X-Git-Url: https://wimlib.net/git/?p=wimlib;a=blobdiff_plain;f=README.WINDOWS;h=f6e6612184f9b0b20b45ee7e26b3c486965912f2;hp=9744dc8d72b7592a23c93622a918d668d176130e;hb=HEAD;hpb=80dbb12a5ed4a1839145efe47e701744f41c0fe0 diff --git a/README.WINDOWS b/README.WINDOWS deleted file mode 100644 index 9744dc8d..00000000 --- a/README.WINDOWS +++ /dev/null @@ -1,138 +0,0 @@ - - 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 - -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), split WIM - (.swm), and ESD (.esd) files that is inspired by Microsoft's ImageX and - DISM. 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. - - * The library itself (libwim-15.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. - -Note that there are separate ZIP files for 32-bit (i686) and 64-bit (x86_64) -binaries. They are both fully supported, but you should prefer the 64-bit -binaries when possible as they can be noticeably faster. - - WIMLIB-IMAGEX - -wimlib-imagex supports most features of Microsoft's ImageX as well as some -features that are supported by DISM but not by ImageX. wimlib-imagex also -supports some features that neither ImageX nor DISM support. Some of the -advantages of wimlib-imagex compared to ImageX and DISM are: - - * wimlib-imagex provides "extract" and "update" commands which allow - you to quickly work with WIM images without mounting them. - - * wimlib-imagex provides an easy-to-use "optimize" command which removes - wasted space from a WIM file and optionally recompresses it with stronger - compression. - - * wimlib includes advanced implementations of all compression algorithms used - in WIM files. They usually outperform and outcompress their Microsoft - equivalents. - - * wimlib-imagex supports solid WIM files and LZMS compression, for example as - used in ESD (.esd) files. (These are partially supported by recent DISM - versions but not by ImageX.) - - * wimlib-imagex supports imaging a live Windows system. Just use the - --snapshot option. - - * In many cases, wimlib-imagex has simpler command-line syntax than either - ImageX or DISM. - - * Whenever possible, wimlib-imagex includes improved documentation and - informational output compared to Microsoft's software. - - * wimlib and wimlib-imagex are free software, so you can modify and/or audit - the source code. - -However, some limitations of wimlib-imagex compared to ImageX and DISM are: - - * On Windows, wimlib-imagex does not support mounting WIM images. - - * wimlib-imagex has no awareness of Windows "packages". - - ADDITIONAL NOTES - -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. Currently there is no official graphical user -interface available for wimlib or wimlib-imagex. However, an unofficial, beta, -Windows-only graphical user interface that provides a thin wrapper around -wimlib-imagex can be downloaded at -http://reboot.pro/files/file/485-wimlib-imagex-command-line-compiler/. - - BUILDING FROM SOURCE - -As with other open source software, advanced users may choose to build wimlib -from source, potentially with customizations. Although wimlib's build system is -designed for UNIX-like systems and is easiest to use on Linux, it's possible to -build Windows binaries on Windows using Cygwin with MinGW. To do this, follow -the instructions below. For the sake of example, I'll assume you are building a -32-bit version of wimlib v1.9.0. - -Run the Cygwin installer, available from https://www.cygwin.com/setup-x86.exe. -When you get to the package selection screen, choose the following additional -packages from category "Devel": - - - make - - mingw64-i686-gcc-g++ - - mingw64-i686-binutils - - mingw64-i686-libxml2 - - mingw64-i686-winpthreads - - mingw64-i686-win-iconv - - mingw64-i686-pkg-config - -Download wimlib's source code from https://wimlib.net/downloads/wimlib-1.9.0.tar.gz. - -Start a Cygwin terminal and run the following commands: - - cd /cygdrive/c/Users/example/Downloads # (or wherever you downloaded the source to) - tar xf wimlib-1.9.0.tar.gz - cd wimlib-1.9.0 - ./configure --host=i686-w64-mingw32 - make - -If successful, the new binaries "libwim-15.dll" and "wimlib-imagex.exe" will -have been produced in the .libs directory. - -By default the binaries are built with debug symbols. If desired, you can use -i686-w64-mingw32-strip to strip them. - -libwim-15.dll will be linked to several other DLLs which you will need as well: - - - iconv.dll - - libwinpthread-1.dll - - libxml2-2.dll - - libgcc_s_sjlj-1.dll - -They can be found in "C:\cygwin\usr\i686-w64-mingw32\sys-root\mingw\bin" and -must be placed alongside libwim-15.dll for it to run portably. (In the official -binary release, these third-party libraries are linked to libwim-15.dll -statically rather than dynamically.) - -Building 64-bit binaries is very similar, but you'll need to replace "i686" with -"x86_64" everywhere in the above instructions. Note that you can build both -32-bit and 64-bit binaries from the same Cygwin installation, provided that you -install both the mingw64-i686-* and mingw64-x86_64-* packages; and you can run -the Cygwin setup program to install more packages at any time.