-
- INTRODUCTION
-
-wimlib is free and open source software that is available on both UNIX-like
-systems and Windows. This file provides additional information specifically
-about the Windows version of wimlib and the command line tool "wimlib-imagex"
-that is distributed with it. It does not obsolete the generic README.txt, which
-you should read too.
-
- WINDOWS DISTRIBUTION
-
-For the convenience of Windows users, the Windows distribution of wimlib is a
-ZIP file containing the following items:
-
- * wimlib-imagex.exe, a command-line tool to deal with WIM (.wim) and split WIM
- (.swm) files that is similar to Microsoft's ImageX. This is a ready-to-run
- executable and not an installer.
-
- * Very short batch scripts (e.g. wimapply.cmd) which are shortcuts to the
- corresponding wimlib-imagex commands (e.g. `wimlib-imagex apply').
-
- * The documentation, including this file, the generic README.txt, and
- PDF documentation for wimlib-imagex in the 'doc' directory.
-
- * Various DLL (.dll) files, including the wimlib library itself
- (libwim-9.dll). The C header wimlib.h is not included; download the source
- if you want it.
-
- * License files for all software included. These are all free software
- licenses.
-
- WIMLIB-IMAGEX
-
-wimlib-imagex provides most features of Microsoft's ImageX, plus additional
-features. Perhaps the main limitation is that mounting images from a WIM file
-is not supported on Windows. However, wimlib-imagex provides a number of
-advantages compared to Microsoft's ImageX, including but not limited to the
-following:
-
- * wimlib-imagex provides "extract" and "update" commands that can be used to
- work around the lack of mount support. These commands are very fast
- compared to mounting and unmounting images with Microsoft's ImageX, so you
- may prefer them anyway.
-
- * wimlib-imagex provides an easy-to-use "optimize" command to remove wasted
- space from WIM files.
-
- * In some cases, wimlib-imagex uses simpler command-line syntax. For
- example, integrity tables are treated as persistent, and in some cases image
- names need not be explicitly specified.
-
- * Whenever possible, wimlib-imagex includes improved documentation and
- informational output compared to Microsoft's software.
-
- * On Windows, wimlib-imagex can correctly save and restore some combinations
- of data that Microsoft's ImageX runs into bugs on --- for example,
- uncompressed files in compressed directories, or files with alternate data
- streams and multiple hard links.
-
- * wimlib and wimlib-imagex are free software, so you can modify and/or audit
- the source code.
-
- ADDITIONAL NOTES
-
-Currently there is no graphical user interface available for wimlib or
-wimlib-imagex. It's recommended to use wimlib-imagex in scripts to avoid having
-to interactively enter commands. However, note that wimlib-imagex is largely
-just a command-line front-end for wimlib, and it's possible to use wimlib's API
-in other front-ends or applications.