In this video, we will demonstrate how to use Image Assist Dynamic to capture and restore a Windows image for multiple platforms. Image Assist Dynamic helps prepare a custom, cross-platform Windows image or WIM that includes the operating system, licenses, applications, desktop customization, and network configuration settings. Let’s start by creating and capturing a Dynamic image.
On the ImageAssist home page, in the Create Dynamic Image card, click GET STARTED. To create a bootable Image Assist USB drive, select Yes. Here, we will create a bootable USB drive. To create an Unattend XML file, select Create Unattend XML. To import an existing sysprep answer file, select Import previously created Unattend XML. Here, we will create a new Unattend XML file.
To retain the primary desktop customization settings, in the Profile Copier section, select Retain Current User Settings. For the list of primary settings, see the Image Assist Dynamic for Multiple Platforms User’s Guide. You can select this option only if you are using a virtual machine to capture your image. The profile copier is currently not available for Windows 11 systems however it will be supported in the upcoming releases Click NEXT.
On the Create USB page, ensure that you have selected the correct USB drive, and click CREATE USB. The bootable USB driver is created, and the Create Unattend XML page is displayed. On the Create Unattend XML page, enter the required information, review, and change the selections, if necessary, and then click CREATE UNATTEND. For more information about creating an Unattend XML file, see the video titled Create Unattend XML.
The Unattend XML file is created, and the image is checked for common build errors. If failures are detected during the Check Image process, click the corresponding Failed link, and review the issue description. To manually resolve driver issues, you can attempt to uninstall the drivers from the Device Manager or see the vendor documentation for uninstallation instructions.
To manually resolve software issues, you can attempt to uninstall the software from Add or remove programs in your system. If you are unable to solve the issues manually, and need assistance, contact the Dell OS Imaging Helpdesk. To contact the helpdesk, click the help icon and then click Get Support.
Click RESOLVE ISSUES and the tool helps fix the issues. For more information about validating the image, see the video titled Check image. After the issues are resolved, or if no issues are found, we move on to auto capture of the image. To auto capture the image, click CAPTURE NOW or wait for the capture process to start automatically.
The dynamic image is captured. Click BROWSE, select a folder, and then click COPY to save the WIM or Windows image file to a USB drive or to another location. To detect the image and driver packs automatically while restoring the image, save the dynamic image in the Dell Images folder and the driver packs in the Dell Driver Packs Local folder.
Note the path where the file is saved and click SHUT DOWN to turn off the computer. Finally, let’s restore and test the image. Boot to the Image Assist Dynamic USB drive or ISO file. On the Welcome to Image Assist Dynamic WinPE page, in the Restore Image card, click RESTORE. If the image file is not automatically detected, click BROWSE, select the WIM file that you want to restore, and then click OK.
Then, click BROWSE to go to the location where the driver is saved, and then click OK. If a valid driver pack is not detected, an error message is displayed. To edit the partitions, click EDIT PARTITIONS, edit the partitions as per your preference, and click SAVE. Then, click RESTORE IMAGE.
The image is restored. Remove the USB drive and click REBOOT to immediately restart the restored system. You can now test the restored Dynamic image before submitting it to the Dell factory. For more information about Dell ImageAssist, go to Dell.com/ImageAssist.
