DISM and bootrec / bootbcd questions

#1. Can you only use DISM to service an online Windows installation and not an offline one (neither being image files), and you can only service offline if it's in the form of an image file? There's no way to service a non-image Windows installation unless you're logged into it ?

#2. Is using bcdboot only to repair an already-installed Windows environment, or would it also work to repair a USB Windows installation media that no longer boots ?

Dism is used to access clean files direct from Microsoft.If you use it offline,then you could end up using corrupted files to "repair" themselves.
There are Recovery Drives used to try to fix damage.Windows has one or Kyhi's available on this site.
For a "system no longer boots",does that mean bios or Windows?

joeandmarg0 said:

Dism is used to access clean files direct from Microsoft.If you use it offline,then you could end up using corrupted files to "repair" themselves.
There are Recovery Drives used to try to fix damage.Windows has one or Kyhi's available on this site.
For a "system no longer boots",does that mean bios or Windows?

I'm having trouble finding a direct answer to my first question. I have an install.wim accessible in Command Prompt, so I'm asking if the offline Windows that I want repaired has to be in the form of a file in order to use DISM on it.

As for my 2nd question, I have a USB Windows install stick, but it no longer boots to install after Automatic Repair was run in Windows RE to try to repair hard drive.

I'm asking if the offline Windows that I want repaired has to be in the form of a file in order to use DISM on it.

No, it can also service an image that has already been applied/installed.

USB Windows install stick

That should be a winpe entry pointing at sources\boot.wim. You could repair it manually, or just replace the bcd hive.

You could copy Windows\Boot\DVD\EFI\bcd
and paste that bcd into efi\microsoft\boot\ folder on your usb stick

What do you mean when you say a WinPE entry? How do I make an entry ?

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SIW2 said:

No, it can also service an image that has already been applied/installed

I'm doing this in Windows RE, so just to confirm you understand that I can't be in regular Windows (which I guess is online). But what command syntax would I use, cuz I tried setting Image path to C:\Windows and that never works, along with the other options.

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joeandmarg0 said:

Dism is used to access clean files direct from Microsoft.If you use it offline,then you could end up using corrupted files to "repair" themselves.
There are Recovery Drives used to try to fix damage.Windows has one or Kyhi's available on this site.
For a "system no longer boots",does that mean bios or Windows?

I'm using a USB Windows installation media too, problem is, after running Automatic Startup Repair to try to fix another drive, the USB no longer boots to anything.

With a bootable windows 10 iso flash drive you can run commands that are dism.
And with a bootable windows 10 iso flash drive you can run bootrec and bcdboot commands.
With a bootable windows 10 iso these are performed in Windows Recovery Environment (RE).

The source of the iso is important for some commands.
The iso can be in different formats which alters some commands.


Download Windows 10 ISO File
Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10
See Full Details about a Windows 10 ISO file or USB

I'm doing this in Windows RE, so just to confirm you understand that I can't be in regular Windows (which I guess is online). But what command syntax would I use, cuz I tried setting Image path to C:\Windows and that never works, along with the other options.

While you are booted into Winre, your windows installation on the hard drive is offline.

1. Boot into winre

2. Find the letter that winre has assigned to your windows partition on the hard disk ( it might not be C ).

3. If winre has allocated letter E to your windows partition on the hard disk, and the install.wim is on M the command goes like this:

Dism /Image:E:\offline /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:wim:M:\install.wim

In either case, both output "Unable to access the image."

Possibly it is corruption that cant be repaired.

SIW2 said:

Possibly it is corruption that cant be repaired.

I've updated my last posting with more info. It seems to read more when I use the root directory, but then a command isn't recognized.