Hi,

I have an weird issue with Windows PE 2.1. Absolutely every time I mount my PE image using imagex and then unmount it even without making ANY changes, my image size always increases about megabyte.
What might cause this, some log or temporary files will be created and included?

It has to do with the way the WIM filter driver in Windows functions. In order to get a WIM file sized correctly you have to do an imagex /export.

imagex /export src_file src_number src_name dest_file dest_name {/boot | /check | /compress [type] | /ref [splitwim.swm]}

Exports a copy of the specified .wim file to another .wim file. The source and destination files must use the same compression type. You can also optimize an image by exporting to a new image file. When you modify an image, ImageX stores additional resource files that increase the overall size of the image. Exporting the image will remove unnecessary resource files.

Important:
You must run this option from Windows PE. Additionally, you must ensure that you have enough disk space for the /export option to run. If you run out of disk space while the /export option runs, you might corrupt the Destination.wim file.



src_file

Specifies the file path of the .wim file that contains the image to be copied

src_number

Specifies the number that references the specific volume within the .wim file.

src_name

Specifies the name that identifies the image in the source .wim file.

dest_file

Specifies the file path of the .wim file that will receive the image copy.

dest_name

Specifies the unique name for the image in the destination .wim file.

You can also set the following options:

/boot

Marks a volume image as bootable. Available only for Windows PE images. Only one volume image can be marked as bootable within a .wim file.

/check

Checks the integrity of the .wim file. If not provided, existing checks are removed.

/compress [maximum | fast | none]

Specifies the type of compression used for the initial capture operation. The maximum option provides the best compression but takes the longest time to capture the image. The fast option provides faster image compression but the resulting files are larger than those compressed with the maximum option. This is also the default compression type, used if you leave this parameter blank. The none option does not compress the captured image at all.

/ref splitwim.swm

Enables the reference of split .wim files (SWMs). splitwim.swm is the name and location of additional split files. Wildcards are accepted.

For example,


imagex /export d:\imaging\data.wim d:\imaging\sample.wim 1