I have another topic here: http://www.msfn.org/board/Windows-Deployme...es-t120835.html but i think no one visits that category.

I now have a unattended dvd of Windows Xp. How do i covert this into a .wim file for Windows Deployment.

Can someone point me into the right direction?

Thanks.

Is this what you're looking for?
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/aa905070.aspx

Yes, that is helpful but i can't convert my c:\xpcd directory structure to a .wim file using imagex /capture command.
What would you suggesst i try next? Or if you could give me a hand with some of the imagex commands.
Does this actually work though? Using imagex to convert a dir structure to a .wim file?

What exactly are you trying to do?

WIM is not an installation method, it is an imaging technology. So if you were to create a WIM containing your UA and deploy it to a system all the system would have on it is an exact copy of your UA.

I think i've figured it out but i've got to test it.

Here's the scenario.
I have a customized copy of Windows XP sitting in C:\xpcd .
This copy has all the updates and some applications.
I can convert this to .iso and boot a pc, and it will work fine.

What i wanted to do is convert this Directory into a .wim format so i can deploy it with WDS.

By using this command from the WAIK tool: imagex /capture c:\xpcd c:\xpsp3.wim "Windows XP" it has converted the dir structure to a .wim file.
Now, i just have to upload this file into my WDS and see if it actually works.
Will keep you updated.

No dice.

When i try to add this .wim image to WDS i get: This file does not contain a valid install image.

What does it mean by valid? Are there any special switches in WAIK to make this a 'valid' image?

u might need to provide /NOPREFIX switch to imagex

I tried it and it didn't work.
This is driving me insane for the past week.
Are there any WinPe experts here?

What's a valid .wim image? Are there any special files or directories that .wim is looking for?
If there are, i can manually create these files or folders into my c:\xpcd folder and capture it again.
If my supervisor approves it, then i'll call microsoft for $150 an hour.
Don't know if that's going to happen though.

usually the wim technology needs a system directory in th root of drive in order to consider it as a system image (AFAIK) like C:\windows etc.

or u need another switch /BOOT ?? dunno

or try following IcemanND's XP WIM deployment guide

only syspreped images are used for deploying through wim technology.
doing from the install DVD/CD require winPE to copy the files and start install wia WDS
in RIS i dunno the procedure how to do that.

by converting a install source dir to wim might not going to help or work with wim

I've tried all the switches of /capture command even tried /flag which is not listed in help /?

There is another way around this (theoreticaly) which i'm going to test this week.

Here it goes.

1. Capture the directory with imagex and create a .wim file
2. Store this file somewhere in the network
3. Create a WinPe cd/dvd/flash drive
4. Boot PC with this cd/dvd/flash drive and automate the mapping of the network drive with a script, automate disk partitioning with the DISKPART command.
5. The script will create two partitions both active. Formats them both in NTFS. One is named INSTALL the other one WINDOWS
6. The script then unmounts the .wim file and lays it down in the INSTALL partiton, then the script reboots machine
7. When PC starts it will start installing Windows from the INSTALL partiotion just like if you were to install it from the CD/DVD

And all this work because i want an HAL independed Windows Xp image.
PHEW!

Like i said, this is all theoretical don't know if it'll actually work.
First i got to check that after copying windows files into a NTFS volume will setup.exe work or will i386/winnt32.exe work?
I'm getting tired with this.

This isnt going to work because are not understaning how wim works. Wim is not an install method. Basically during an vista install it extracts the wim to the harddrive. It is just a faster complete vista install. In a sense a wim is a zip file. You simply cant do this with a naked xp discs. Now if you were to install xp, sysprep it and then capture the image you might have something you can distribute easily. As for it being hal independent I dont see the point in that unless you got some real old stuff that shouldnt be running xp anyways.

Actually, there IS a way to create a WIM of the XP install, but its tricky. This is just a crazy idea I just had, and I have no clue if this will work but you can try it out.

OK so we know that when you install XP, it goes into the blue setup screen, wants you to press buttons like R and L and F8 and stuff. Then it shoots that red bar across the screen to reboot.

What happens here is that the XP CD copies the install structure of the CD onto the Hard Disk. When the computer reboots, it runs the install from the Hard Disk and not the CD. It may be possible to capture Drive C between the reboot prompt and the start of installation.

However, I do not know if the installer makes any reference to the CD during install, but it may be possible to create a RAMDRIVE with applicable files to fool the installer if this is at all possible.