Any difference between WIM and ESD?

[BetaNewbie]

I am very confused about this problem.
Also, can imagex open ESDs?

[MSStyler]

If im not mistaken then esd should be encrypted unlike wim

[Lukas Marsik]

Also, the decryption key should be stored in the setup.exe of the ISO / DVD that contained the Windows setup

[nathaniel87]

There was a little bit of discussion about this topic here, if it helps.

[JW0914]

If im not mistaken then esd should be encrypted unlike wim

ESD is not an encrypted file. ESD has a far more efficient compression ratio than WIM, which is an extremely old compression technology. To give an example, my custom Install.wim for Windows 8.1 Pro x64 is just shy of 6GB [optimized], however, exported to ESD, the file is now 3.51GB.

Conversion between the two is extremely simple and straightforward, and the most recent DISM from the Win 8.1 ADK is required.

The proper DISM command would be:

DISM /Export-Image /SourceImageFile:[path]\install.wim /SourceIndex:1 /DestinationImageFile:[path]\install.esd /compress:recovery /CheckIntegrity


Now, if you don't have over 8GB of memory installed, or a processor above or equivalent to a 2.2Ghz Quad Core, you're best bet is to search for and download the tool "ESD2WIM-WIM2ESD". Whomever wrote the command script did so in such a way that it allows DISM to use 2/3 less system resources than if you were to simply type in the above command into DISM. I have an Alienware M18X and running the export command via DISM uses 95 - 98% of the CPU load and just under 6GB of physical RAM... Due the high continuous load, (it takes about 30 minutes), the PC will become unresponsive and in many times the export will fail due to regular system processes interfering with the dism priority within the system.

In the same scenario, using ESD2WIM-WIM2ESD, CPU usage was a consistent 33 - 35%, physical RAM around 1.5 - 2GB.

Many have told others to sysprep a new install and image the sysprep-ed partition for the install.wim. I can personally attest to the fact you will have problems with your system if your choose to go that route. There's a difference between the install media's install.wim and the wim of a sysprep-ed system and many individual's unable to install 8.1 Update 1 (KB2919355) used a sysprep-ed wim image to clean install. I have no idea why, nor do I have the knowledge to compare a sysprep-ed install.wim with an installation media install.wim/esd, however, there is a difference. Not only that, exporting via DISM from WIM to ESD or ESD to WIM is far faster, taking around 75% less time to accomplish.