Mount-Windows Image

Mounts a Windows image in a WIM or VHD file to a directory on the local computer.

Syntax

Description

The Mount-WindowsImage cmdlet maps a Windows image in a WIM or VHD file to the specified directory so that it is accessible for servicing.

The Path parameter specifies the location where you want to mount the Windows image.

The ImagePath parameter specifies the location of the WIM or VHD file containing the Windows image you want to mount.

Use the Index or Name parameter to specify which image in a WIM or VHD file that you want to mount. For a VHD file, the Index must be 1.

The Optimize parameter reduces the amount of time it takes to initially mount the image. However, processes that are ordinarily performed during a mount will instead be completed the first time that you access a directory. As a result, there may be an increase in the time that is required to access a directory for the first time after mounting an image using the Optimize parameter.

The Remount parameter mounts an image in a WIM or VHD file that was already mounted at the specified Path, but has become inaccessible for servicing.

The CheckIntegrity parameter detects and tracks .wim file corruption. CheckIntegrity stops the operation if DISM detects that the .wim file is corrupted when used with the Mount-WindowsImage cmdlet.

The CheckIntegrity parameter does not apply to virtual hard disk (VHD) files.

Examples

Example 1: Mount an image from the install.vhd file to a directory

This command mounts the Windows image contained in the install.vhd file to the c:\offline directory.

Example 2: Mount an image at an index of a file with read-only privileges

This command mounts the Windows image at index 2 of the install.wim file to the c:\offline directory with read-only privileges.

Example 3: Mount an image at an index of a file

This command mounts the Windows image at index 2 of the install.wim file to the c:\offline directory with a quicker initial mount time. Additional operations may be slower.

Example 4: Remounts an image previously mounted to a directory that is inaccessible

This command remounts a Windows image that has already been mounted to the c:\offline directory but has become inaccessible for servicing.

Example 5: Mount an image at an index of a file specifying logpath with checkintegrity and optimize parameters

This command mounts the Windows image at index 2 of the install.wim file to the c:\offline directory with Checkintegrity parameter, requesting a log file to be written and with a quicker initial mount time. Additional operations may be slower.

Parameters

Detects and tracks .wim file corruption when used with the Dismount-WindowsImage or Save-WindowsImage cmdlet. CheckIntegrity stops the operation if DISM detects that the .wim file is corrupted when used with the Mount-WindowsImage cmdlet. The CheckIntegrity parameter does not apply to virtual hard disk (VHD) files.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Specifies the location of the WIM or VHD file containing the Windows image you want to mount.

Type:	String
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Specifies the index number of a Windows image in a WIM or VHD file. For a VHD file, the Index must be 1.

Type:	UInt32
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Specifies the maximum output level shown in the logs. The default log level is 3. The accepted values are as follows:

• 1 = Errors only
• 2 = Errors and warnings
• 3 = Errors, warnings, and information
• 4 = All of the information listed previously, plus debug output

Type:	LogLevel
Aliases:	LL
Accepted values:	Errors, Warnings, WarningsInfo
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Specifies the full path and file name to log to. If not set, the default is %WINDIR%\Logs\Dism\dism.log . In Windows PE, the default directory is the RAMDISK scratch space which can be as low as 32 MB. The log file will automatically be archived. The archived log file will be saved with .bak appended to the file name and a new log file will be generated. Each time the log file is archived the .bak file will be overwritten. When using a network share that is not joined to a domain, use the net use command together with domain credentials to set access permissions before you set the log path for the DISM log.

Type:	String
Aliases:	LP
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Specifies the name of an image in a WIM or VHD file.

Type:	String
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Reduces the amount of time it takes to initially mount the image. However, processes that are ordinarily performed during a mount will instead be completed the first time that you access a directory. As a result, there may be an increase in the time that is required to access a directory for the first time after mounting an image using the Optimize parameter.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Specifies the location on your local computer where you want to mount the Windows image.

Type:	String
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Specifies that the image should be mounted with read-only permissions.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Mounts an image in a WIM or VHD file that was already mounted at the specified Path, but has become inaccessible for servicing.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Specifies a temporary directory that will be used when extracting files for use during servicing. The directory must exist locally. If not specified, the \Windows\%Temp% directory will be used, with a subdirectory name of a randomly generated hexadecimal value for each run of DISM. Items in the scratch directory are deleted after each operation. You should not use a network share location as a scratch directory to expand a package (.cab or .msu file) for installation. The directory used for extracting files for temporary usage during servicing should be a local directory.

Modify a Windows image using DISM

You can make changes to offline mounted or applied Windows images without booting into the operating system you’re going to modify.

Mounted images are WIM, VHD, or FFU files that have their contents mapped to a folder. Changes to mounted images are made from either a Windows 10 technician PC, or from WinPE. You run run DISM commands against a mounted image, as well as run common file operations such as copying, pasting, and renaming on a mounted image. To save changes you make to the image, use the /commit option when you use DISM to unmount the image. To make changes to a mounted image, use DISM /image: .

Applied images are WIM, VHD, or FFU image files that have been applied to a specified partition. Offline changes to an applied image are usually performed from WinPE. To make changes to an applied image, use DISM /image: .

When you apply an image that you’re going to recapture, apply the image to the root folder of a drive. If you recapture an image that wasn’t applied to the root of a drive, the image will inherit the parent folder’s security descriptors and might not be the same as what would be captured if the image was applied to the root of a drive. See Applying an image to learn how to apply an image.

You can mount and modify multiple images on a single computer. For more information, see Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) Best Practices.

Make your image ready for modification

Before you can make changes to your image, you’ll have to mount or apply the image depending on your scenario.

Mount an image

You can mount an image using the /optimize option to reduce initial mount time. However, when using the /optimize option, processes that are ordinarily performed during a mount will instead be completed the first time that you access a directory. This may increase the time that’s required to access a directory the first time after mounting an image using the /optimize option.

Open a command prompt with administrator privileges.

If you are using a version of Windows other than WindowsВ 8 or Windows 10, use the Deployment Tools Command Prompt that gets installed with the ADK.

Use DISM to mount the image

To mount a Windows image from a VHD or FFU file, you must specify /index:1 .

For more information about the options available for the /Mount-Image option in DISM, see DISM Image Management Command-Line Options.

Apply an image

See Apply an image to learn how to an apply an image.

Modify an image

You can use DISM to modify a mounted or applied image. You can add and remove drivers, packages, language packs, enumerate drivers and packages, modify configuration settings, and more.

View and modify an image

You can create, view, and edit files on a mounted image, just as you would any other file on your PC. When you modify the files in a mounted image, those file changes get saved in the image. Note that although you can add application files and folders, you can’t install applications directly into a mounted image in the same way that you would on a running PC. If you must add an application or a device, verify that you included all of the required files.

Add and remove drivers

See Add and remove drivers to an offline Windows image to learn how to work with drivers. Note that the DISM driver commands will only run against an offline image.

Add and remove packages

See Add or remove packages offline using DISM to learn how to work with packages.

Add or remove languages

Upgrade to a higher Windows edition

Any changes you make to a mounted image are also applied to each potential target edition of Windows. Each target edition is staged in the image. The changes will not be lost when you upgrade to a higher edition of Windows.

Reduce the size of an image

You can use DISM to reduce the footprint of a Windows image by cleaning up superseded components and resetting the base of the superseeded components.

At an elevated command prompt, run the following command to reduce the size of the image file:

Commit changes to an image

Mounted image

You can commit changes to an image without unmounting the image.

At the administrator command prompt, type:

Use /CheckIntegrity to detect and track .wim file corruption when you commit changes to the image. When you apply or mount the image, use /CheckIntegrity again to stop the operation if file corruption was detected. /CheckIntegrity cannot be used with virtual hard disk (VHD) files.

Applied image

Changes to applied images are saved, and you don’t need to take any steps to commit the changes you’ve made.

Unmounting an image

This only applies to mounted images. Applied images don’t need to be unmounted.

After you modify a mounted image, you must unmount it. If you mounted your image with the default read/write permissions, you can commit your changes. This makes your modifications a permanent part of the image.

If you modified an applied image, you don’t have to do anything else. You’ll see any changes you made when you boot the PC.

Open a command prompt or the Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment with administrator privileges.

Unmount the image.

where C:\test\offline is the location of the mount directory. If you do not specify the parameters to unmount, this option lists all of the mounted images but does not perform the unmount action.

You must use either the /commit or /discard argument when you use the /unmount option.

Troubleshooting

If the DISM commands in this topic fail, try the following:

Make sure that you are using the WindowsВ 10 version of DISM that is installed with the WindowsВ ADK.

Don’t mount images to protected folders, such as your User\Documents folder.

If DISM processes are interrupted, consider temporarily disconnecting from the network and disabling virus protection.

If DISM processes are interrupted, consider running the commands from the Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) instead.