Info on images volumes

[balubeto]

HI

1 - How do I tell if a wim file contains images volumes compressed or not?

2 - If a image volume has been created with the /check option of imagex, how do I know this?

3 - What is the difference between the /append and /export options of imagex?

4 - The various possible compressions and the flag control of a image volume, stored in a wim file, are transferred to another wim file using only the /append or /export option of imagex or not?

THANKS

BYE

[Tripredacus]

1. All images within a specific WIM will use the compression option that was used to capture the image at index 1. You cannot specify different compression ratios for other images also contained in the same file. That being said, the compression method is not stored within the INFO XML file inside the WIM itself. It is stored within the WIM Header. Imagex can read this information (as it can give you errors about the header) but there doesn't seem to be any switches to specifically output that information.

2. It does not appear that any data is saved in the WIM if the /check flag is used during capture. In short, you wouldn't unless you had the ability to log it at the time of capture.

3. The Append flag is used to add additional files into an existing image, in the form of an differential (version controlled) backup. This way you can have 2 (or more) full drive images in a single WIM, but each subsequent image will only contain files that are not in the first index. The Lookup Table in the WIM is an index for each Image and has pointers to the specific files or versions that one specifically uses. The Export flag is used to create a separate WIM file based upon a single image from another WIM file. If you were to export Image at index 2, it would use the Lookup Table to create the new WIM using all of the files it had pointers to. The exported WIM should maintain the same compression format as the original one you are exporting from.

4. The compression method described in #1 are for the Append flag. Hopefully reading #3 will help you understand that Append and Export are entirely different.

You can see a brief explanation to all of the flags for Imagex in the Windows PE User's Guide that is installed with the WAIK and/or OPK Tools. You may find the information under Imaging Tools and Reference to be the most helpful. This information is also available on TechNet if you search for it.

Here is a link to the WhitePaper that describes the inner workings of the WIM file and its format.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/e...le%20Format.rtf

Topics like this should be posted in the Windows PE forum. Check it out if you haven't been there already.