fzban2, thanks a lot it worked like a charm, but... now i face a new issue.. (i tested it both on XP and W7) from some reason imageX can not mount (both r/w or r/o) the image (although it is there) Any help is greatyly appretiated.. BTW, i did not install full AIK kit, just used the .exe file, maybe this is the culprit? c:\test>imagex.exe /mount c:\test\winpe_x86_restore\RESTOREXP.WIM 1 c:\test\imagemount ImageX Tool for Windows Copyright © Microsoft Corp. 1981-2005. All rights reserved. Mounting: [c:\test\winpe_x86_restore\RESTOREXP.WIM, 1] -> [c:\test\imagemount] Error mounting image: The system cannot find the file specified. the funny thing is that the path is correct and for exmaple if i do the dir option it does lists the files... c:\test>imagex.exe /dir c:\test\winpe_x86_restore\RESTOREXP.WIM 1 ImageX Tool for Windows Copyright © Microsoft Corp. 1981-2005. All rights reserved. Progress: 0% \ \AUTOEXEC.BAT \boot.ini ... ... ...