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Using the WIM Backup

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cregx edited this page Feb 19, 2023 · 13 revisions

1. Booting from a prepared USB stick

If you have the prepared boot media - usually a USB stick - the following steps are required to create or restore an image of Windows.

How to create a bootable USB flash drive with the latest version of WIM-Backup can be found here: README

To do this, it is necessary to set the boot order for this medium accordingly in the device BIOS of the affected computer, save it and boot from the inserted USB stick.

Example: On Fujitsu-based PCs the corresponding option can be found under Boot / Boot Priority Order. Either USB CD/DVD or USB HDD must be selected there.

2. Creating a backup

The process of creating an image-based backup is relatively simple and is illustrated in the figure below: make-backup-with-wim-backup

When the backup process is complete, you will receive a corresponding completion message.

You can use the Log button to call up the logged data in the event of an error.

Now exit WIM-Backup by clicking on the X icon. This will cause the system to reboot. Then remove the USB flash drive. The system should now boot as usual.

3. Restoring a backup

Restoring an existing WIM-based backup is relatively simple and can be seen in the following figure: make-restore-with-wim-backup

After the restore process is complete, you will receive a corresponding completion message.

The Log button allows you to retrieve the logged data in case of an error.

Now exit WIM-Backup by clicking on the X icon. This will cause the system to restart. Then remove the USB flash drive. The system should now boot regularly from the restored image.

Use on Windows Server 2022 environment

As it seems after testing on Windows Server 2022, the operating system drive letter is not automatically assigned in WinPE (probably for security reasons).

This results in the inability to select the operating system drive (C:) to be backed up in wimbckup.exe.

To work around this limitation, do the following:

  1. Boot normally from your WinPE boot media, which automatically runs WIM backup >= v.1.1.4.

  2. Then click the CMD button in the UI of WIM-Backup to start a command shell.

  3. In the launched shell, type diskpart.

  4. Type list dis to display the list of all drives.

  5. Type sel dis 0 (as a rule, it should be disk 0).

  6. Type detail dis.

  7. Now select the volume # to which you want to assign a drive letter: sel vol 1 (A good reference point for identifying the correct data volume is, for example, the drive size or the label.)

  8. Type assign letter=c (This makes C: the newly assigned drive letter for this volume.)

  9. After that, type exit and close the CMD and click the Refresh button in the WIM Backup UI. The drive you just assigned should appear in the ComboBox among the available drives.

refresh-button-wimbckup-ui

You only need to make this setting once. The newly assigned drive letter is retained permanently, i.e. even after a reboot. Please note that may have a negative impact on the security of the server.

How to update/upgrade to a new release version?

The following is a quick guide for upgrading to the latest version of WIM-Backup.

If you are preparing the WIM-Backup solution for the first time, you should read the step-by-step instructions in the README file instead of this short introduction.

  1. Start the Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment (CMD)with administrative privileges.

  2. Copy the amd64 directory to a folder that does not yet exist, for example C:\Temp\media.

copype amd64 c:\Temp\media
  1. Mount the boot.wim image from the previously copied amd64 directory to the newly created c:\temp\media\mount directory.
dism /mount-image /imagefile:C:\Temp\media\media\sources\boot.wim /mountdir:C:\Temp\media\mount /index:1
  1. Create the Tools folder in the C:\Temp\media\mount directory.
mkdir C:\Temp\media\mount\Tools
  1. Copy the following release files into this folder:
  • wimbckup.exe
  • action.bat
  • diskpart.txt

  1. Copy the winpkeshl.ini file to C:\Temp\media\mount\Windows\System32.

  2. Unmount the boot.wim (from step 3).

Do not forget to close all windows/files/applications that are open on the mounted directory. Otherwise, DISM will complain that it cannot complete the unmounting process.

dism /unmount-image /mountdir:C:\Temp\media\mount /commit
  1. Create the WinPEMedia ISO file.
cd ..
cd "Windows Preinstallation Environment"
MakeWinPEMedia.cmd /iso C:\Temp\media C:\temp\wim-backup-102.iso
  1. Use Rufus, for example, to transfer the created ISO file to a USB flash drive from which you can boot and create a WIM-based backup or restore an existing one.
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