Open/Extract WIM File with Freeware on Windows/Mac/Linux

WIM FileWIM (Windows Imaging Format) is WIM is a file-based disk image format that was introduced in Windows Vista. WIM files are compressed packages that contain a number of related files. The format of a WIM file is optimized for maximum compression with LZX, for fast compression with XPRESS, or uncompressed.

A WIM file structure contains up to six types of resources: header, file resource, metadata resource, lookup table, XML data, and integrity table. The following illustration shows the general layout of a WIM file that contains two images.

Like other disk image formats, a WIM file contains a set of files and associated filesystem metadata. However, unlike sector-based formats (such as ISO or VHD), WIM is file-based: The fundamental unit of information in a WIM is a file.

WIM files can contain multiple disk images, which are referenced either by their numerical index or by their unique name. Due to the use of single-instance storage, the more each successive disk image has in common with previous images added to the WIM file, the less new data will be added. A WIM can also be split (spanned) into multiple parts, which have the .swm extension.

WIM images can be made bootable. Windows boot loader supports booting Windows from within a WIM file. Windows Setup DVD in Windows Vista and later use such WIM files. In this case, BOOT.WIM contains a bootable version of Windows PE from which the installation is performed. Other setup files are held in the INSTALL.WIM.

Open/Extract WIM File on Windows

Easy 7-Zip opens/extracts WIM file easily on Windows. The Easy 7-Zip was developed based on 7-Zip. 7-Zip is a famous open source file archiver. The Easy 7-Zip is an easy-to-use version of 7-Zip. The open source freeware keeps all features of 7-Zip and adds a few useful features that makes the software more user-friendly.

Easy 7-Zip works on Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/2008/2003/XP/2000 (both 32-bit and 64-bit compatible).

  1. Free Download Easy 7-Zip
  2. Install Easy 7-Zip by step-by-step instructions
  3. The installation will associate WIM with Easy 7-Zip automatically
  4. Double-click on WIM file to open WIM file with Easy 7-Zip

    5. Easy 7-Zip
    You will see files or folders within the WIM file then, click button Extract to extract the WIM file.

  5. Alternatively, Right-click on WIM file on Windows Explorer


    6. And then, choose Extract files..., Extract Here, or Extract to "folder\" to extract the WIM file.

  6. Done

Easy 7-Zip Download Links:

You can try other alternative freeware that opens/extracts WIM file on Windows. For example:

  • PeaZip
  • ImageX
  • Bandizip
  • Universal Extractor
  • Bitser

Open/Extract WIM File on Mac

There are few freeware on Mac that opens/extracts WIM file. Anyway, you can try the following freeware.

  • EZ 7z for Mac OS X
  • Keka

Open/Extract WIM File on Linux

You need to install p7zip to extract the WIM file. p7zip is the Unix command-line port of 7-Zip.

Install p7zip-full on CentOS and Fedora

# yum install p7zip-full

Install p7zip-full on Debian and Ubuntu

$ sudo apt-get install p7zip-full

List directories and files in WIM file

$ 7z l image.wim

Extract WIM file on Linux

$ 7z x image.wim

 

 

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