Windows 10: Creating ISO file out of an ESD image -> too big to fit inside DVD, if converted to WIM;...

Hello,


I have downloaded the following file directly from Microsoft:


17763.379.190312-0539.rs5_release_svc_refresh_CLIENTBUSINESS_VOL_x64FRE_de-de.esd (3.3 GB in size)


It contains almost all Windows 10 editions in ESD image format, Build 17763.379 stable.


Then I wanted to create an ISO image out of it, in order to make a Win10 Enterprise installation DVD. I used the most actual version of NTLite to accomplish that, which also supports ESD decrypting & converting. First, I removed all W10 editions except "Windows 10 Enterprise" - so, only the following images were left inside the parent ESD image in the end:


1. Windows Setup Media

2. Microsoft Windows PE (x64)

3. Microsoft Windows Setup (x64)

4. Windows 10 Enterprise


By doing this, I could shrink the size of the original ESD image by approx. 140MB to 3.16GB.


Next, I had to convert the ESD file to WIM format, otherwise I could not create an ISO image out of it - NTLite told me, it's an "isolated image" despite all necessary files besides "install.wim" & "boot.wim" were also included in the ESD image (Windows Setup Media, WinPE, Windows Setup).


So, I converted all 4 entities listed above to WIM format - which naturally increased their size. As a result of the converting process, a folder was created with the same name as the original ESD file, right beneath it and 4.40 GB in size. After the conversion was done, "install.wim" ("Windows 10 Enterprise") and "boot.wim" ("Windows Setup Media") showed up on NTLite's list as well as the aforementioned folder, that was newly created - both WIM files were linked to this folder. I tried to apply "Recompress" to both WIM files, but that process did not change their size in any way! "install.wim" remained 3.80GB in size and "boot.wim" 348MB.


Finally, the "Create ISO image" option showed up on NTLite as I selected the folder linking both WIM files in NTLites's list. NTLite asked me to specify a destination folder and give a filename, before starting to create the ISO image.


The resulting ISO image was 4.41GB in size (despite removing all obsolete W10 editions and trying to recompress the WIM images) and as such, it didn't fit into a DVD media (which supports 4.37 or 4.38GB max.) - I noticed that only, once the DVD burner returned an error message, stating the image was too big in size...


So, I tried a workaround by re-converting "install.wim" back to ESD format - this wasn't possible for "boot.wim" though... only install.wim. The resulting install.esd file was almost a Gigabyte smaller than install.wim. Again, after re-conversion, I created an ISO image and this time the image size fit in and I could successfully burn it onto a DVD.


Immediately afterwards, I tested the new install media (booting DVD in UEFI mode directly from BIOS, SecureBoot disabled) and a few seconds after seeing the Windows icon, an error message showed up:


0xc0000225 ("file system32\boot\winload.efi could not be loaded, is missing or corrupt" - something like that)


I'm sure, it must have something to do with the ESD format - I'm pretty certain, this error would not occur with WIM format ("install.wim"), because I inspected install.esd by mounting it, and it *does* contain winload.efi!


But otherwise, the image size doesn't fit into a DVD - so, I don't know what to do now...


Looking forward for help!


TSOM

:)

 

Stuck on converting ESD to WIM File using a script tool

It's not a tool, just a short tutorial to show how to use DISM to convert ESD file to a WIM file: Convert ESD file to WIM using DISM in Windows 10

 

Convert ESD file to WIM using DISM in Windows 10

In all its simplicity, here's that step in two screenshots:










BTW, I edited step 2.9 and added step 2.10 just now. Here's how 2.9 it was before edits:

And here 2.9 and 2.10 after edits:

Also worth to remember is that after ESD to WIM conversion, new ISO only contains a single edition which always has index number 1. Using your CODE sample as an example, you made W10 PRO single edition WIM from W10 multi edition ESD. In original ESD the PRO edition is / was index 8, in new WIM file it's index 1.

 

ESD to ISO - Create Bootable ISO from Windows 10 ESD File  

That's not an issue. WIM is good, it's the ESD that creates a small issue because it cannot be used as such. Creating a bootable install media from a WIM file is not a big deal, doing the same from an ESD file is a bit more complicated and the reason this tutorial exists.

ESD file is nothing else than a highly compressed WIM, to put it simple. The issue is decompressing the ESD to get the WIM and further an ISO.

If all users would get the WIM file there would be no need for this tutorial.