A while back I introduced DISM, the new tool of the Windows 7 WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit) for managing WIM images. I was complaining then that Microsoft doesn’t offer a GUI (graphical user interface) for such an important tool. The nice thing about Windows is that if Microsoft doesn’t provide a function, someone else steps into the breach. ELDI was kind enough to link to his free DISM GUI GDism ELDI in my original post. I’ve taken a quick look at the tool.

Let me start with the tool’s downside. It requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). I think it would be more useful if it were a portable application. However, if you use GDism only on your desktop, it is certainly more convenient than using DISM on the command prompt.

GDism also requires you to install the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7 because it launches DISM from its GUI. I didn’t find an option to tell GDism where DISM is located, so I just copied all its files to the folder where all the WAIK tools are located (C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools). I suppose adding the directory to the PATH environment variable would have worked as well.

To run GDism, you have to launch the “Instalar” file. If you don’t speak Spanish, you might want to switch the tool’s user interface to English. You can find the switch in the lower right pane on the mount tab.

I won’t discuss all of GDism’s functions because that would essentially boil down to describing DISM. You can mount WIM images and apply all kinds of changes, such as adding packages or drivers. The main advantage of using GDism is that you don’t have to remember all the command line switches and can just focus on your main task. The DISM messages are displayed in GDism’s lower pane and are also logged in a text file; therefore, you won’t miss anything that DISM has to complain about.

Let me know your experiences if you tried the tool.

If you are interested in GUI for DISM, you may also like GImageX, a GUI for ImageX.

GDism ELDI

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The script detects all required updates for Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2 (sorry no Vista and Windows Server 2008 support), downloads the updates and patches all or selected images in the wim file. Imagepatcher can also mount a VHD file and patch it offline. No longer do you have to check for updates and  spend many hours with manual patching every Patch Tuesday. You can use the downloaded patches with MDT as well.

imagepatcher

• FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images (5)
• Macrium Reflect – another “free” system backup tool (4)
• DriveImage XML – a free imaging tool for personal use (11)
• FREE: VHD tool – Create, convert, and extend a VHD quickly (0)
• FREE: Vmdk2Vhd – Convert VMware VMDK to Hyper-V VHD (2)

Its major advantage over DriveImageXML is that it comes with its own rescue CD, which you need if you have to restore a system drive. It also supports BartPE, but I found the Reflect Rescue CD more convenient. It is Linux-based, so you don’t need a Windows license for it. Its user interface is very easy to use and can be used by anyone who knows how to operate a mouse. By the way, the mouse pointer behaved strangely sometimes in a virtual machine under VMware Workstation 6.5. I didn’t have these problem on physical machine, though.

The ISO image is only 7MB and boots up very quickly compared to BartPE or UBCD4Win. Best of all is that no extra download, installation or configuration is required because the ISO file is already included in the Macrium Reflect download.

Macrium Reflect’s user interface also made a better impression on me than DriveImageXMLs. It has all the important feature of a backup imaging tool. It supports scheduling, CD/DVD writing, verification, MBR backup, file system integrity check and network backups. You can mount backup images to drive letters, which is the feature I miss most in Windows Vista’s system backup tool.

Macrium Reflect also has a few downsides, though. First of all, it is a sector-based imaging tool. I have been using imaging solutions since Windows NT 4, so you can imagine that I have seen quite a few different tools in the past 10 years or so. Somehow, however, my experience with sector-based imaging tools is not really good. I have found them to be less reliable and sometimes slower than file-based imaging tools (despite the fact that they often are marketed to be faster). However, this is just my subjective view and I can’t give any hard facts to support it. The main advantage of sector-based imaging is that it often is file system independent. Thus if you have to back up Linux file systems (e.g., Ext2/3FS), you might benefit from the fact that Macrium Reflect uses sector-based imaging.

The tool’s second downside is that it doesn’t allow you to run backups from its boot disk. Live backups of running system are usually no problem, though. However, when I started a system that I restored with Macrium Reflect, I saw the Windows Recovery Error screen, which worried me a little. If you prefer super reliable backups, then a solution that supports offline backups might be a better choice. You can find a few such tools in this list of free backup tools.

Macrium Reflect, like DriveImageXML, is free only for personal use. Commercial use requires the purchase of the full edition, which has quite a few additional features, probably the most important of which is the support for incremental and differential backups. Scroll to the end of this page for a comparison table. $39.99 for the commercial edition is a fair price. It is just a pity that only home users can use the free edition. I think that Macrium Reflect would be more popular than it is if a completely free edition were also offered.

• FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images (5)
• FREE: imagepatcher – Update WIM images (0)
• DriveImage XML – a free imaging tool for personal use (11)
• FREE: VMware DiskMount GUI – Mount VMDK files (4)
• FREE: WIM2VHD – Convert a WIM image to a VHD image (2)

This is a free (for personal use) drive imaging program that backs up systems hot. There’s also a plug-in that allows you to boot from a WinPE/BartPE disk, and restore an image.

Although Win08/Win7 has now changed the backup routine to do this same thing, I hadn’t found any imaging program (for free) to be quite as good as DriveImage XML.

Michael’s notes

I haven’t added this submission to the list of free of admin tools because the program isn’t free for commercial use. Essentially, this means that Windows administrators can’t use the tool at work. I have, however, posted this article, as I find this tool useful.

To be honest, I am not sure what “commercial use” actually means. If you use your PC at home to do some work, is it then considered a commercially used computer? There are certainly clear cases of commercial use, but there are also many cases where it is unclear. I leave it up to you to decide about your own environment.

Lately, I have been looking for a free imaging solution that I can use to back up my laptop, as I dislike Vista’s system-backup tool. My main problem with it is that I can only use the backup image to restore the complete Windows installation, but I can’t browse the image to restore individual files. I have already, several times, found myself in a situation where I desperately needed an individual file from a backup image, and so ended up quite annoyed that Microsoft doesn’t offer a simple solution for mounting a VHD image. In Windows 7 this has been changed. However, I don’t plan to use Windows 7 in a productive environment until the final version is out.

I have tried using DriveImage XML myself. It is, indeed, an interesting alternative to Vista’s backup tool. What I like about DriveImage XML is that you can browse the image and restore individual files and folders. I also like that the image can be split into multiple files. This is useful if you want to store images on DVDs.

However, for a commercial tool, it lacks one important feature. To restore a system drive, you have to create a BartPE CD. DriveImage XML comes with a plugin for BartPE, but if I pay for a piece of software I expect everything I need to already be included. Moreover, as outlined in my post about BartPE, it only supports XP-based Windows PE images, which is a problem with modern hardware, especially laptops.

If you know of another good backup imaging tool, in particular one that has everything you need to restore system drives already on board, it would be great if you could post a comment below.

• FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images (5)
• FREE: imagepatcher – Update WIM images (0)
• Macrium Reflect – another “free” system backup tool (4)
• FREE: VMware DiskMount GUI – Mount VMDK files (4)
• FREE: WIM2VHD – Convert a WIM image to a VHD image (2)

When you first launch the VMware DiskMount GUI, you have to tell the tool where to find vmware-mount.exe. If you installed VMware’s toolkit in the default folder, then you can find it under C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit\bin\. The DiskMount GUI supports all of DiskMount’s command line parameters, including those for remote virtual disks (ESX Server and VirtualCenter).

If you just want to mount a local VMDK file, it’s not necessary to fill out all the parameters in the “Mount Virtual Disk” tab. The ones you do need to fill out are marked in this screenshot.

If the virtual disk has snapshots, you will always have to mount the latest one. You’ll find multiple consecutively numbered VMDK files in the virtual machine’s folder. Mount the VMDK file with the highest number. If you try to mount another VMDK file you will receive a “mount error” message. Note that if you make changes to the virtual disk, and then revert to a snapshot, you will lose all of your changes.

The VMware DiskMount GUI appears to have an option for overriding this snapshot setting. However, when I tried the feature, vmware-mount.exe just answered with a list of available parameters. My guess is that older versions of VMware DiskMount supported this feature, but newer ones do not.

If you have never worked with VMware DiskMount, you might want to have a look at the manual first. It appears as a PDF file in the doc folder. It explains all of the parameters in detail, and gives you some information on how to use DiskMount. The most relevant details are:

• You can mount virtual disks created by VMware ESX Server 3.x and 2.x (pre-allocated disks only), VMware Workstation 6.5 and 4, VMware Player, VMware ACE, VMware Fusion, VMware Server, and VMware GSX Server 3.x and 2.5. I also was able to mount virtual disks created by earlier VMware versions.
• You can’t mount a virtual disk that is currently being used by a running or suspended virtual machine.
• You can’t mount a virtual disk if any of its .vmdk files are compressed or have read‐only permissions.
• You can only mount FAT (12/16/32) or NTFS volumes on a Windows host. It is possible to mount a Linux file system, but once the virtual disk is mounted as a drive letter, Windows will try to format the new disk, which probably isn’t a good idea. If you want to mount a Linux virtual disk you need a Linux host.

Update: The tool appears to be no longer available. Please drop me a note if you know where it can be downloaded.

VMware DiskMount GUI

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• FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images (5)

I tried WIM2VHD with the Windows 7 Beta install.wim. Its usage is very simple. Before you use WIM2VHD, you have to set CScript as your primary script execution environment:

CSCRIPT //h:cscript

To convert the Windows 7 Professional volume image of a .WIM file to a VHD image you have to type:

WIM2VHD.WSF /wim:install.wim /sku:3

I assumed that install.wim is in the same folder as WIM2VHD.WSF. “/sku:3″ stands for the third volume image in the .WIM file which is Windows 7 Professional. The whole conversion process took only a couple of minutes.

I was able to boot this VHD image without problems in Virtual PC 2007. Because it is a sysprepped image, Windows setup started when I booted the virtual machine.

To create a VHD image for Hyper-V, you have to add /hyperv:true to the above command. WIM2VHD has a couple of other useful optional parameters. The most important ones are:

/disktype:<Dynamic|Fixed> The size of the VHD image is fixed or will grow dynamically.

/unattend:<unattendXmlPath> Allows you to attach an unattended.xml to automate setup when the virtual machines boot up the first time

/ref:<ref1,…,refN> Allows you to convert splited .SWM files instead of .WIM files

/passthru:<physicalDrive> Applies the WIM directly to the specified drive and makes it bootable

Unfortunately, WIM2VHD doesn’t support Vista and Server 2008 WIM images; it only works with Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 .WIMs. I tested the WIM2VHD 6.1.7033.1 Beta.

WIM2VHD

• FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images (5)
• FREE: imagepatcher – Update WIM images (0)
• Macrium Reflect – another “free” system backup tool (4)
• DriveImage XML – a free imaging tool for personal use (11)
• FREE: VMware DiskMount GUI – Mount VMDK files (4)

GImageX requires ImageX because it uses the Microsoft WIMGAPI API, so you have to install the WAIK before using GImageX. GImageX supports all important ImageX features. The only command I didn’t find is the /dir option, which lists the complete contents of a volume image. This feature is useful only in scripts anyway. If you want to display an image’s directory structure, you better mount it to a folder.

The current version, GImageX v2.0.14, supports only WAIK 1.1, i.e., the version for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. You can use it on Windows PE too. GImageX v2.0.15 BETA also works with the Windows 7 beta WAIK. The downloadable ZIP file contains x86 and x64 editions, plus a COM DLL that allows the use of GImageX in programs and scripts. The examples in the documentation are in VBScript.

GImageX is a useful extension of ImageX. Especially if you work only every now and then with WIM images, you will find GImageX more convenient and you probably will accomplish your tasks quicker than with ImageX

Now, I am waiting for someone to offer a GUI extension for DISM, the Windows 7 command line tool for managing WIM and VHD images.

GImageX

• FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images (5)
• FREE: imagepatcher – Update WIM images (0)
• Macrium Reflect – another “free” system backup tool (4)
• DriveImage XML – a free imaging tool for personal use (11)
• FREE: VMware DiskMount GUI – Mount VMDK files (4)

The more I play with Windows 7, the more I like it. There are so many tiny improvements that can turn out to be very helpful. One of these features is the ability to attach (mount) VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) files. You might think that you don’t need this feature because you don’t use one of Microsoft’s virtualization solutions (Hyper-V, Virtual PC, Virtual Server). However, there is another reason why the ability to mount a VHD can be useful.

The Windows 7 backup tool, which allows you to create a system image, also uses the VHD format. This backup program was introduced in Windows Vista and has been improved significantly in Windows 7. I have always been wondering why I can’t access single files in an entire computer backup. In my opinion, it doesn’t make sense to have two kinds of backup jobs, one for my personal files and one for the system. If I already have a copy of all my files, why do I need another backup?

There are ways to mount a VHD image in Vista, though. You can use the VHDMount tool of Virtual Server 2005. This is a very complicated option. Besides, it seems it doesn’t work with Vista backup images. I only managed to mount virtual machine VHD images with this method. The second option is to use Virtual PC. You can access Vista system backups this way. Of course, this is also a very cumbersome method, especially if you don’t have a Virtual PC VM at hand.

In Windows 7, you can use the Disk Management applet of the Computer Management tool to attach, i.e. mount a VHD file. This also works with Vista’s backup images. Disk Management can be accessed by right clicking on “Computer” in the Start Menu and selecting “Manage”. In the Action Menu, you will find the “Attach VHD” option. This will mount the VHD file to a drive letter. Of course, it would be even cooler if this could be done from Windows Explorer. That would be a nice feature for Windows 7 SP1.

You can also mount a VHD file in scripts using diskpart: Create a text file with this content:

SELECT VDISK FILE=”file path and name of the vhd file” ATTACH VDISK

To attach the VHD image in a script, you have to use “diskpart -s text file name”

It is also possible to create VHD files with Disk Management. This can be useful if you want to prepare a virtual disk for a VM. After you created the VHD, you have to initialize the disk. For this, you have to right click on “Disk #” (see screenshot). Don’t click on the graphical representation of the disk because its context menu doesn’t have the initialize disk option. Next, you have to create a “New simple volume”. This time you have to right click on the graphical presentation. After you have created the volume, you have to format it.

• FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images (5)
• FREE: imagepatcher – Update WIM images (0)
• Macrium Reflect – another “free” system backup tool (4)
• DriveImage XML – a free imaging tool for personal use (11)
• FREE: VMware DiskMount GUI – Mount VMDK files (4)

Before you start working with an image, you might want to have some information about the image. The following command retrieves information about the OS images that are contained within a WIM file. As you probably know, a WIM image can contain multiple OS images.

dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:d:\sources\install.wim

I used Windows 7 Beta’s WIM file, which you can find in the “sources” folders on the DVD. If you add the command line option /index plus the image’s index number, you will get information about a specific image such as the OS version, size, installed service pack, etc. (see screenshot).

dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:d:\sources\install.wim /index:4

Before you can work with a WIM image, you have to mount it to a folder. DSM’s syntax differs from that of imageX. Perhaps DSM’s is easier to read in scripts, but it also requires more typing work, than imageX’s:

dism /Mount-Wim /wimfile:c:\wim\install.wim /index:4 /MountDir:c:\img

Note that if you mount an image onto a DVD, you have to add “/ReadOnly” to the command. DISM parameters are not case sensitive, so you can spare a few keystrokes if you want. You have to replace “c:\wim\install.wim” with the location where you copied the WIM file, and “c:\img” with the folder in which you want to mount the WIM image. “/index:4″ specifies the fourth OS image within the WIM image, which is Windows 7 Ultimate in install.wim.

Once you have mounted an image, you can navigate through its folder structure using Windows Explorer, and make changes to all files and folders. In most cases, however, you will be using DISM to gather specific information about an image and also to add features, drivers, and packages.

The following example lists all installed third party drivers in the image I mounted to c:\img.

dism /image:c:\img /Get-Drivers

The DISM documentation describes commands that are used to retrieve information as “management tasks.” This is a bit odd because usually “management” also implies making changes to the managed object. Other examples of such management operations include Get-Features (Windows features), Get-Packages (feature packs, language packs, updates, etc.), and /Get-Intl (international settings and languages).

All commands that are related to changing an image are called “servicing tasks.” The next command is such a servicing task, which disables the Solitaire game in Windows 7.

dism /image:c:\img /Disable-Feature:Solitaire

Note that you have to know the exact name if you want to enable or disable Windows features. You can enumerate all Windows features with this command:

dism /image:c:\img /Get-Features | more

Because there are more features than would fit on the screen, you have to use the pipe plus “more”; this will display the features a page at a time.

Whenever you make several changes, you should save the image’s current state. This command will apply to all changes you make.

dism /Commit-Wim /MountDir:c:\img

You also can apply changes once you are finished and want to unmount the image.

dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:c:\img /commit

If you don’t want to apply the changes, you can use the /discard parameter instead of /commit.

DISM has an interesting feature that I mentioned in my introduction. It allows you not only to manage offline images, but also to work with the currently running operating system.

dism /online /Get-Packages

This command lists all packages installed on your Windows computer. Essentially, the /online option works like the /image parameter, but manages or services an “online image,” and not an offline image.

DISM certainly is a powerful tool. In this article, I have only scratched the surface. You can find all of DISM’s command line options in the WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit) documentation.

I have only one complaint about DISM. Some days ago, I attended a Microsoft online meeting that introduced DISM. One of the participants asked why there is no GUI version of DISM. A Microsoft developer answered that a command line tool can be used in scripts to automate tasks on multiple images. Well, this is the standard excuse for delivering command line tools. Of course, it is also possible to automate all kinds of tasks with a well-programmed GUI tool. The point is that the development of a GUI tool is more costly than a command line utility. The good news is that the developer also said that Microsoft is planning to release a GUI version of DISM in the future.

• FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images (5)
• FREE: imagepatcher – Update WIM images (0)
• Macrium Reflect – another “free” system backup tool (4)
• DriveImage XML – a free imaging tool for personal use (11)
• FREE: VMware DiskMount GUI – Mount VMDK files (4)

DISM replaces the Package Manager (pkgmgr.exe), PEimg and Intlcfg in the Vista WAIK. Package Manager is a command-line tool that allows you to install and configure OS updates, packages and drivers on an offline OS image. PEimg is for creating and modifying Windows PE 2.0 images offline and Intlcfg is used to change the language and locale, fonts and input settings on a Windows image.

You can install the Windows 7 WAIK, including DISM, on Vista SP1. If you manage Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 images under Vista, you will have DISM’s full functionality. DISM also works for Windows Vista SP1 and Server 2008 images, but only with limited functionality. In my test, I could not a mount a Vista RTM WIM image. I guess that means that DISM works only with Vista SP1, Server 2008, Windows 7, and Server 2008 R2.

Essentially, you can use all of DISM’s features for Vista SP1 images that would have worked with one of the three tools mentioned above. You will get an error message if you use a command line option that is not supported for a Vista image.

It isn’t easy to find out what features are new because DISM’s syntax is quite different from the Vista’s WAIK tools. I didn’t try all the options, but it seems to me that none of the so-called management tasks works with Vista images. Management tasks are used to gather information about images. For instance, you can use DISM to enumerate all drivers or hotfixes that are available in a Windows 7 image, but this wouldn’t work with a Vista SP1 image.

I also found one feature that doesn’t work at all if you run DISM on a Vista box: the online switch. This feature allows you to use DISM for the operating system that is currently running. I guess this is why DISM is delivered with Windows 7. It means that DISM is not only an OS deployment tool, but is also useful for OS management because you can work with it in scripts to manage existing Windows installations.

Some of you might wonder how DISM relates to imageX, the most prominent tool of the Vista WAIK. It seems to me that there is some confusion in the blogosphere about these two tools. I have read several times that DISM is supposed to replace imageX; however, this is certainly not the case. As I outlined in my previous posts, imageX has been extended in the Windows 7 WAIK. This makes it clear that Microsoft has no intention of replacing imageX.

DISM and imageX have in common that you can mount WIM images with both tools. Once you have mounted an image with imageX, you can use other WAIK tools, or simply Windows Explorer, to manipulate the image. DISM, on the other hand, not only allows you to mount an image; you also can use it to apply changes. Therefore, for Windows 7, DISM is the appropriate tool to configure OS images. The main purpose of imageX is to capture and deploy images, features that DISM lacks.

• FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images (5)
• FREE: imagepatcher – Update WIM images (0)
• Macrium Reflect – another “free” system backup tool (4)
• DriveImage XML – a free imaging tool for personal use (11)
• FREE: VMware DiskMount GUI – Mount VMDK files (4)

I copied the imageX help file entries of the new command-line options and added some comments.

imagex /cleanup Deletes all the resources associated with a mounted image that has been abandoned. This command will not unmount currently mounted images, nor will it delete images that can be recovered via the imagex /remount command.

This cleanup process also runs when you unmount an image. It is probably the reason why it takes much longer to unmount an unmodified image. In my test environment, it took imageX 55 seconds to unmount the original install.wim of Windows 7.

imagex /commit {/append image name} Saves changes to a mounted .wim file without unmounting the .wim file. You can also set the following option: /append Appends the mounted image to the existing .wim file. If you use this option, you must specify a name for the new image. For example, imagex /commit C:\mounted_images imagex /commit /append C:\mounted_images new_image

I think that this is an important enhancement of imageX. In the Vista version, it was only possible to save the changes to images by unmounting it. If you forgot to add the /commit switch to the unmount command, then you would lose all changes . The append switch is useful, too. It allows you to pack up multiple images in one wim file easily.

imagex /command_line option /logfile /logfile filename.log A plain text file that stores ImageX command events.

Most of the imageX command line options allow you now to log all events. This can be helpful if problems occur.

imagex /command_line option /temp Specifies the path where temporary files are stored.

I am not 100% sure about the temp switch that most imageX commands have now. The temp folder is on the host and not in the image. So, I guess, it is just the place where imageX stores temporary data. ImageX probably will use the directory that has been specified in the temp environment variable, If you don’t add this parameter.

imagex /remount image_path {/logfile filename.log} Recovers an orphaned mount path. This option is not supported from a rebooted Windows PE environment. image_path The path to be remounted. If not specified, lists all images. For example, imagex /remount C:\mounted_images

imagex /cleanup Deletes all the resources associated with a mounted image that has been abandoned. This command will not unmount currently mounted images, nor will it delete images that can be recovered via the imagex /remount command. For example, imagex /remount C:\mounted_images

I would never be so cruel as to abandon an image to make it an orphan. So I am uncertain about the purpose of these two new switches. As far as I understand, these options can be used if you didn’t unmount an image before you restarted the computer.

• What you have to know about Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (0)
• FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images (5)
• FREE: imagepatcher – Update WIM images (0)
• What’s new in Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (1)
• Poll results: Will you wait for SP1 before you deploy Windows 7? (8)

Note that imageX which will not be replaced by the new DISM tool (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) as some sites reported. I will cover DISM which also belongs to the WAIK in another post.

Microsoft’s Windows Deployment Blog mentioned some of the new features a few days ago:

ImageX and its underlying infrastructure, which is used to manage Windows Image (WIM) format images, now allows multiple images to be modified simultaneously, supports interim saves and with a newly re-written underlying supporting architecture for mounting and manipulating images, is more robust than in Windows Vista.. The extensible infrastructure (WIMGAPI) and supporting mount capabilities are now included in every Windows edition.

I must admit I don’t understand what could be meant bye “now allows multiple images to be modified simultaneously”. It is already possible to mount and modify multiple images simultaneously with imageX for Vista SP1. Hence, I have no idea what could be new here in Windows 7. The imageX manual says that “you can mount and modify up to 20 images”. This sentence is missing in the old help text. Is mounting multiple images perhaps not officially supported for the Vista version of imageX?

Mounting an image with the new imageX takes much longer now. There even is a counter now that informs you about the progress. On my test machine, it took imageX a minute and 25 seconds to mount an image from the Windows 7 Beta1 install.wim. Mounting the same image with the Vista SP1 imageX lasted only two or three seconds. I guess, this time difference is related to the fact that “manipulating images, is more robust than in Windows Vista”.

I am not sure what exactly is meant by this: “supporting mount capabilities are now included in every Windows edition“. I guess, it is not the WIM filter that was needed in former imageX versions to mount a WIM image. The Vista SP1 WAIK installs this filter by default.

• What you have to know about Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (0)
• FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images (5)
• FREE: imagepatcher – Update WIM images (0)
• What’s new in Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (1)
• Poll results: Will you wait for SP1 before you deploy Windows 7? (8)

I’m citing from a Microsoft Newsletter:

Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007 is THE best practice set of comprehensive guidance and tools from Microsoft to optimally deploy Windows VistaT and the 2007 Microsoft® Office system. BDD 2007 has undergone many changes to significantly ease the deployment of Windows Vista, including new out-of-the-box imaging technologies, XML-based migration scripts, new tools for image engineering (ImageX and System Image Manager), and new unattend XML format. Another huge breakthrough with Windows Vista is Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) independence and language neutrality; this means that organizations can get to a minimal number of standard images across multiple hardware types.

As with any advancement in technologies, getting the maximum benefit requires understanding the tools and technologies, and BDD 2007 provides the depth of guidance and tooling to make the Windows Vista and 2007 Office system deployment process predictable and scalable. BDD 2007 includes guidance based on every stakeholder role involved with desktop deployment, from business decision makers to end users. Tasks are divided into logical groupings and comprehensive job aids are included to support the entire deployment process. BDD 2007 provides the layer of project management knowledge and tool integration to make the complex desktop deployment process seamless and predictable, while reducing or eliminating deployment-related service disruptions and help desk calls. Many of the tools and guides within BDD 2007 can even be used throughout the desktop management life cycle to provision new users, maintain images, and centrally manage drivers and applications.

BDD 2007 also introduces the new Deployment Workbench, which enables users to build and manage multiple OS configurations, define network deployment points and network shares, inject drivers, attach language packs, and chain applications. It even helps generate ISO and WIM images using Windows PE that can be deployed in a networked environment or using DVDs offline. BDD 2007 also alleviates much of the scripting requirements of previous deployment practices by incorporating a stand-alone task sequencer derived from System Center Configuration Manager 2007. BDD continues to offer the flexibility for Zero Touch Installation with Systems Management Server 2003 and Lite Touch Installation with minimal infrastructure requirements.

The BDD team would like to thank all of the BDD 2007 Beta and Release Candidate Program participants. We appreciate your input throughout the process and incorporated several improvements based on your feedback. We are currently in the process of developing Windows Server “Longhorn” deployment content and tools based on BDD 2007 and encourage you to participate in the upcoming Beta program.

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Most imaging tools, I know, can only create an image of a Windows installation in offline mode. This means, you have to boot up from DOS diskette or from Windows PE CD. XXclone creates images while the OS on the source drive is online.

I must admit that I have my doubts if this works reliably. However, in my test, I had no problems with the tool. I tried XXclone on a VMware Workstation VM. The cloning tool copied the complete Windows XP installation to my second virtual disk. XXclone changes the boot.ini for you, if you want to boot up from the destination drive. In my test, this worked perfectly fine.

You can’t use XXclone to create image files. It clones hard disks in the literal sense, i.e. you will get 1-1 copy of your source drive. So its purpose is not to deploy Windows. XXclone is a backup tool. It also supports USB and Firewire devices.

With the free version, you have to backup your system manually, the pro edition allows you to schedule imaging and it supports incremental backups. XXClone Pro costs US$ 40 for every machine. XXclone prices start at US$ 40. (See the comment section for more information.)

XXClone

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I, mostly, agree with everything, except for the “script everything” advice. If you are working for a big company, and can concentrate on writing deployment scripts, then you might agree with this recommendation. However, if you are responsible for other areas, too, then you probably won’t have the time for writing scripts.

I, also, doubt that scripting reduces the number of mistakes, as Josh states. It is the nature of any kind of program code, to be prone to error. The less code is involved the fewer mistakes, you can make. It is one of the biggest advantages of imaging technology that you don’t need to work so much with scripts as with unattended setups.

That’s why I would replace this tip with another one: Add as much applications to your master image as you can. Software deployment is time consuming and usually error-prone. If you can’t install some applications to all of your desktops then better work with multiple images. Since you can now create images in a virtual environment, for example with VMware Workstation, it is much less time consuming than with Windows XP.

First, create an image containing the applications and settings that all your machines need. Then, you clone this image with just a mouse click to prepare those images for special purposes.We have been working with a similar technique since the first availabe imaging tools. In my view, it is much less error-prone and time consuming than any script-based deployment method. Now, with Vista’s new imaging capabilities it is even easier.

• FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images (5)
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I know that many vendors of cloning tools advertise the installation performance of their products. Of course, it is better to install Windows within 15 minutes instead of an hour. However, if you’re working with unattended setups, installation time isn’t an issue since it doesn’t cost extra time for an administrator.

The real advantage of imaging in general is that is much faster to configure the desktop. You don’t have to prepare installation scripts and worry about the error-prone deployment process. All you have to do is to install the OS and all applications and then just copy the whole thing to the PC. This is much easier and therefore less time consuming.

However, the biggest advantage of Vista’s imaging technology is that it is hardware independent. I wrote an article about this recently: No more HAL-hell, the implications of Windows Vista’s hardware independent imaging technology

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Most interesting for me in BDD 2007 Beta 2 is Zero Touch Installation (ZTI). As far as I can understand Microsoft’s announcement, it is an add-on for Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003. “Zero Touch” sounds promising, although I somehow doubt that this naming is justified. We use SMS 2003 for deploying Windows XP and are quite satisfied with it, though. I’ll probably test ZTI soon and report about it here.

To download BDD 2007 Beta 2 you have to get an account at Microsoft Connect first.

This is the list of changes in the announcement for BDD 2007:

• Zero Touch Installation (ZTI) using SMS 2003 (requires OSD Update build 3726) in addition to Lite Touch Installation (LTI) when SMS 2003 is not in place.
• Windows XP desktop image creation.
• x64 hardware (running Windows XP or Windows Vista).
• BDD Workbench installation of the Windows AIK during first use.
• Windows Deployment Services images for Refresh, Replace, New, and Upgrade scenarios.
• BDD Workbench now builds the set of files needed for SMS 2003 OS Deployment Feature Pack package creation.
• Office 2007 deployment is integrated into the BDD Workbench to build the source share, create, and populate the application selection screens.
• New OS source move feature-faster than copy when adding a new OS to Workbench and the source is the same drive-primarily added to enhance demos and training.
• Application grouping with dependency checking.
• Product ID key handling for Windows XP and Windows Vista deployment scenarios.
• Removable media deploy points and better filtering to reduce media size.
• Fewer restrictions on version mixing of newer WAIK and Vista releases.
• Version checks now performed and detected issues are displayed.
• User State Migration Tool (USMT) update for Windows Vista RC1.

Via Management Solution and Arlindo Alves

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I started to play with imaging technology since the availability of the first cloning tools. At this time, the hardware of master and target PC had to be more or less identical, otherwise Windows NT wouldn’t even boot up. When I first heard that Windows 2000 would bring major improvements in regard to plug-and-play, I was hoping that Windows imaging would become hardware independent. Although, the situation improved with Windows 2000 and again, with Windows XP, we still had to create new images for every bigger rollout with new PCs.

In theory, one should be able to use the same Windows XP image for computers having the same HAL. This basically means the computers have to be compatible with respect to APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller), ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) and MPS (multiprocessor systems). This is the theory.

However, in practice we had quite varying experiences. Even though computers had the same HAL, we often were not able to apply images to computers with different hardware. Sometimes, we found the reason, sometimes not. Meanwhile, we are not wasting our time with this anymore. If we buy a new series of computers, we always create a new image.

When Microsoft introduced the SMS OS deployment feature pack, there were rumours that the situation improved with the new WIM format. So, I tested again. The results were pretty much the same as with third party imaging tools, though.

You can imagine how suspicious I was, when I heard that Windows Vista will finally make hardware-independent cloning possible. Well, today I tried it. I created an image of a Windows Vista installation using the capturing feature of WDS (Windows Deployment Services). Vista was running on a virtual machine (VMware Workstation 5.5.2). I wasn’t able to upload the WIM image to the WDS using Windows PE 2.0. WinPE didn’t recognize the network card of the VMware VM. However, I was able to copy the image manually to my WDS server after I started Vista.

I, then, applied the image to a 4-year old PC with an Intel CPU, again with WDS. Everything was running smoothly then. WinPE had no problem with the network card of this old PC and the image was copied without any problem. But the big question was, will the PC be able to boot-up again after the image was applied? Surprise, surprise – this old PC really swallowed this Vista image without choking. Remember, the image was originally created on a virtual machine. The HAL of both installations was different, and most of their hardwares too.

Afterwards, I copied the same image to a relatively new computer with a 64 bit AMD CPU. Of course, most of their hardwares were different too. And – it worked again! You are probably wondering how this could work, since I said before that one needs different images for 32 bit and 64 bit machines. The answer is simple. This 64 bit CPU has a 32 bit mode. So, if you don’t want to install the 64 bit version of Windows Vista on your desktops, you can use 32 bit WIM images for 64 bit machines. Later, when you really need 64 bit, you can deploy the 64 bit Vista edition.

That was the moment when I decided that I want this OS as soon as possible in my network. Forget about WinFS, Avalon, Indigo, UAC, etc. This new imaging technology is indeed a killer feature.

The point is not the reduction of the number of images one has to maintain. I think, this technology will change the way we deploy Windows and applications, fundamentally. In fact, in my view the number of images you will need will even increase. Why? Think of how I created my test image. I used a virtual machine.

If you worked with virtualization technology, you know how easy it is to maintain different installations. With VMware Workstation, for example, you create a new installation within seconds, working with linked clones. This way, you can create different images with different settings and applications very fast. If you messed up your reference installation, you simply go back to an earlier snapshot instead of spending hours looking for the error. So, installing the reference machine is much easier now.

And why should you roll out new applications using a complicated software deployment solution, if you simply can deploy the complete OS with all applications? You can easily test and tune applications in a virtual environment, and then deploy Vista to all PCs with this special setting without worrying about hardware or software compatibility issues.

Perhaps, I am bit too enthusiastic about this. I, only, tried three different PCs so far. But it is quite obvious that Microsoft adjusted the Windows Vista setup for this purpose. Imaging is now at the heart of any Windows deployment and not just a domain for third party tools. So, you can expect Microsoft’s increasing interest now to address problems that might occur in this area. When the first imaging tools came out, Microsoft recommended not to use these tools and refused any support, if you did it, anyway. Now, things look quite different.

So what do you think? Are you unhappy that WinFS was cut? Do you want Vista because Aero looks so cool? If you are a sys admin, you probably don’t care about desktop search and transparent windows. You want to know how you get this thing running on all your PCs without much hassle.

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Installation of WDS is very easy. Basically, it is an update of RIS. Therefore, you have to install RIS first, which comes with Windows Server 2003. Then, you start “windows-deployment-services-update”, which is part of the Windows Administration Kit (WAIK). At the moment, the WAIK belongs to Business Desktop Deployment (BDD 2007). You can download it at Microsoft Connect. Maybe, Microsoft will offer a download for WAIK again later.

You can configure WDS on the command line using WDSUTIL or by using WdsMgmt, which is an easy-to-use GUI tool. For this review, I only tested WdsMgmt. The first step is to add WIM image files to WDS. All you have to do is to tell WDS in which folder your images files are located. WdsMgmt will find all WIM files and its images. I used the WIM files that come with the Windows Vista Beta 2 DVD. The tool recognized seven images in install.wim which represent seven different Windows Vista editions (There are seven editions in Europe because of the Media Player issue.)

The boot.wim contains Windows PE 2.0, which was recognized automatically as a so-called Boot image. WDS distinguishes between Boot and Install images. An Install image contains the Windows Vista installation you want to deploy. Before applying the install image, you have to load Windows PE using PXE (Pre-Boot Execution Environment) from the WDS server.

Windows PE is not installed on the target PC’s hard disk; it only needs a RAM disk to start. Windows PE then loads a menu which shows all Install images available on the WDS server. Then, it will download the Install image you chose and apply to the target PC. By the way, WDS has legacy mode where it works like RIS server.

You can also work with unattended installations. For this you need two answer files; one for the Boot image and one for the Install image. This way the whole installation process runs more or less automatically. You need someone to turn the computer on and hits F12 to start PXE, though. You will also have to specify the computer name at the end of the installation.

If the target computer doesn’t have a network card supporting PXE, you can create a so-called Discover image which is used to create a boot DVD containing Windows PE, the Discover DVD.

You can also use WDS to capture images. First, you have to configure your Windows Vista installation and install all applications. Then, you start the good old sysprep to prepare the PC for imaging. The business editions of Windows Vista already have sysprep installed.

Then, you create a so-called Capture image which is a WIM file containing Windows PE. The only difference to a Boot image is that the capture wizard will start after Windows PE has booted up. All you have to do is to choose the volume you want to capture and whether you want to store the image on the local computer or on the WDS server.

When Microsoft released RIS some years ago, I was quite disappointed first time i tried it. It took me quite a while to figure out how it works. WDS really is a great improvement. I didn’t even have to read the manual to get my first image installed. OK, I had some experience with the SMS 2003 OS deployment feature pack which is quite similar. But WDS is really easy-to-use. For detailed step-by-step guide I can recommend this Technet article.

WDS certainly has its limitations, though. It doesn’t support scheduling, LAN Wakeup, bandwidth control and if you want to deploy Windows thru routers you will get problems with PXE. WDS also doesn’t offer any kind supervision or monitoring features. If you have to deploy a large number of Windows machine this might be a big problem. So, bigger companies will continue to use to Systems Management Server or a third party deployment solution. For small and mid-sized companies, however, WDS is an interesting option.

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ImageX is part of the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) , which is a part of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD 2007). You can download it at Microsoft Connect . After installing BDD 2007, you have to install WAIK. You find the WAIK installation folder in the BDD Vista folder. There is the WAIK setup file for every CPU type. For a 32-bit Intel CPU you can start waikx86.msi, for example.

To be able to mount an image, you have to install the WIM filter first. Start the Windows Explorer with Administrator rights. To do so, you have to right click on its icon. Then, go to C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\tools. There, you can choose the correct folder for your CPU type. To install the WIM filter, right click on wimfltr.inf and then click on “install”. Now, you have to reboot.

You will find the ImageX tool in the same folder as wimfltr.inf. As it is command line tool, you have to open this folder on the Command Prompt. Don’t forget to start the Command Prompt with Administrator rights.

Before you can mount an image, you have to find out the image number within the WIM file since it can contain more than one image. The WIM file of my Windows Vista Beta 2 DVD contains seven images; for every Windows edition, one image. Enter “imagex /info img_file“, where “img_file” represents the location of the WIM file. You should see now the description of the WIM file as an XML file. The name of the tag for the image number is IMAGE INDEX.

One last step is necessary before we can finally mount the image. Create a new folder where the image shall be mounted. This is the image path. Now, you can mount the image:

imagex /mount img_file img_number img_path

With this command, you only have read access to the image. If you want to inject a device driver or a file, you also need write access. The command for this looks like this:

imagex /mountrw img_file img_number img_path

Once you’ve modified the image you can unmount it with this command:

imagex /unmount /commit img_path

Update: Please, also check out my article about GImageX, a GUI tool for mounting WIM files and DISM another tool that can be used to mount WIM images.

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