Windows 10: DISM restore failing when using ISO Windows 11

HelloI have been having BSOD errors in droves, for about six months, and miscrosoft help via chat, contacted multiple times with different support persons can't find out what's wrong. So, I've ventured forth on my own here. Just about at my wits' end.Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 G401lV, running Windows 11. The only things I ever installed on it were discord, chrome, steam, and steam games.I've tried to restore my computer - multiple times - to both Windows 10 and Windows 11, but the restore always freezes and then I BSOD. I've tried using both the built-in "restore pc" and the "media creation tool"

:)

 

How to get damn DISM to work?

Thx guys, I'll compress this data into a blog post. For all the so called guides I've read, not a single one mentioned it has to be WIM file (some listed even ESD which clearly doesn't work) or that certain ISO images don't work with DISM.

After I've done DISM thingie, SFC also managed to repair stuff. Which is what I've needed here.

 

ISO flavors and DISM


The Windows MCT creates an ISO with an Install.esd file. The TechBench ISO download has an Install.wim file.

I've seen some posts that say the Install.esd file cannot be used with DISM.
I've seen some posts that show a complicated method of using Install.esd with DISM.
I've seen one post that shows DISM with a "SOURCE:ESD: ..." parm (that certainly implies esd files work).

I tried the latter to repair an error that SFC could not fix and got a "The source files could not be found" error. (I don't remember that actual text of the error message, but the logged message was The source files could not be found; their location must be specified using the /source option to restore the feature. - GetCbsErrorMsg
So,

• Should I download the TechBench version just so I get the .wim file?
• If so, should I burn a disk from that rather than use the mct version (assuming I ever really need the ISO)?

Also, I've seen several comments on the web about putting the Install.wim or Install.esd on the desktop and pointing DISM at it. Why? I've got the ISO files on both a DVD and on an external drive. I may soon have a set of ISO files with the .wim file on an external drive. Is this suggestion just a performance consideration, or does DISM have an issue with accessing source on external drives?

 

Source to use for DISM on Windows 10

This is not completely true. The suggestion is to download the Techbench version and use DISM to apply to install.wim directly. However, you can also use the version download from MCT except it will involve an extra step as follows:

1. Use the latest version of 7-Zip to extract the content of install.esd. For example: to a folder xxx on the desktop
2. From Admin command prompt:
   Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\xxx\windows /LimitAccess

See screen shot, the contents of install.wim and install.esd are exactly the same.