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How to Create a WIM System Image File with WindowsAIK and WindowsPE | Window... 

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How to Create a WIM System Image File with WindowsAIK 

and WindowsPE 

► Windows 7 ► Windows com ► Windows USB 

► Wim 

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WIM System Image File Overview 

A system image is a single file that contains the entire operating system and all of the files, programs, and settings of an 

installed computer system. Network administrators use system images to deploy the Windows 7 operating system to many 

computers in a Windows network. Besides just deploying operating systems across a large network, a system image is also be 

a useful backup tool for re-imaging corrupted systems. 

A Windows 7 system image file is called a WIM file, it has 

a .wim file extension. A WIM file can be created in such a 

way (generalized) that it can be deployed to any computer 

independent of the particular hardware or drivers. 

In this tutorial, I attempt to simplify the process of creating a 

Windows system image or WIM file, into easy to understand, 

step-by-step instructions. I hope you find the tutorial helpful 

and the process interesting! I have also added video 

tutorials showing how to do the entire process using a 

VMware Windows 7 virtual machine as the reference 

computer. 

The tools you will need: 

The Reference Computer - A computer with Windows 7 

installed. This is the source computer that the image file will 

be created from. In my example, I used a fresh install of 

Windows 7 on an extra computer, then I ran updates, 

installed a couple programs, changed the desktop and the homepage, and took a screenshot (see below). Important! 

The first time you do this, I do not recommend using the Windows 7 home computer that you use on a daily basis, as the 

reference computer. This process will involve a generalizing of the system (sysprep) which will strip it of drivers, as well 

as the System ID. Though everything will be put back to normal, I do not recommend using a machine that you rely on 

the first time you do this exercise. I am also in the process of showing how this entire lab can be done using virtual 

machines.



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This is a screenshot of the system I am going to image. 

The Technician Computer - In my case running Windows 7. This is the computer with Windows AIK installed. 

A USB flash drive or CD - To hold your bootable WinPE image. 

A USB external drive or flash drive - To store your WIM system image files (Note: a WIM file can be as large as the hard 

drive your imaging) 

Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) - 

Used to create and maintain Windows system images 

or WIM files. Windows AIK is a free download from 

Microsoft that you will need to burn to DVD and then 

install. Windows AIK includes the following tools: 

-40% 

-28% 

Windows PE - The Windows preinstallation 

environment is a thin version of Windows 7 

based on the Windows 7 kernel. Windows PE 

CAD $ 43.88 

is like a Windows 7 Boot Disk. It can be used 

CAD $ 26.32 6.2" Motorized Touch 

to fix Windows 7 installations. 

Screen 2-Din Car DVD Pl... 

Achetez 

Windows SIM - Windows System Image 

Manager creates 'answer files' that are used to automate the Windows installation (This is optional, I do 

not use this tool in this tutorial). 

SysPrep Tool - The System Preparation Tool is used to generalize the system image for installation by 

removing specific computer system information. (The SysPrep tool is included in Windows 7) 

ImageX - Command line tool that creates the image file. In this tutorial, we will copy the ImageX.exe file 

to the root of the USB WindowsPE boot drive, for easy access.



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Initial Steps 

In this tutorial you want to pay close attention to the syntax of the commands (eg. the spaces between words or 

characters) 

(WS.10).aspx 

1. Set up the 'Reference Computer' with Windows 7. This 

is the computer I will use to create my "golden image. (see 

above recommendations) 

2. Download the Windows Automated Installation Kit for 

Windows 7 iso file. You can download it here: 

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx? 

FamilyID=696dd665-9f76-4177-a811- 

39c26d3b3b34&displaylang=en. Once you have it 

downloaded you will need to burn it to a DVD. Now install 

WindowAIK from the DVD (If it does not start by itself run 

the StartCD.exe file located on the DVD) 

3. For good online instructions I recommend going to 

TechNet.Microsoft.com. This is my starting point for this 

tutorial: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349343 

Create a Windows PE Boot Disk (USB Flash Drive or CD) 

1. Next, you need to make a Windows pre-installation environment, Windows PE boot disk. You can do this on a CD- 

ROM or a USB flash drive, I show both ways in the steps below . You can also find more information on how to create 

WindowsPE boot disks at the Microsoft TechNet website: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744530 

(WS.10).aspx. I have also included a video tutorial on how to create a WindowsPE boot CD below. 

2. On your technician computer (computer with AIK installed), click: 

Start > All Programs > Microsoft Windows AIK, right-click Deployment Tools Command Prompt, and then select Run as 

administrator. 

3. At the command prompt, run the Copype.cmd script. The script requires two additional parameters: hardware 

architecture and destination location. 

copype.cmd 

can be x86, amd64, or ia64 and is a path to local directory. For example, I typed in the following 

command: 

copype.cmd x86 c:\winpe_x86 

command) 

(the directory winpe_x86 will be created by the 

4. Next, run the following command to copy and rename the winpe.wim file: 

copy c:\winpe_x86\winpe.wim c:\winpe_x86 

\ISO\sources\boot.wim 

5. Add ImageX.exe to your WinPE image (optional but recommended). Type the following command: 

copy c:\\tools\x86\imagex.exe 

c:\winpe_x86\iso\ 

On my computer, I installed AIK directly to the c: drive in a folder named "WindowsAIK" instead of the "Program Files"



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folder so my command looked like this: 

copy c:\WindowsAIK\tools\x86\imagex.exe c:\winpe_x86 

\iso\ 

6. Now you need to decide if you want to prepare a USB flash drive or a CD for accepting WindowsPE. If you want to 

prepare for burning a CD, you can skip to step 9, otherwise continue on. Now you need to prepare your USB Flash 

Drive. Insert your flash drive. Open a command prompt and type in the following command: 

diskpart (opens the diskpartition command line utility) 

When you see the prompt "DISKPART>" type in the following command to verify which disk is your USB Flash Drive: 

list disk (you should see a listing of disks based on size) 

Type in the following commands (Important: this assumes your USB drive was listed as "Disk 1" you don't want to 

format the wrong disk) 

select disk 1 

clean 

create partition primary 

select partition 1 

active 

format quick fs=fat32 

assign 

exit 

Now your USB flash drive should be formatted with fat32. 

7. Copy the iso directory in your c:\winpe_x86 folder to your Flash drive. Type in the following commands: 

xcopy C:\winpe_x86\iso\*.* /e F:\ 

the above command assumes your f: drive is your USB drive, else adjust accordingly 

8. Congratulations! You just created your Windows PE Boot Flash Drive. Now you need to capture a generalized 

image for deployment. 

9. If you would like to burn WindowsPE to a CD instead of a USB thumb drive. The following command will copy all of 

the files necessary to create a WindowsPE boot disc into an ISO image file. Then you can burn the image file to a CD to 

create a bootable WindowsPE CD. In the command below the ISO image file that you will want to burn is winpex86.iso 

Oscdimg -n -bC:\winpe_x86\Etfsboot.com C:\winpe_x86\ISO 

C:\winpe_x86\winpex86.iso 

10. Now burn the ISO image file winpex86.iso to a CD as a bootable image disc and you are finished! You can find 

more information on how to do it from the Microsoft Technet site here: http://technet.microsoft.com/enus/library/dd799303%28v=ws.10%29.aspx 

. 

11. Congratulations! You just created your Windows PE Boot CD. Now you need to capture a generalized image for 

deployment. 

Video Tutorial 

How to Create a WindowsPE boot cd using Windows AIK



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Generalize your Windows 7 Reference Computer with SysPrep 

1. Generalize your image with the SysPrep utility. 

2. On the reference computer. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > Right Click the Command Prompt. Opens 

the command prompt in administrative mode. Type in the following command to run sysprep: 

c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe 

3. In the sysprep dialogue box choose the OOBE, generalize, and shutdown options and click "ok". 

4. Sysprep will prepare your system for imaging by stripping it of hardware specific settings and will then shutdown. 


► Windows USB ► Wim ► Image Drive ► Image Burn 

Generalize the reference system using the SysPrep utility



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► Image Drive ► Image Burn ► Boot CD ISO 

► Boot Disk 

Capture an Image for Deployment (Generalized Golden Image) with ImageX 

1. Now that you have generalized your Windows 7 Reference System you need to boot the reference computer to 

your WindowsPE Boot Disk (USB or CD). If you are doing the lab on a VMware virtual machine you can configure the 

virtual CD/DVD drive to boot directly to the WindowsPE .iso file. You will still need to tell the virtual machine to boot the 

CD/DVD drive by quickly clicking inside the VM as it boots and hitting the escape key on the keyboard in order to get to 

the boot menu. Working from a physical computer, you need to press the F12 key while starting the computer in order to 

bring up a one-time boot menu, and set the computer to boot to the CD/DVD or USB flash drive instead of the hard 

drive. 

Note: If you boot to the hard drive instead of your WindowsPE USB then your computer will begin the Windows setup 

procedure and load pnp drivers, and you will need to do sysprep all over again to generalize your system. 

2. In the WinPE command prompt run diskpartition by typing in the command: diskpart (and hitting enter) 

3. Type in the following command: list disk (to see your recognized disks) 

I showed 3 hard disk drives listed: 

disk0 = my hard drive 

disk1 = my USB flash drive 

disk2 = my larger external USB drive where I plan on saving my image file 

4. Type in the command: exit to exit disk partition 

5. Now I recommend figuring out which disks are under which drive letters. You can do this by executing the following 

commands: 

c:\ (switching to the c drive I found "Volume in drive C is System reserved") 

d:\ (switching to the d drive I found the files and folders of a WindowsOS, i.e Program Files, Users, Windows, 

autoexec.bat, etc.) 

e:\ (depending on whether you are using a WindowsPE CD or a USB boot drive, switching to the e:\ drive you may



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find the contents of the WindowsPE drive or a "The device is not ready" message) 

f:\ (under the f drive I found the WindowsPE drive and the imagex.exe file) 

g:\ (under the g drive I found my USB external hard drive where I am going to store my image file) 

6. Once you know where imagex.exe is located (USB WinPE drive) you can run it on your generalized Win7 drive and 

save the image an external storage device. My final command to create the image and save it to an external hard drive 

was: 

f:\imagex /capture d:\ g:\my-windows-image.wim 

"myImage" (make sure you put the quotation marks) 

Explanation of command above: after using the cd and dir commands to search around the disks and directiories I 

found the imagex.exe file in the F:\ drive. The separate pieces of the command are as follows: 

f:\imagex (is where imagex.exe was located) 

/capture (the argument that tells imagex to capture the image) 

d:\ (location of the drive with the generalized Windows 7 OS) 

g:\my-windows-image.wim "myImage" (location of drive to save the image file (in this 

case an external USB drive), the file name to give it, and a label name) 

7. Now check to see if the image successfully copied to your external USB drive. You should see a .wim file. If you did, 

congratulations, you now have an image file of your entire Window 7 operating system, which includes installed 

programs, documents, and configurations! You can now install that image on a different computer, the same computer, 

or you could open that image file with the Windows AIK program and mount the image like an external hard drive. A 

mounted wim file can be browsed, edited or added to. 


Capture the WIM from WindowsPE, using ImageX



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Devenez 

éducatrice de CPE 

Formation d'éducatrice à 

l'enfance Cours de jour et de 

soir offerts. 

Installing/Deploying your WIM Image to a Computer or Network with ImageX 

1. Now that you have your image file you can install it to another computer using ImageX! 

2. Boot a computer to your USB WindowsPE boot drive. 

3. Attach the USB external drive with your wim file. 

4. Format the drive using Diskpartition. After typing diskpart you will need to search the drives to verify which letters 

correspond with which drives. Here are the commands: 

diskpart (starts Disk Partition) 

list disk (lists the mounted disks, note which one is which by comparing sizes) 

select disk 0 (select the disk that corresponds with your hard drive where you want to install your 

image) 

clean 

create partition primary 

select partition 1 

active 

format quick fs=ntfs label=OS (Important: NTFS not fat32, label is optional) 

assign letter=C (Important: you want it to be the C drive) 

exit 

Now run the command to apply the image to the hard drive: 

f:\imagex.exe /apply e:\my-windows-image.wim 1 c:\ 

Explanation: 

/apply (apply instead of capture) 

e:\my-windows-image.wim 1 (Important: the 1 is the index of the first wim. Each wim can 

have multiple versions) 

c:\ (where you will install the wim) 

Once the image is done you can try restarting and seeing if the system boots normally. If it doesn't you will need to set 

up the boot configuration location. In WindowsPE type the following commands: 

c: (to switch to the c drive) 

cd windows\system32 

dir bcd* (list all the files beginning with bcd)



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bcdedit.exe (looks for boot files) 

bcdboot c:\windows /s c: (sets the system boot boot directory) 

5. Restart your computer and go to Windows setup mode. You will need to add a new user in setup mode which you 

can delete later. Log off and log back into your original user account and you should see all your programs, documents 

and settings! Image is restored! 

If you have any clarifications or something you could add to this tutorial please post it to a comment below. Thank you! -Dan 

Last Updated on Thursday, 26 September 2013 17:59 

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