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?

I don't know that much about DISM but I had the same problem with SFC not repairing some files. I followed a guide using DISM and they had me copy the wim to the root of C drive. When I tried the command and the wim was on the desktop it didn't work. I got the same message you did.

I dont know if DISM will work with a esd file but you can convert them to wim files. Use this tool from kyhi

Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Page 2 - Windows 10 Forums

Pokeefee.
You need the TechBench WIM version....download and right click to mount...check drive letter mounted on Run the DISM command in Command Prompt (Admin):
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /source:WIM:E:\Sources\Install.wim:1 /LimitAccess

WIM:E above should be changed if your mount drive is different

Any explanation why source:ESD:E was accepted but didn't seem to work?

pokeefe0001 said:

Any explanation why source:ESD:E was accepted but didn't seem to work?

It did not work for me either.
Did you check what drive it was mounted on?

Well, at this point I can't confirm I actually had the correct drive, but I had tried it twice - once pointing to the DVD; once pointing to the .esd file in the downloaded files. I would have expected to get it right one of those times. (But I'm a firm believer in Murphy, so who knows.)

Anyway, I downloaded the Tech Bench version, pointed to it, and DISM ran successfully. Then SFC found and corrected the corrupted files.
Does that imply I should burn a new ISO disk using the Tech Bench version of the ISO files? Is the MCT version bad?

Not directly related to my initial question, but ... What does DISM do (in this case)? It obviously didn't correct the corrupted files that SFC had originally found or the 2nd execution of SFC wouldn't have been needed. Does DISM just fix the files that SFC uses to fix files?

pokeefe0001 said:

Not directly related to my initial question, but ... What does DISM do (in this case)? It obviously didn't correct the corrupted files that SFC had originally found or the 2nd execution of SFC wouldn't have been needed. Does DISM just fix the files that SFC uses to fix files?

SFC and Dism in this case was confirmation source files had been restored.... after Wim.install loaded the missing source files.
Don't forget to mark up as solved.

>>Tech Bench versions expire after 24 hours so a repair today may not work tomorrow.
What do you mean by that. Does it mean that every time I want to use DISM I have to download a new version of ISO from the Tech Bench?