Intro

This is an old topic. I a just trying to wrap it up as a record.

Basically, to apply a Windows 11 image to the C: drive using WinPE and DISM, you must first boot from a WinPE media, then format and partition the hard drive, and finally use the dism /Apply-Image command.

Step 1: Boot from WinPE media or Windows Install Media

  • Create/Download a bootable WinPE media (like a USB drive) and boot the target computer from it.
  • Once booted, the command prompt will appear. You may need to connect to a network to access your image file or copy it to the local drive.
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Alternatively, grab a Windows 11 Installation media (a DVD-ROM or Bootable USB); Boot up the target computer, click "Next" button a few times till reaching "Select setup option", then toggle "Repair my PC" , select "US" as keyboard --> "Troubleshoot" --> "Command Prompt" till landing into a Command Prompt window.

Most likely, the Windows 11 Sources folder is located at D drive (please confirm it with your case).

Step 2: Prepare the C: drive

    • 1- wipe the hard drive,
    • 2- create new partitions,
    • 3- assigning a drive letter (e.g., C:) to the partition where Windows will be installed.

Type diskpart in the Command Prompt to prepare the partitions for installation:

# List and select disk
list disk
## Be very careful to select the disk letter you prefer,
## as the next step will erase all data on it.
select disk 0

# Clean the disk
clean
# convert disk from Legacy BIOS scheme to UEFI scheme
convert gpt

# Create EFI partitions
## EFI partition of 500MB (can be bigger or smaller)
create partition efi size=500
## Format EFI partition
format quick fs=fat32 label="system"
## Assign the letter of S for later operations of bcdboot
assign letter=S
## Create Microsoft Reserved partition (msr): 
## minimum: 16MB, Disk size <16GB: 32MB, Disk size 16GB+: 128MB
create partition msr size=16
## Create Windows partition
create partition primary
## Format Windows Partition
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
## Assign the letter of C
assign letter=C

# Quit the `diskpart` env
exit

Step 3: Apply the Windows image

  • Pre-requisites:
    • Use the dism /Apply-Image command to apply the Windows 11 image to the prepared drive.
    • Ensure the image file is accessible, for example, on a network share or a separate USB drive, and update the path in the command accordingly.
  • The command should be structured like this, run from the Command Prompt in WinPE:
      • This command assumes your Windows image (install.wim) is on a drive labeled E: within the WinPE environment and you want to apply it to the C:\ drive.
      • The /Index:7 argument specifies that you are applying the 7th image in the WIM file.

So we will apply the "Windows 11 Pro N for Workstations" edition, which is index 11:

dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:E:\install.wim /Index:7 /ApplyDir:C:\

(Optional) take a look at what Windows 11 version we have in the very image file:

dism /Get-ImageInfo /ImageFile:E:\install.wim

## The output be like:
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.26100.5074

Details for image : I:\sources\install.wim

Index : 1
Name : Windows 11 Home
Description : Windows 11 Home
Size : 22,235,588,527 bytes

Index : 2
Name : Windows 11 Home N
Description : Windows 11 Home N
Size : 21,617,771,836 bytes

Index : 3
Name : Windows 11 Home Single Language
Description : Windows 11 Home Single Language
Size : 22,213,449,980 bytes

Index : 4
Name : Windows 11 Education
Description : Windows 11 Education
Size : 23,183,114,242 bytes

Index : 5
Name : Windows 11 Education N
Description : Windows 11 Education N
Size : 22,545,047,299 bytes

Index : 6
Name : Windows 11 Pro
Description : Windows 11 Pro
Size : 23,205,470,491 bytes

Index : 7
Name : Windows 11 Pro N
Description : Windows 11 Pro N
Size : 22,566,006,362 bytes

Index : 8
Name : Windows 11 Pro Education
Description : Windows 11 Pro Education
Size : 23,183,164,880 bytes

Index : 9
Name : Windows 11 Pro Education N
Description : Windows 11 Pro Education N
Size : 22,545,073,068 bytes

Index : 10
Name : Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
Description : Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
Size : 23,183,215,518 bytes

Index : 11
Name : Windows 11 Pro N for Workstations
Description : Windows 11 Pro N for Workstations
Size : 22,545,098,837 bytes

The operation completed successfully.

Step 4: Configure for booting

Remove the drive letter of S prior to Rebooting.

## Use `diskpart` tool
diskpart
## The next ops in `diskpart` env
list volume
## Select the volume you are going to remove the letter against
select volume 3
## Remove the drive letter
remove letter=S
## Verify the drive letter has been removed
list volume

## Exit the `diskpart` environment
exit

After the image is applied, use bcdboot to create the boot configuration data for the new installation.

## S: is the boot partition, often the EFI partition in UEFI scheme, 
## or C: in Legacy BIOS scheme
bcdboot C:\Windows /s S:
## Check out if the Boot record has been created on EFI Partition
dir S:
## There shall be a folder "EFI" on S drive
dir S:\EFI
## There shall be 2 folders
## Microsoft
## Boot

Step 5: Remove the media and Reboot

As such, finish off the installation process.

The End