What is happening with my 'boot.wim' file ?

FredM8 · 12 Aug 2017

What is happening with my 'boot.wim' file ?

I have been having some problems with booting on my computer recently and I think that I have found the cause but do not know how to resolve it.
Following the W10 tutorial on creating a repair disc I decided to create a new one for the PC that was having the problems. I thought that the problems had been cured after I downloaded a brand new image from the Microsoft site and burned the ISO to a DVD.

I tested this ISO by doing a partial install to see if was being recognised, and it was. So I used this ISO to repair my problem PC and since then it has been purring along very nicely. Apart from having to unplug and reconnect my keyboard from time to time. It sometimes fails to be seen. It also takes AGES to search for updates to Windows Defender, and then goes through the download and installation process just as slowley, while sometimes downloading and installing nothing ?

When I went to create the repair disc I was told that the required files were not on my computer and I would have to insert the installation disc, this I did, then was asked to insert new blank media for the creation of the repair disc, this I did.

Just out of interest, I decided to create another repair disc on my other machine, also a Z97 Motherboard running the same version of Windows. I then compared the size and content of each repair disc.

The machine that has been giving the problems had created a repair disc with a 'sources' folder with a 'boot.wim' file of 291 MB

The machine that has NOT been giving any problems had created a repair disc with a 'sources' folder with a 'boot.wim' file of 308 MB

Can anyone explain what is going on here, and what I have to do to put it right ?

Rocky · 12 Aug 2017

When you use the Media Creation Tool to create an installation/repair disc, the file is about 4 gb in size.

Download Windows 10

FredM8 · 12 Aug 2017

The file I downloaded and burned to a DVD was certainly big. But for a sytem repair disc a CD is enough. That has a max of just over 700 MB. The problem seems to be that files are not being passed over to the CD during the repair building process.

I have just checked and the ISO that I saved to a DVD is 3.39GB in size. This was done on the 7th of this month.

( And I have just had that lost the keybord problem again ! )
All it takes to fix this problem is to pull the plug and put it back in again ?

I have used the startup disc created on my other machine and tried to correct this problem but it stated that windows startup could not be repaired and below is the log file. I think it means that there was nothing to repair.

Code:

Startup Repair diagnosis and repair log
---------------------------
Last successful boot time: ‎8/‎12/‎2017 4:29:56 PM (GMT)
Number of repair attempts: 1


Session details
---------------------------
System Disk = \Device\Harddisk0
Windows directory = C:\WINDOWS
AutoChk Run = 0
Number of root causes = 1


Test Performed: 
---------------------------
Name: Check for updates
Result: Completed successfully. Error code =  0x0
Time taken = 0 ms


Test Performed: 
---------------------------
Name: System disk test
Result: Completed successfully. Error code =  0x0
Time taken = 0 ms


Test Performed: 
---------------------------
Name: Disk failure diagnosis
Result: Completed successfully. Error code =  0x0
Time taken = 0 ms


Test Performed: 
---------------------------
Name: Disk metadata test
Result: Completed successfully. Error code =  0x0
Time taken = 0 ms


Test Performed: 
---------------------------
Name: Target OS test
Result: Completed successfully. Error code =  0x0
Time taken = 0 ms


Test Performed: 
---------------------------
Name: Volume content check
Result: Completed successfully. Error code =  0x0
Time taken = 469 ms


Test Performed: 
---------------------------
Name: Boot manager diagnosis
Result: Completed successfully. Error code =  0x0
Time taken = 0 ms


Test Performed: 
---------------------------
Name: System boot log diagnosis
Result: Completed successfully. Error code =  0x0
Time taken = 0 ms


Test Performed: 
---------------------------
Name: Event log diagnosis
Result: Completed successfully. Error code =  0x0
Time taken = 16 ms


Test Performed: 
---------------------------
Name: Internal state check
Result: Completed successfully. Error code =  0x0
Time taken = 0 ms


Test Performed: 
---------------------------
Name: Boot status test
Result: Completed successfully. Error code =  0x0
Time taken = 0 ms


Root cause found: 
---------------------------
Boot status indicates that the OS booted successfully.


---------------------------
---------------------------

But I do have recuring boot problems, and there must be a reason why certain boot files are not loading properly to make a repair disc on this machine ?

NavyLCDR · 12 Aug 2017

Did you check the box for including system files?

FredM8 · 12 Aug 2017

I am not getting that option. I get told that the files are not on my computer and that I must insert the W10 ISO, which I do. Then I get asked to insert a CD or DVD, which I do. Then the repair disc is created. This disc is 322 MB in size, compared to the repair disc made on my other machine which is 340 MB in size without involving the W10 ISO

NavyLCDR · 12 Aug 2017

It sounds like you might have a hardware problem going on. But I would try this:
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

Use the latest Media Creation Tool:
Download Windows 10

Select the option to save the ISO file to the hard drive. Mount the ISO file in Windows. Run setup.exe from the mounted ISO file.

Caledon Ken · 12 Aug 2017

Can I ask what process you are using to create this disk.

There is a CD process that you create and use as part of the Windows 7 Backup and Restore.

Windows 10 has a process to create recovery drive. Type Recovery drive into Cortana. It creates a USB key and first panel asks if you want to copy System files.

FredM8 · 12 Aug 2017

The windows 7 route is the one that I have been using. I have used this route on each of my machines that are giving different results.

FredM8 · 12 Aug 2017

NavyLCDR said:

It sounds like you might have a hardware problem going on. But I would try this:
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

Use the latest Media Creation Tool:
Download Windows 10

Select the option to save the ISO file to the hard drive. Mount the ISO file in Windows. Run setup.exe from the mounted ISO file.

This is going to be the way that I go. I downloaded W10 and used the latest media creation tool to mount it to DVD on August the 7th.
This is the DVD that has 3.39 GB of download. Does it sound like I have got it all ?

Caledon Ken · 12 Aug 2017

Have a look at the Recovery Drive tutorial, just FYI.

Create Recovery Drive in Windows 10