Install Windows Using Dism and Command Line

Bootable USB

Prepare for bootable USB with some tools to create partitions, disk management.

Diskpart: Partition Preparation

Once booted into bootable system (say Windows 10 XPE), we can launch diskpart to create partition.

1. Start CMD and initiate diskpart

diskpart
list disk
# Use the above information to select the right disk
select disk 0
# If you want to clean all partitions, make sure you back up your data.
clean # This willl wipe out your data.
# If the disk is not in gpt, you can convert to gpt
convert gpt
# Create EFI partition with fat32
create part efi size 256
format fs fat32 quick
assign letter w

2. Next, we will create a partition for Windows.

#Create a primary partition with size 100GB = 102400MB
create part primary size 102400
format quick label Windows
assign letter C

3. You can create addition partition for your data.

create part primary
format quick label Data
assign letter D

Unpack Windows from WIM file.

4. Now, it is the time to install your Windows from WIM file.

Suppose your Windows installation image is located at E:\sources\install.wim

dism /get-wiminfo /wimfile:E:\sources\install.wim

From the above command, you can see the index of all Windows SKUs that you want to deploy

dism /apply-image /imagefile:E:\sources\install.wim /index:2 /applydir:C:\

5. Activate your UEFI boot

bcdboot c:\Windows /s W:

For MBR boot, we can use the old method:

bootsect C:\Windows /s W:

6. Register the location of the recovery tools

Reagentc /Setreimage /Path C:\Windows\System32\Recovery /Target C:\Windows

7. Verify the configuration status of the images

Reagentc /Info /Target C:\Windows

8. Reboot to enjoy your new system.

9. Bonus steps: Capture a WIM file and apply it to another disk

dism /image:C:\ /optimize-image /boot
dism /Capture-Image /ImageFile:"D:\source.wim" /CaptureDir:C:\