How to Convert install.esd to install.wim File on Windows 10

How to Convert install.esd to install.wim File on Windows 10
How to Convert ESD to WIM File on Windows 10

In this tutorial, we will show you how to convert ESD to WIM file from the Command prompt using the DISM tool. ESD file is a new highly compressed file-based disk format developed by Microsoft. The ESD (Electronic Software Download) image files are used to deploy the Windows operating system instead of the classical WIM (Windows Imaging Format) image. Unlike WIM files, you cannot open or mount an ESD file in Windows (unless you’re converting them). Instead, Windows uses them internally during the clean install or update process. The problem is that many admins using WDS/MDT/SCCM to deploy Windows 10 over the network and usually need to make the same changes to the Windows Image file. So today we will show you how to easily convert ESD to WIM image.

First of all, we’ll figure out what the install.wim and install.esd files are and how they differ.

Install.esd and install.wim are archives containing compressed operating system files, they can include several Windows editions (Professional, Home, Enterprise, etc.). During the installation of Windows, all files are extracted from the install.wim/esd image to the system drive of the computer.

If you compare the size of the wim and esd file, you can notice that the file size with the esd extension is smaller, because it is compressed more strongly (a new type of compression is used – Recovery). This compression type packs the Windows installation files even more and, as a result, the size of the install.esd file becomes less than the install.wim file by 30%.

Microsoft distributes the last Windows 10 builds in the install.esd format.
It helps users to save network traffic during upgrading Windows 10 build.

The inconvenience of using the install.esd file is that DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) tool refuses to mount this Windows image.
Accordingly, in such an image it is impossible to inject drivers, security updates, or modify some Windows deployment options.

Therefore, in this situation, the easiest way is to convert the install.esd file into install.wim and then just work with the install.wim file.

Regards
Quazi Mahmudul Huq
Senior Faculty
IT System Admin
MCT, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, RHCSA, RHCE
RHCSV, CCNA, CCNP, MTCNA, MTCRE

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