I am asking this because I have windows.iso , is there a way to extract the boot.ima file from windows.iso ? so I can make my iso bootable to be used in vmware ? can you help me do this? Or show me to a place to do this? WIndows 11. John
In VMware, you open the machine's Settings and mount the downloaded ISO as a CD/DVD image file. If you're using Media Creation Tool to get a Windows image, there's an option at the end for writing to a local ISO file.
Power on the VM, hit ESC to catch the Boot Manager in the BIOS menu. Pick the CDROM drive.
I am trying to use winiso in order to build a bootable iso, to do this I have the windows.iso using the media creation tool. now I need to extract the boot ima from that . I am going to use that in win iso to make a boot.ima file to create a bootable ISO . What do i need to do this? John
Under the Hood - WinISO
.bifx multiboot image
other tools can create .img or .ima ( similar to .bif )
I've used WinImage for years for the .ima files, haven't needed it yet to burn the Win10 or Win11 DVD discs. I just download the .iso files using Microsoft's MCT/Media Creation Tool then burn them to a DVD+R/DL which is bootable.
There is no such boot able iso. An iso file is like a zip file. It has all files and folders on a single iso file. When you "burn" an iso file to a cd or DVD it just extract the files and folders to the CD or DVD.
On Win 10 you can simulate a ODD with a iso file extracted to it. Right click on the iso and select Mount. It will create a ODD with the iso file extracted to it. You can then copy all files to a folder.
You can also extract all files and folders from the iso using 7Zip
garlin: what version of Vmware Workstation do you have? 17x?
I'm on Workstation 15, but the exact version shouldn't really matter. If you're modding a Windows ISO and using the normal image tools, there's no reason to play around with boot files. The ISO is ready to go, unless you're creating something from scratch.
In those cases, use the Windows ADK to make a bootable ISO image from an isolated install WIM/ESD file.
Or you can also use the free AnyBurn. Tested on Windows 11 23H2 ISO and VMware Workstation 17 Player.
The Official AnyBurn Website
How to make a Win PE iso uefi bootable
"To create a bootable iso file that works in both modes"
"Click Edit Image File"
"click the little yellow icon and browse to the known good iso ( e.g. windows installation media iso file )"
"highlight the contents and click Remove"
"Then click ADD and browse to the files you want to add" edit: e.g. a USB stick created with Rufus
Thanks @SIW2
Last edited by Celery; 30 Jan 2024 at 02:08.
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