X-Git-Url: https://wimlib.net/git/?p=wimlib;a=blobdiff_plain;f=README.WINDOWS;h=321650dedd3b5577b6a283c8359aecf76d6e5ac7;hp=a4968279c2f1e6abeabd9e4c0bfda2550f8600e7;hb=56ba8c06fa16282e9d89e0c8c88ec1d69c20d4d3;hpb=118cdc5cac01aad79e3314bf92cbbd924d48860c diff --git a/README.WINDOWS b/README.WINDOWS index a4968279..321650de 100644 --- a/README.WINDOWS +++ b/README.WINDOWS @@ -1,63 +1,70 @@ - INTRODUCTION -wimlib 1.3.0 has added experimental support for Windows builds. The Windows -build consists of both the "wimlib" library (which can be built as a DLL) and -the "imagex" executable. + INTRODUCTION -The Windows build of wimlib uses native Win32 calls when appropriate to handle -alternate data streams, security descriptors, and reparse points. +wimlib is free and open source software that is available on both UNIX 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. -Mounting WIM files is not supported on Windows. Also please note that wimlib's -"imagex" is NOT intended to be command-line compatible with Microsoft's -"imagex", and wimlib is NOT intended to be API compatible with Microsoft's -WIMGAPI. They are similar, though. + WINDOWS DISTRIBUTION - NOTES ABOUT IMAGEX +For the convenience of Windows users, the Windows distribution of wimlib is a +ZIP file containing the following items: -"imagex capture", "imagex append", and "imagex apply" will work on Windows and -have the added advantage of saving and restoring alternate data streams, -security descriptors, and reparse points. + * wimlib-imagex.exe, a command-line tool to deal with WIM (.wim) files that is + similar to Microsoft's ImageX. This is a ready-to-run executable and not an + installer. -"imagex delete", "imagex dir", "imagex export", "imagex info", "imagex join", -"imagex optimize", and "imagex split" are all portable and should work the same -way on Windows as on UNIX. + * The documentation, including this file, the generic README.txt, and + PDF documentation for wimlib-imagex in the 'doc' directory. -"imagex mount", "imagex mountrw", and "imagex unmount" will NOT work on Windows. + * Various DLL (.dll) files, including the wimlib library itself, which are of + little concern to you if you are not a developer. + * License files for all software included. These are all free software + licenses. -So on Windows, why would you want to use wimlib's ImageX instead of Microsoft's? -Well, here are a few reasons: + WIMLIB-IMAGEX -- wimlib offers fast multithreaded compression, so making WIM images can be much - faster. +wimlib-imagex is intended to provide a usable Windows-native equivalent to +Microsoft's ImageX. The main limitations of wimlib-imagex compared to +Microsoft's ImageX are the following: -- wimlib can correctly save and restore alternate data streams, which - Microsoft's ImageX sometimes captures incorrectly due to a bug. + * Mounting WIM files is not supported on Windows. -- wimlib is free software, so you can modify and/or audit the source code. + * The LZX ("maximum") compression ratio is several percent worse that + Microsoft's implementation. -See the man page for 'imagex' for more information. +However, wimlib-imagex provides a number of advantages compared to Microsoft's +ImageX: - BUILDING ON WINDOWS + * 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. -Actually doing the Windows build is a bit tricky, and I'd recommend you download -precompiled binaries from http://sourceforge.net/projects/wimlib/files/ instead. -I did it using MinGW-w64 on a Linux host, with the following configuration -command: + * wimlib-imagex offers fast multithreaded compression, so making WIM images + can be much faster. -$ ./configure --host=i686-w64-mingw32 + * wimlib-imagex provides a better XPRESS ("fast", or default compression) + compression ratio than Microsoft's ImageX. -after having installed the required libraries: + * wimlib-imagex provides an easy-to-use "optimize" command to remove wasted + space from WIM files. -* mingw-w64-gettext -* mingw-w64-libiconv -* mingw-w64-libxml2 -* mingw-w64-winpthreads -* mingw-w64-zlib + * Whenever possible I have included improved documentation and informational + output compared to Microsoft's software. -Note: zlib and gettext are only necessary when required by the build of libxml2. + * wimlib 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. -Building wimlib using Cygwin is not supported. I was trying this for a while, -but I ran into some issues with mixing native Win32 functions and -Cygwin-provided functions, so I made it possible to do a native Win32 build -instead. + * wimlib is 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 and I do not plan to make one. It's recommended to use +wimlib-imagex in scripts to avoid having to interactively enter commands.