ISO file size discussion

I understand how the upgrade/update can be done directly from the mounted ISO, but it is not clear how you do a clean install from the second SSD.

What am I missing?

Mount the ISO, copy all the files to a temp directory on the second disk (SSD or HDD), shift + restart, troubleshoot, advance options, command prompt, change to the second disk, then cd temp/sources and run setup.exe

The install.wim in the MS ISO is too big to fit on a FAT32, so I will have to convert it to install.esd.

Above the FAT32 limit of 4,294,967,296 

Hi fg,

Obviously, for users like you with many devices it isn't practical to download the ISO multiple times.

In my case, with only two PCs my preference is to install or update directly from my second SSD without having to deal with USB drives, file systems or sizes.

Hi Sibro,

I understand how the upgrade/update can be done directly from the mounted ISO, but it is not clear how you do a clean install from the second SSD.

What am I missing?

4 out of 5 of my UEFI machines can only boot from FAT. (FAT32 is what MCT uses for Windows)

I use FAT32 also when I prepare the USB for the Windows installer.

I only have one older UEFI machine than can boot directly also from NTFS, but that is just one out of 5.

The install.wim in the MS ISO is too big to fit on a FAT32, so I will have to convert it to install.esd.

Above the FAT32 limit of 4,294,967,296 

Hi fg,

Obviously, for users like you with many devices it isn't practical to download the ISO multiple times.

In my case, with only two PCs my preference is to install or update directly from my second SSD without having to deal with USB drives, file systems or sizes.

How long it take to convert wim to esd? Have you tried export only Pro edition to it's own install.wim?

It's very fast: Here is exported Win 11 Pro (index 6) from en-US ISO. It take about 20 sec to create new install.wim with only Windows 11 Pro.

If I want to keep all editions I usually do the split wim, creates 2 files

install.swm

Intall2.swm

Dism /Split-Image /ImageFile:D:\Temp\install.wim /SWMFile:D:\Temp\install.swm /FileSize:4000

How long it take to convert wim to esd? Have you tried export only Pro edition to it's own install.wim?

It's very fast: Here is exported Win 11 Pro (index 6) from en-US ISO. It take about 20 sec to create new install.wim with only Windows 11 Pro.

Hi Pauli,

That is fine in this case, but in many other situations even the single edition install.wim is too big.

And if I want to keep all the editions the .esd can keep all and still fit. 😉