11/14/2023 0 Comments Msmg toolkit imageinfo.txt![]() ![]() Now, combine the two split windows image (swm) files via DSIM with this command from an elevated command/powershell prompt:ĭism /export-image /sourceimagefile:install.swm /swmfile:install*.swm /sourceindex:1 /destinationimagefile:install.wim If you’re using retail install media ( like a retail boxed USB stick ), then you can see what SKUs are on disk with dism like so:ĭism /Get-ImageInfo /imagefile:…\install.swmįor our example, we’ll assume you want Windows 10 home, which is index 1 - but you can pick any index you like to create an install.wim You’ll copy the 圆4\sources\install*.swm files the install media to a temp directory on your drive. You’ll need a windows install media (real or virtual) along with valid license keys. If you’re really running a 32 bit OS/Hardware, you can skip this. Create an install.wim with drivers appropriate to your hardware ( this is more important for 圆4 computers. ![]() I used to burn the CD but plenty other image writers exist - use whatever you like.Ģ. You’ll also need an ISO to bootable USB program. Ignore the nice big links - those are ads to something else. You want to click the link with the text, “ HBCD_PE_圆4.iso” - it looks like it’s just a descriptor for the hashes/checksums presented, but no, that’s the actual download link. The actual link to the download is subtle, but the “adware” download links on the page are not subtle. I like Hirens boot CD, but one niggle I hit was I couldn’t find the download link. I’ll try and keep this post updates as I go with the little changes to official docs I hit. There are some gotchas( I hit one and need to repave - hence this blog post), but I’ll try and explain it as I go and hope it works the next time around. reboot and start installation as you like.Take your install.wim and apply the image to your vhdx.Create your virtual filesysem ( only vhdx format is supported ).Format the disks in a special way ( you’ll need 3 partitions and a GPT drive ).Create an install.wim with drivers appropriate to your hardware and stick that image into your PE environment.Get a bootable PE environment ( I used this one ).For UEFI systems, the high-level steps, in theory, are: Right now, the hotness is split image files ( install*.swm ), but that’s a wrinkle we’ll hit as we go. Windows has this habit of changing all the time now - even things like directory structure used in setup. Heck, you can even take your PC image with you as you upgrade machines. It means you can undo mistakes at a level you can’t without a virtual filesystem. It means you can save checkpoints to cloud backup services without the ability of malware to infect ( even backup aware malware ). They make great places to put OS images you can then swap into the active SSD by a simply file copy. Why in tarnation would you want to boot from a virtual filesystem?īecause large, cheap, and slow spinning disks exist. I’m doing a home gaming rig with a lightweight ML workload, and don’t plan on using this for anything sensitive - so that’s probably the right amount of paranoia for me - but if you’re doing sensitive work, you may want to consider also encrypting the virtual filesystem. For a blend of security and performance reasons, you can choose full disk encryption on your host filesystem ( bitlocker ), but you should probably leave your virtual filesystem clear. You can go down a rabbit hole of virtual machines on the virtualfilesystem if you want - but that’s a performance hit to avoid, esp now that Windows containers are a thing. This is not a VM - no hypervisor involved - purely a virtual filesystem on top of a baremetal host. ![]() To compensate, I’ve picked Gen4 NVMe with a big cache ( 7gb/s r/w!!! ), so that the 3% slowdown is immaterial ( because gen4 NVMe is 2x faster than the fastest Gen3, and Gen3 is blazing fast ). Yes, it does slow down the file system ( about 3% ). In a nutshell, you can boot a real, bare-metal host OS from a virtual file system. It sounds so cool, I have to use it to pave my OS for the new PC! I recently got a new PC, and I’ve learned about a feature called “Windows Native Boot”. ![]()
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