having made your image once, all subsequent installations will save you time.
How to do this, consider the example of Windows 10.
Preconditions
- You have VirtualBox or VMware Workstation installed on your computer.
- Windows ISO image downloaded.
Step-by-step instruction
Create a new virtual machine.
Install operating system(OS) Windows to a virtual machine. When installing, create a user, for example, user.
After the OS installation is complete, install VirtualBox Guest Additions(or VMware Tools) and reboot.
Install programs, such as Office, 7z, Adobe Reader, Google Chrome, K-Lite codec pack, Skype, etc.
Start Word and select the checkbox to install updates.
Set time zone: Date and time options -> Timezone.
Open: Device Manager -> IDE controllers. Replace the Intel(R) driver with standard two-channel controller.
Go to: Control Panel -> Regional Options -> Advanced -> Current language of non-Unicode programs-> Russian. Reboot.
Disable tracking in WIndows 10.
Launch a command prompt with administrator rights and run:
Sc delete DiagTrack sc config DcpSvc start=disabled echo "" > C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Diagnosis\ETLLogs\AutoLogger\AutoLogger-Diagtrack-Listener.etl reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection" /v AllowTelemetry /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
Remove unused built-in apps in Windows 10.
Run Powershell as administrator and run:
Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Appconnector | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SkypeApp | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage 9E2F88E3.Twitter | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.ConnectivityStore | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Messaging | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Getstarted | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsPhone | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.3DBuilder | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.CommsPhone | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.BingFinance | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.BingNews | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.BingSports | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.People | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsAlarms | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Office.OneNote | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Office.Sway | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.XboxApp | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsMaps | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.BingWeather | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.ZuneVideo | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.ZuneMusic | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage king.com.CandyCrushSodaSaga | Remove-AppxPackage
Get a list of all Windows online apps with the command:
Get-AppXProvisionedPackage -online | Select PackageName
Then remove all programs except Photos, Calculator, Camera, Store in sequence with the commands:
Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -PackageName
Install updates on Windows and Office I reboot each time until all updates are installed.
Shut down the virtual machine and make a clone of it (if there is no second virtual machine with Windows 10 or Windows 10 ADK installed).
Turn on the main virtual machine.
Remove VirtualBox Guest Additions and reboot.
Jump: C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep and run sysprep.exe
Select: Switching to system audit mode, uncheck "Preparing for use", Shutdown options - Restart
After reboot do not close the sysprep window. We will need it later.
Jump: Computer Management -> Utilities -> Local Users and Groups -> Users. Delete the account created during installation(in our case user).
Jump: Control Panel -> System -> Advanced System Settings -> Advanced tab -> User Profiles -> Advanced-> select "Unknown account"->Delete.
Jump: C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep and run sysprep.exe
Select: Entering the System Welcome Mode (OOBE), check the box "Preparing for use", Shutdown options - Shutdown. 
After 10 minutes, the machine should turn off.
Connect drive the virtual machine on which sysprep was launched to the second machine (the clone).
Start a virtual machine with two disks. In this case, the source machine with sysprep must remain offline.
Determine on which partition the Windows 10 prepared by sysprep is located (in our case: F: )
Launch a command prompt with administrator rights and run:
Dism /Capture-Image /ImageFile:c:\install.wim /CaptureDir:F:\ /Name:"Windows 10"
Half an hour later, our install.wim file will appear on drive C:
How to create a wim image of the Windows operating system? Today in this article we will talk about creating an installation image and answer all the important questions on this topic. Creating a Windows image is a rather laborious process. The preparatory steps for this process have already been described in earlier articles. For those who are not familiar with them, below I will list the main preparatory steps and links leading to relevant articles. Please read them first.
Building a reference computer
If you have read our previous entries, then you already know how to create and can prepare it for installation. To successfully complete this stage, you need:
- The reference computer whose last action was the command sysprep /oobe /generalize /shutdown.
- and the Imagex.exe program on board.
- The location where you can save the installation image. You need free space up to 10 GB, and maybe more. It all depends on how much software you cram into your Windows image.
The process of capturing a Windows wim image
First of all, we boot the reference computer from the Windows PE installation media (I remind you that this should be the first action with the computer after processing it with the Sysprep program), after which, in the command prompt window that opens, execute the command:
E:\imagex.exe /capture c:d:\install.wim "my windows 7 install" /compress fast /verify
Next, you will have to wait from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the weight of your wim image. After that, on your D: drive there is a file install.wim, which contains the Windows installation image. This is the result we were looking for. We have created a Windows image. As you can see, the process of capturing a wim image is quite simple, you just need to properly prepare for this.
Now let's take a closer look at the team. What is there:
- e:- Installation media letter with .
- /capture- indicate that you need to capture a wim image of the Windows operating system.
- c:- specify the disk on which the reference operating system is installed.
- d:\install.wim- the drive letter and the name of the wim file where we save the installation image. Specifying a different name for the wim file does not make sense, since in the Windows iso image, the installation image must have exactly this name.
- my windows 7 install— mark the installation image. Nothing special, but it seems like a mandatory parameter. You can enter something of your own.
- /compress fast- compression method. The compression process will increase the time it takes to capture a Windows image, but can be very useful when the image size is large and there is little free space available to store it. Possible options:
- fast- quick compression of the Windows image.
- maximum- maximum compression of the Windows image.
- There is one more parameter that stands between them, which means that the capture is without compression. This parameter is used by default, so it is not absolutely necessary to know it. Plus, I forgot what it looks like, so you won't recognize this setting from me anyway.
- /verify- no idea what the setting is. Fortunately, he does not make special weather, you can not enter.
How to determine drive letters?
When I captured a Windows wim image, I saved it to a second flash drive. In this regard, there was a little confusion about which disk has which name. To deal with this, use the utility diskpart and team list volume. I hope you have not forgotten that Windows PE is a stripped-down version of the corresponding version of Windows, which in turn allows you to work with the main Windows programs. That is why, some use Windows PE for or for other actions on a locked computer.
What is the difference between a wim image and an iso image of Windows?
Well, we captured the Windows wim image, we received the long-awaited install.wim file. But what to do with it? Install.wim is a Windows installation file. In fact, from the entire iso image of Windows, it is enough to have just this file in order to deploy Windows. And the rest of the iso-image nonsense, that's right, incidental nonsense, necessary only to support install.wim. The install.wim file can be deployed to computers using other deployment tools. For example, when only this file is needed. Well, in extreme cases, you can simply open the iso image of Windows, and in the folder sources replace original install.wim to the one we created install.wim. After that, if you wish, add to the root of the flash drive and that's it: you will receive an automatic installation of the operating system with the wim image of the reference computer you created.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to create a wim file. This may be required both to create your own build of WindowsPE, and to create an installation disk. Quite often I see a suggestion to create a wim file using WDS (Windows Deployment Services). Yes, there is a rational grain in this, since Windows Deployment Services is a whole complex for deploying a network installation and preparing images for installation. But in this case, a series of “buts” and certain difficulties arise.
First, you need to have Windows Server installed and running, but it is impossible to install and use such a server in a company that observes license cleanliness and lacks funds.
Secondly, it is necessary to optimize the network for network loading of operating systems, but not all enterprises have a fully functional router or server that distributes DHCP.
Thirdly, the system administrator must be able to configure DHCP and WDS. But sometimes the enterprise does not have such a specialist and you have to create images in a third-party office using the infrastructure they have.
Fourth, you need a server. But if this process is performed on a home computer, then what kind of server can we talk about?
There is a very simple way out of this situation. You can use the program imagex.exe, which can be downloaded from the Microsoft website or from the Windows AIK. Personally, I went the second way, as I previously used the Windows AIK to mine the image boot.wim.
Before creating an image, you need to prepare the system. Delete all unnecessary, all personal data. For these purposes, there is a special program sysprep. To prepare a system image and then turn off the computer, you must issue the following command:
C:\Windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /shutdown /quiet
After turning off the computer, you can proceed to create a wim image. You can create an image with a program imagex.exe. To do this, you need to boot from a bootable USB flash drive or Live-CD / DVD. I use network boot, which is more like working with WDS. Actually, I will use the prepared images to install full-featured operating systems over the network without using expensive Windows servers.
To create a wim-image of the system, you need to run imagex.exe with the following options:
Z:\imagex\imagex.exe /capture D: E:\image.wim "Windows Capture" /compress maximum /verify
Let me explain what is responsible for what:
Z:\imagex\imagex.exe is the location of the executable file,
/capture - command to create an image,
D: - the disk on which the installed OS is located,
E:\image.wim - the file in which the image will be packed,
"Windows Capture" - the name of the image, you can write anything,
/compress maximum - specifying the maximum compression of the image,
/verify - Indicates verification after packaging the image.
And so, the image is prepared and you can use it for subsequent installation.
How to use this image? You can use it to install the OS from a flash drive or DVD. It is enough to replace the file with your prepared image install.wim located in the directory \sources\ installation disk or flash drive.
Everything is really so easy and simple.
To replicate a typical configuration on several computers, it is rational to use an image of a once installed operating system.
Detailed instructions are available on the Microsoft website: Creating and applying Windows images
Since with a large set of additional software, the partition image file can easily exceed 4GB, it will not be possible to burn such a distribution kit to a DVD disc. However, this is not required to install the OS. It will be enough for us to get an image of the partition on which the OS is installed. Then it can be included in the distribution on a bootable Flash disk or simply transferred to a new computer by booting from any live-CD/DVD/USB. In this article, we will look at both options.
Having prepared the partition once, we will be able to deploy a working OS on new computers with all installed software, connected peripherals and necessary shortcuts in less than half an hour.
According to Microsoft: "When creating an image, keep in mind that the partitioning on the source and target computers must be identical. For example, if the Windows image is stored on the D drive, you must also deploy this image to the D drive of the destination computer, and the following partition settings must also match ():
- Partition types (primary, secondary, or logical) must match
- If a partition is made active on the reference computer, it must also be active on the destination computer"
However, if we add a prepared partition to the distribution, then these restrictions do not matter.
Step-by-step instructions for deploying Windows 7 from an image
1. Making a template installation of Windows in audit mode
5. Write the created partition image to the local hard drive
E:\tools\imagex.exe /apply E:\images\win7image.wim 1 C: WITH:- section where we will deploy the image 1 - number (or name) of the image, default = 1If the OS images are on a network resource, then we connect it first with the command:
Net use E:\\server\share /user:domain_name\username password
6. Completion
If you created a separate system partition, then you need to transfer bootable system files to it (we assume that the OS is located on the C: drive):
bcdboot C:\Windows
Exit Windows PE:
or close the Windows 7 installer window. The computer will reboot. We take out the CD / DVD disk and boot from the newly installed OS.
7. Complications
- If you have problems loading the transferred OS, you can try to restore the bootloader. To do this, you need to boot from the Windows 7 distribution kit (you can open the console by pressing Shift + F10) or Windows PE and run the command:
Repository of various Windows images
You can create several images of partitions with different sets of software using the same template OS, then place them in one place, for example, on a flash drive, and install each time exactly the image that will be suitable in each individual case. The process of adding software can be carried out sequentially, making a new image of the partition after installing each required set. The algorithm is as follows (see details above):
- Loading the OS in audit mode
- Install/remove software, connect printers, create shortcuts, etc.
- Preparing the system for deployment sysprep and turn off the computer
- Downloading from live CD or Windows7 distribution, go to console
- Create a partition image with imagex by placing it on a flash drive or network share
- Repeat the above until all required sets have been created.
Building Your Own Windows Distribution
Having an image of the Windows partition (wim file), you can create your own distribution kit, that is, an installation DVD / Flash disk. To do this, it is enough to replace the \sources\install.wim file with your own image in the original distribution, renaming it accordingly to install.wim.
To automate the installation, you can prepare an autounattend.xml answer file by creating it with WIAK and placing it in the distribution root.
Creating a fully customized operating system image with installed applications is often necessary in a corporate environment, and home users will not refuse an installation disk that has their favorite set of programs and tweaks embedded. In modern Windows operating systems, creating such an image is much easier than in Windows XP, and you can get by with the help of an automatic installation package.
This article explains how to prepare and deploy a fully customized system image, and covers how to back up an operating system to a WIM image.
On this page
You will need
- Deployment Tools from the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)
Of course, you will need a computer to install and configure the OS, as well as a place to save the system image. The installation computer can be a virtual machine (for example, Hyper-V from Windows or VirtualBox). You can save the customized image to the non-system partition of this computer.
For example, during system installation, you can create two partitions - install the OS on one, and subsequently save the image on the second. Also, in a virtual machine, you can always connect another virtual disk. Finally, the customized image can be saved to a network share or a USB drive. As you can see, there are many options - there are plenty to choose from.
Advantages and disadvantages of using a customized image
In my opinion, the advantages of a fully customized image seem to outweigh the disadvantages.
Advantages
- Quick installation of a system with a set of applications, since it does not take time to install them. However, compared to the standard image, it takes slightly longer to unpack the customized image.
- You can further customize the operating system by using an answer file that is used in conjunction with the customized image.
- It becomes possible to deploy the image using the utility ImageX. The default image can only be used in conjunction with the installer because not all options (such as language) are configured.
Flaws
- Increasing the size of the image. The final size depends on the number and volume of installed applications. If you plan to install further from DVD, be aware of the 32-bit version's .wim file size limit of 4 GB (2^32 bytes).
- The versions of the applications included in the image may be out of date. To keep up-to-date versions of applications, you will have to build the image again. Applications that are updated regularly probably don't make sense to include in an image. They can be installed separately, automating this process.
Steps to create a customized image
Creating your own WIM image can be divided into the following steps:
- Application installation and system setup
- Preparing the system using the utility sysprep
- Booting into Windows PE and saving the image using a utility ImageX
The resulting image can then be included on the installation disk, installed from a network share, or deployed using ImageX.
A note about setting user parameters
In addition to installing applications, audit mode allows you to configure user settings. There are two ways to apply settings to an image.
You can:
- Configure only system settings, and import user settings using REG files into the configured WIM image (or into the original image before starting the installation described here).
- Configure both user and system settings, and then use an answer file to copy the built-in account profile Administrator to the standard user profile.
Import registry settings
The principle itself is discussed in detail in the article Applying registry tweaks. I believe that you have read it and have a complete understanding of importing user and system settings.
Copying a profile using a response file
To copy a customized account profile to a standard user profile, you can use an answer file that contains the setting
Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup | CopyProfile
If this setting is set to true, the profile is copied.
You need to use this opportunity when installing a customized image by including this parameter in the answer file. In this case, profile copying will occur on the pass 4 Specialize.
Sample Universal Answer File for 32-bit and 64-bit OS
Why does this article recommend copying the profile during installation instead of pointing to the sysprep answer file when generalizing the image?
Copying the profile in any case occurs during installation at the Specialize stage. If you use the /unattend option of the sysprep utility, the answer file is cached and then used during installation. At the time of writing the first version of the article, this did not work, despite the documentation.
If you are using MDT or SCCM, the method described in the article is required for reasons stated in KB973289:
Now about everything in order.
Starting the installation of the operating system from the installation disk and entering the audit mode
The first step in preparing a customized image is to start the OS from the installation disk. Installation can be done manually, or you can automate this process using a response file.
Manual installation
Manual installation is not fraught with any tricks. If you plan to store the customized image on a non-system disk partition, use Windows Setup to create the partitions.
Advice. When installing the system on a virtual machine, you can connect a second virtual disk and later use it to save the image. This will make it easier to copy the image to your production environment, since VHD(X) can always be mounted on a physical machine.
Continue with the installation up to the OOBE stage. It is easy to recognize by the offer to choose an account name and a picture for it.
At this stage, not when choosing an account name, press CTRL+SHIFT+F3. This key combination will put the system into audit mode with the rights of the built-in account Administrator.
Automatic installation
With an answer file, you can automate all steps of a Windows installation, including managing hard disk partitions, entering audit mode, and even installing applications in it, as described in the article. You can follow the instructions in it up to the section "Putting the system into oobe mode" (this article covers a complete automation of the installation).
Install updates, applications and system setup
After entering audit mode, you can start installing updates, applications, and configuring operating system settings. Do not close the utility window sysprep- you will need it at the end of the setup phase.
If a system restart is required to install an application or update, you can do so. After a reboot, the system will return to audit mode. As mentioned above, the process of installing applications can be automated using a response file. You can configure any system and user settings in the Windows GUI. You can also import registry settings from pre-prepared .reg files.
On Windows 8 and later, do not update apps from the Windows Store as this will cause problems when generalizing the image. You also need to delete modern applications according to science. See the warning in the TechNet Library and KB2769827 .
Once you have finished installing applications and setting up your system, you should prepare it for future use.
Preparing the system with the sysprep utility
After the installation of applications and system setup is completed, preparation is performed using the utility sysprep. Depending on which installation method you choose, the steps will be slightly different.
Manual installation
When manually installing the system, the utility sysprep runs when you enter audit mode. To prepare the system for further use (in this case, to create a customized image), you need to set the utility parameters, as shown in the figure below.
With the specified options, the following is done (in parentheses are the equivalent sysprep command-line options):
- Prepare the system (/generalize) - remove unique system settings, clear event logs, reset the security identifier (SID), etc. This setting is absolutely necessary to create a customized image.
- Putting the system into OOBE mode (/oobe) - this mode will be activated the next time the system starts.
- Shutdown the system (/shutdown).
Sample Universal Answer File for Saving 32-bit and 64-bit OS Drivers
Automatic installation
If you are automating audit mode entry and application installation using a response file, as described in Installing applications in audit mode, you need to add the following synchronous command with the highest sequence number. This command can also be used during manual installation, after closing the utility window sysperp.
%SystemRoot%\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /shutdown /quiet
The first three command line options are listed in the same order as the utility GUI options described above. Parameter /quiet- provides quiet operation and is necessary for automation.
After sysprep finishes, the system will shut down. Now it is fully configured, and you can create its image using the utility ImageX.
Booting into Windows PE and saving the image using the ImageX utility
Note. Image size install.wim, included in the installation disk of a 32-bit operating system, must not exceed 4 GB (2 ^ 32 bytes). Otherwise, the installation will fail. This limitation does not apply to deploying an image using the utility imagex.
If the Windows installation files are located on a network share, you can copy the customized image and answer file there, and then boot into Windows PE and connect to the network share and run the installation from the command line.
Net use y: \\network_share\distrib y:\setup.exe /unattend:unattend.xml
Deploying a customized image using the ImageX utility
Using Windows PE and the utility ImageX, you can deploy the customized image to your computer.
The sequence of actions is as follows:
Note. Deploying an image with ImageX only possible on a volume that has the same drive letter as the volume saved in the image. In addition, with the help ImageX cannot deploy standard (source) image Install.wim.
Let's look at an example of deploying a customized image. It is assumed that the computer's hard drive is not formatted. After booting into Windows PE, you need to use the utility diskpart create a partition on the hard drive and format it. I will demonstrate the creation of a single partition on a disk.
Diskpart select disk 0 create partition primary select partition 1 active format fs=NTFS label="System" quick assign letter=c exit
Additional information about utility commands diskpart you can get it by running it with the key /? , or from the article Diskpart CLI Description . If desired, the process of creating a partition can be automated.
It remains only to apply the image.
Imagex /apply E:\custom.wim 1 c:
In this command:
- /apply- application of the image
- E:\custom.wim- the way to the image. When placed on a network drive, you must first connect it with the command net use E:\\network_share\images.
- 1 is the index of the image saved in the .wim file.
- c: is the letter of the volume to which the image is applied.
By applying the image, you can make sure (with the command dir) that is on the section C there were files unpacked from the image. This partition now hosts the operating system in the state it was in when the image was created. If the image was saved after the audit mode settings were made, the next time the computer is turned on, the system will enter OOBE mode, allowing the user to complete the initial configuration settings.
If the customized account profile was copied during image preparation, all new accounts will have exactly the same settings.
Deploying a customized image using WDS
As with a standard image, you can use Windows Deployment Services (WDS) to deploy a customized image. A detailed account of this method is beyond the scope of the article, so I will limit myself to a link to the WDS manual posted on Microsoft Technet.
Backing up the operating system to a WIM image
The article focuses on installing applications and configuring the system in audit mode and saving the image at this stage of the installation. The advantage of this approach is that the saved image is neutral - it does not contain any accounts (other than built-in), personal files, and sensitive data.
You may be wondering if it is possible to save a system image after a full installation is completed, i.e. after the OOBE stage, the first login and subsequent configuration. This question is relevant if you want to install the system, work in it for a while - install applications, configure various settings, etc., and then create an image.
Mention that imagex does not know how to use hard links (I checked - it can).
So, after applying the image:
- File extended attributes are lost. These are NTFS attributes that are only needed for backwards compatibility with applications... OS/2.
- Sparse files (sparse files) are captured, but after application they are no longer such.
- Symbolic links and connections are automatically updated. In some scenarios (eg SIS) this causes links to go to the wrong place.
In my opinion, in typical scenarios for using a client OS at home, these restrictions can be neglected. But restoring such an image on another PC (even with the same hardware configuration) can lead to serious hardware conflicts.
However, there are several points to which I would like to draw your attention.
- Installed programs and personal files can take up a lot of disk space, which will affect the size of the backup WIM image. You may need a dual-layer DVD or high capacity USB to store the image.
- You can reduce the size of a WIM image by excluding files and folders from its composition when capturing a volume with a utility ImageX. The file is used for this. wimscript.ini, which is briefly discussed in the article on creating a Windows PE boot disk. Its detailed description is in the help file "Windows PE User's Guide", which is part of the ADK.
Recovery
Restoring from a backup WIM image is performed as described in the article section. However, the sequence of utility commands given there diskpart needs to be corrected.
For example, if there are several partitions on the disk, and the system is installed on the first one, the sequence of commands to prepare this partition for recovery will be as follows:
Diskpart select disk 0 select partition 1 active format fs=NTFS label="System" quick assign letter=c exit
You can include a customized WIM image as part of the Windows PE boot disk, thereby creating a one-stop system recovery solution - recovery environment and backup image.
Conclusion
Creating and deploying a fully customized Windows system image using the tools included in the ADK is a fairly straightforward task. Such an image can be made neutral (that is, it does not contain personal files and personal data) by installing applications and configuring settings in audit mode.
This approach allows for further customization of the image during installation using a response file, and also retains the end user's ability to set personal options during the OOBE phase when the system is first started. You can also use WIM imaging technology to back up your operating system.
