Imaging Windows 8.1 with Imagex?

Hi,

Just built my computer with Windows 8.1 Pro and I want to make an image of it.  With Windows 7 I used a bootable USB with Imagex installed, works fine.  I just tried the same procedure with Windows 8.1 and once I started the command I just get a ton of messages scrolling on the screen, going too fast to read.  I'm guessing this isn't working and am wondering if I need to do something different because it's Windows 8.1.

Here is the command I typed:

E:\imagex /compress fast /check /flags "Professional" /capture c: E:\install.wim "Windows 8.1 Professional" "Windows 8.1 Professional Custom"

Am I missing something or does imagex not work with 8.1?  If so, what should I be using?

Thanks in advance,

Linn

January 16th, 2014 12:08am

Hi,

To capture Windows 8.1 image, we may need to install the ADK for Windows 8.1. And in this toolkit, we have DISM tool for you to capture or deploy Image.

Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) for Windows 8.1

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39982

You can refer to steps in this article to capture Windows 8.1 image:

Capture an Image for Deployment (Generalize)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh824938.aspx

In addition, the step-by-step Guide is good for your reference:

Basic Windows Deployment Step-by-Step Guide

http://technet.microsoft.com/library/hh825212.aspx

Hope these could be helpful.

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 16th, 2014 11:06am

Imagex doesn't work properly with Windows 8. You should use DISM for everything. Also for Windows 8.1, you'll need the DISM from the Windows 8.1 ADK. Previous versions (say the one from Windows 7 SP1 WAIK) do not work for integrating drivers and updates.
January 16th, 2014 11:29am

Hi Kate Li,

I haven't had time to read through all the information you provided, but I have one question.  This is the only Windows 8 computer in the company, can I use a Windows 7 computer as the technician computer to install the Windows ADK?

Thanks,

Linn

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 16th, 2014 11:31am

Yes you can. According to the System Requirements section of the download link that Kate gave:
                 

    To install the Windows ADK, your computer must be running one of the following operating systems:

    Windows 8.1
    Windows 8 
    Windows 7 
    Windows Server 2012 R2
    Windows Server 2012
    Windows Server 2008 R2
    Windows Vista
    Windows Server 2008


    The Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 is required and Windows ADK installs it automatically.

    Also, it should be noted that ImageX was deprecated and DISM is the replacement tool.

    Hope this helps,

    David
    Windows Outreach Team - IT Pro
    The Springboard Series on TechNet



January 16th, 2014 12:53pm

Thanks David, I saw that too eventually.

So now I have a different problem.  When trying to install the ADK on my Windows 7 I get the following message:

"You must uninstall the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit for Windows 8.1 before you can install the latest version of the kit."

So I uninstalled the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit and I still get this error message.  I even tried rebooting.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Linn

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 16th, 2014 3:10pm

There are a number of things you can try on this page. But from the message you posted, it looks like you have the 8.1 ADK already installed. If you download the latest ADKsetup.exe (from the page I linked), you should be able to update or remove the ADK using that setup program. If it still doesn't work, there are some command line options to try to uninstall. Run a command prompt as administrator (Windows key and x, choose command prompt (admin) and try

adksetup /quiet /uninstall

Hope this helps,

David
Windows Outreach Team - IT Pro
The Springboard Series on TechNet

January 16th, 2014 3:45pm

Yes you can. According to the System Requirements section of the download link that Kate gave:
                 

    To install the Windows ADK, your computer must be running one of the following operating systems:

    Windows 8.1
    Windows 8 
    Windows 7 
    Windows Server 2012 R2
    Windows Server 2012
    Windows Server 2008 R2
    Windows Vista
    Windows Server 2008


    The Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 is required and Windows ADK installs it automatically.

    Also, it should be noted that ImageX was deprecated and DISM is the replacement tool.

    Hope this helps,

    David
    Windows Outreach Team - IT Pro
    The Springboard Series on TechNet



Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 16th, 2014 8:48pm

Well I'm stumped.  I tried a number of approaches including the command like uninstall and repair.  The repair says I don't have it installed but when I try to install it, it says that it is already installed... very frustrating.

I tried this on both the adksetup and mapsetup.

I'm guessing there is something stuck in the registry but I wouldn't know what to look for.

Linn

January 17th, 2014 11:30pm

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