ESD to ISO - Create Bootable ISO from Windows 10 ESD File  

You are welcome Charlie. Just downloading the update ESD myself to be able to create the ISO. Only clean installs for my rigs :).

Kari said:

You are welcome Charlie. Just downloading the update ESD myself to be able to create the ISO. Only clean installs for my rigs :).

I hear that. I run clean install on main rig . Then I have a laptop that I have been using just updates to see if it compares. Clean is faster and smother. I only use the laptop when the kids are visiting cause they have to have the fastest

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For clean install fans:

Keep your eyes on the PC Settings > Update and Recovery. When the upgrade download gets to 100%, the next phase before the installation starts is Preparing to install updates:

At this point Windows has already created the hidden folder C:\$Windows.~BT. In its subfolder Sources you can find the install.esd file:

Hurry up, copy it and paste to another drive before the "Preparing" phase runs to 100%; when installation starts after the preparation and it for any reason fails, the install files including the esd file are gone, the folder only containing some logs.

Now download the tool, link in tutorial (first post in this thread) and follow instructions to create your own ISO image.

Kari

wptski said:

I might hold the record for failed installs but restored an 9926 image prior to several 10041 installs and the install.esd always remained intact.

I don't invent these things by myself. If I give advice on something I know, it is based either for the real hard facts, my personal experience or both.

I knew that my upgrade will fail. For not wanting to type the same second time in a few minutes, this quote shows what I posted elsewhere on Ten Forums:

Kari said:

The only disavantage in having the main profile folder Users always relocated with Sysprep to another drive to save space on C: is that the upgrades do not work. All Windows updates and everything else work just fine without a single issue as have worked using this method since Vista, but upgrading a new edition gives this:

Attachment 15725

Not a big deal, I can take the ESD file Windows Update downloaded and create my own ISO for a clean install or if I want to simply Sysprep Users back to C:, upgrade and finally Sysprep Users again to E: where I usually have it located.

When I noticed that Windows had started downloading the upgrade I already knew that my upgrade will fail because while the upgrade was downloading, I could not Sysprep the Users back to C:. I also knew that because the upgrade will fail I need to hurry to get the ESD file.

In the post you quoted was a screenshot of my C:\$Windows.~BT\Sources folder after the upgrade was downloaded but Windows was still preparing the installation. All the installation files were there. Here's the screenshot from the same folder now, it was wiped just seconds after the Windows started the failing upgrade process, about a minute after I had managed to copy the ESD file to a safe place:

Only the Panther folder there containg some logs.

I repeat: I don't invent these tips, they are based on reality.

Kari

sourkarm2 said:

Pl share the .esd file thru some free servers or by torrent. I tried several times, it failed every time in the mid way and starts again from the beginning.

Although the Windows 10 Technical Preview is free and freely downloadable, I don't want to find out if it is legal or not for me as a user to share their operating system especially using a third party.

This is as far as I go: I have made easy to follow instructions. It's your responsibility to get the ESD downloaded over the Windows Update.

Kari

Are you sure the ESD you have belongs to the latest build?

What I mean with the question is that let's say you have build 9926 installed, with its ESD file on your system drive, and the upgrade to 10041 fails, you still have an ESD file there but it is not the 10041 ESD, from the failed upgrade, but instead it is the ESD file from the last successful upgrade or install, the 9926.