*** Update with Windows 11 you will now find Microsoft is using an install.wim file on the original USB drive created from using the iso available on their site downloads page so there is no longer a need to convert your custom install.wim to an install.esd file. This step found toward the end of the video can be skipped over assuming you are attempting to make a Windows 11 custom image.
What is this video?
This video is a full guide on creating a basic windows flash drive and replacing the default install.esd file with your own custom .wim file.
What is the point of doing that?
You would do this if you have software and other items that you typically install on a PC after you image it. By putting the software on a PC and capturing its wim and using that wim to deploy saves time during PC deployment and set up going forward.
This video covers the following in order:
1. Creating a basic windows usb.
2. Creating a windows pe disk.
3. Using sys prep to prepare a PC to have its image captured once you have customized it.
4. Using the appropriate command to capture your image and write it to a directory in the windows pe environment.
5. Converting your custom .wim file to a .esd file which you can then use to replace the default install.esd file on the windows usb device.
What you need:
1. A windows PC or VM to prep and take an image of.
2. A usb flash drive to put windows on. I should recommend 32gb or greater since the wim we capture can be large.
3. A 2nd usb flash drive to be used as a windows PE disk. This USB can be any size for the most part as this does not require much space.
Links:
windows iso download: www.microsoft.com/en-us/softw...
rufus download: rufus.ie/en/
windows adk and pe add on download: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/win...
CHAPTERS
---------------------------------------------------
0:00 Intro
3:13 Creating a Basic Windows USB Disk
8:54 Creating a Windows PE Disk
14:08 Using Sysprep
16:40 Running Capture Image Command in Windows PE
20:03 Converting Your Install.wim to Install.esd