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Automating Windows 7 Installation : Customizing Images Using Deployment Image Servicing and Management (part 1) - Viewing Information about an Image with DISM

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4/15/2014 1:30:58 AM

The Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool is included with the WAIK and can be used to perform offline maintenance of images. Offline maintenance means that you don't need to boot into the image to make changes, but can instead modify the contents of an image file that is stored within a WIM file. You can apply this modified image to a system with the changes.

For example, if you followed the previous procedures using ImageX to capture an image, you can now use DISM to modify the contents of the image without having to apply the image to a system and booting into the system. Additionally, you don't have to recapture the image. If you use DISM to open the image in read/write mode, you can save the changes with DISM.

The steps for modifying an image with DISM are as follows:

  1. Mount the image using DISM. This expands the image into a folder on your hard drive. All the files and folders that are stored on the original hard drive of the captured image are accessible here.

  2. Modify the image. You can do so using DISM. DISM allows you to add and remove drivers, packages, and features. Additionally, you can copy files and folders directly into the mounted image.

  3. After completing the modifications, commit the image. This step rewrites the image file with your changes.

Uppercase or Lowercase?

DISM is not case sensitive, but options are case sensitive. When entering DISM commands, you can usually enter them as all uppercase, all lowercase, or a combination of the two. It's common to show the documentation with initial caps for words, but this is just for readability. For example, the following three commands are interpreted the same by DISM:

DISM /Get-WimInfo /WimFi1e:C:\Images\Insta11.wim
dism /get-wiminfo /wimfi1e:c:\images\insta11.wim
DISM /GET-WIMINFO /WIMFILE:C:\IMAGES\INSTALL.WIM

However, there are some exceptions. For example, when working with features in an offline image, you need to use the exact case of the feature such as InboxGames, instead of inboxgames, or Solitaire instead of solitaire. If you don't follow the exact case of the feature, the command won't be recognized.


While this section covers many of the basic capabilities of DISM, there is much more you may want to dig into. You can open the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) Users Guide for Windows 7, which is installed when you install the WAIK, and take a look at the following help articles for additional information:

  • Deployment Image Servicing and Management Command-Line Options

  • Driver Servicing Command-Line Options

  • Operating System Package Servicing Command-Line Options

The easiest way to locate these articles is to select the Search tab, enter the article title in the search text box, select the Search Titles check box in the lower-left corner, and click List Topics. Figure 1 shows this done for the Driver Servicing Command-Line Options article.

Figure 1. Viewing the WAIK help file

1. Viewing Information about an Image with DISM

When using DISM, you'll frequently use the /WimFile switch. This points to the image file with the full path in the following format:

/WimFi1e:Drive:Fu11Path\ImageName.wim

For example, if an image file named install.wim is stored in the Images folder on the C: drive, it would take the following format. Notice that there are no spaces anywhere in this switch:

/WimFi1e:C:\Images\Insta11.wim

The following example shows the /WimFile switch used with the /Get-WimInfo switch to retrieve information on an image file. In this example, the install.wim file from the \sources folder of the Windows 7 installation DVD is copied into the C:\Images folder.

DISM /Get-WimInfo /WimFi1e:C:\Images\Insta11.wim

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.1.7600.16385

Details for image : C:\Images\Install.wim

Index : 1
Name : Windows 7 STARTER
Description : Windows 7 STARTER
Size : 7,936,340,784 bytes

Index : 2
Name : Windows 7 HOMEBASIC
Description : Windows 7 HOMEBASIC
Size : 7,992,394,907 bytes

Index : 3

Name : Windows 7 HOMEPREMIUM
Description : Windows 7 HOMEPREMIUM
Size : 8,432,859,356 bytes

Index : 4
Name : Windows 7 PROFESSIONAL
Description : Windows 7 PROFESSIONAL
Size : 8,313,318,889 bytes

Index : 5
Name : Windows 7 ULTIMATE
Description : Windows 7 ULTIMATE
Size : 8,471,060,645 bytes

The operation completed successfully.

This output is a lot easier to digest than the ImageX XML output shown earlier. It's interesting to note that the queried install.wim file is about 2.2 GB when stored on a disk. However, it holds the contents of these five installation images, and each of the images will expand to about 8 GB.

All image files don't include multiple images. For example, if you captured the image using ImageX earlier, the Win7.wim file would have only one image with a name of Mastering Windows 7. If you copied that image to the Images folder on your computer, you could use the following command to view its details:

DISM /Get-WimInfo /WimFi1e:C:\Images\win7.wim

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.1.7600.16385

Details for image : C:\Images\win7.wim

Index : 1
Name : Mastering Windows 7
Description : <undefined>
Size : 9,759,693,132 bytes

The operation completed successfully.
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