github CodingWonders/DISMTools v0.6.1_stable
v0.6.1
on GitHub

5 hours ago

dt_rel

DISMTools 0.6.1 is now available as a stable version, with new features and enhancements:

File hashes

File Name Hash (SHA256)
Installer dt_setup.exe 0CF9A6CB1B9B7AB30114402A1491F6D7BF9475E7D78663566E7B10EE6E265144
Portable DISMTools.zip BE63703A0E772CC78F76C0F6AC48ABE524ED90FD1C90110FA1441407E861343A

Important

If you use Windows Defender, it may incorrectly flag this version as malware. SmartScreen may also do this. Don't worry; this is safe to download and use.

This AV solution flags this program because it lacks code-signing certificates, which are quite expensive (as of January 2025, 660 and 864 dollars for 3 years of SV and EV certificates, respectively, from Comodo).

If you use other antivirus solutions, you will not see this problem. Learn more here

Changes made since last preview

Bugfixes

  • Non-English redirected DISM output is now shown correctly

New features

  • The testing environment creator now detects the architectures compatible with the ADK
  • Remaining options that were introduced in preview versions are now localized
  • Help documentation has been updated

Overall changes

Bugfixes

Note

This will show the bugfixes of all preview versions. To view them, expand a section

Preview 1
  • Fixed an issue where the program would sometimes throw an exception when saving settings (#205, thanks @Dretreyt for spotting)
  • Fixed an issue where Windows 8 and 10 detection functions for background processes would sometimes throw exceptions (#206, thanks @arielsil for spotting)
  • Fixed an issue where background processes would sometimes not start after mounting a Windows image, causing you to reload the projects (#208, #210, thanks @novice55 for spotting)
  • Fixed an issue where the program would throw an exception when creating a new project from within the online and/or offline installation management modes (#209, thanks @webber3242 for spotting)
  • Fixed an issue where the program would throw an exception when using keyboard combinations to access items in the recent projects list if there were no items. Now, the following message will appear:

Preview 2
  • Fixed an issue where feature disablement would not be possible due to a DynaLog logger issue
  • WIMBoot options are no longer enabled if the Windows image being serviced does not contain Windows 8.1 (#211, thanks @arielsil and @Dede333)
Preview 3
  • The PE Helper now detects whether the selected index is invalid
  • Fixed a visual issue in the image index switch dialog
Preview 4
  • Fixed an issue where the PE Helper would not create ISO files if you had a version of the Windows ADK earlier than 10.1.26100.2454
  • AppX package counts in image information reports are more reasonable now on Windows 8 hosts
  • Fixed an issue where folder attributes for AppX package addition and driver addition were not being detected correctly (#220, thanks @InnerBrat for spotting)
  • Fixed an additional issue regarding the Recents list

New features

DynaLog

  • DynaLog, which was initially introduced in DISMTools 0.6, has been applied to the whole codebase

Tip

Expand the following section if you want to know how events are logged

Understanding DynaLog event logs:

DynaLog event logs are stored in the file DT_DynaLog.log, in the logs folder. When you open it, you will see events following this structure: 

...
[01/03/2025 16:07:48] [DetectMountedImages (MainForm_Load)] Getting mounted images...
[01/03/2025 16:07:48] [DetectMountedImages (MainForm_Load)] Clearing lists...
[01/03/2025 16:07:48] [DetectMountedImages (MainForm_Load)] Initializing API...
[01/03/2025 16:07:48] [DetectMountedImages (MainForm_Load)] Calling API function to grab mounted images...
[01/03/2025 16:07:48] [DetectMountedImages (MainForm_Load)] 10 mounted image(s) have been detected on this system. Grabbing information...
[01/03/2025 16:07:48] [DetectMountedImages (MainForm_Load)] Image information:
[01/03/2025 16:07:48] [DetectMountedImages (MainForm_Load)] - Image file : C:\wims\install_23h2.wim
[01/03/2025 16:07:48] [DetectMountedImages (MainForm_Load)] - Image index : 1
[01/03/2025 16:07:48] [DetectMountedImages (MainForm_Load)] - Mount directory : C:\dtprojs\Win11-23H2\mount
[01/03/2025 16:07:48] [DetectMountedImages (MainForm_Load)] - Mount status : 0 (OK)
[01/03/2025 16:07:48] [DetectMountedImages (MainForm_Load)] - Mount mode : 0 (Write permissions enabled)
...

An event is divided into 3 parts:

  1. The time at which it happened. This is a UTC timestamp
  2. The name of the function/method that logged an event and, optionally, the name of its parent
  3. The message

The logger can be temporarily disabled by the program, but this is only done in situations where logging causes a performance overhead. I want a balance between performance and logging capabilities.

You can disable the logger completely by going to the log options, but it's not recommended.

Preinstallation Environment Helper

  • The PE Helper now supports initiating OS installations from within full Windows environments, thanks to HotInstall:

HotInstall prepares your computer to boot to the Preinstallation Environment, from which you will be able to install Windows. This is done by configuring the BCD (Boot Configuration Data) to add a boot entry to the Windows PE image.

You can start the installation process with HotInstall by either running setup.exe in the disc image or by using AutoRun.

After your computer has restarted, choose "DISMTools Operating System Installation" in BOOTMGR, or wait for 3 seconds, and continue with OS installation as you would if you booted to the ISO file.

Until you install the operating system with the PE Helper, nothing will happen to your computer and you can still boot to the full Windows environment in case you need to back up files or export its installed drivers to a folder (if needed). You can remove the newly created BCD entry by using bcdedit /delete {<BCD entry GUID>} /f (grab the GUID first by running bcdedit) from an administrative command prompt session.

Note

  • Ventoy drives are not supported due to the way they work, such that ISO files are never inserted - only the Ventoy USB
  • HotInstall is not included with test projects created by the Test Environment creator
  • HotInstall will not upgrade your installation of Windows. It will perform a clean installation
  • HotInstall is supported on these platforms, with a requirement for .NET 4.8:
    • Client: Windows 8.1 and later, excluding Windows 10 versions 1507 and 1511
    • Server: Windows Server 2012 and later, excluding Server Core
  • If you run into a problem or want to suggest a new feature for HotInstall, report feedback in its repository, not this one. If you report HotInstall feedback in this repository, it will be transferred to the HotInstall repository
  • You can now view a bit more information when specifying the image index for your Windows image by typing INFO:

  • You can now copy your ISO files to Ventoy drives:

Note

This process will take some time, depending on the speed of the Ventoy drive and your computer

  • When installing the drivers specified in the Driver Installation Module, you will now see a progress indicator:

You will see a slightly different output in this release

  • The ISO creator now detects the architectures that are supported by the Assessment and Deployment Kit installed on your computer:

  • Compatibility has been improved for the latest Windows ADKs (starting from version 10.1.26100.2454 - December 2024 update):
    • ISO creation will finish successfully now
    • You can now create ISO files with boot binaries signed with the "Windows UEFI CA 2023" certificate:

Note

You will see the following message when checking this option:

DISMTools_6xnHCcaDOQ

Learn more about boot binaries signed with this certificate here:

  • The Extensibility Suite has had some improvements:
    • Support has been added for ADK 10.1.26100.2454
    • An alias (StartDim) has been added, letting you launch the Driver Installation Module more easily:

Unattended answer file features

  • UnattendGen has been updated to the latest version
  • You can now tell the unattended answer file to use a configuration set or distribution share:

  • Applying unattended answer files from within DISMTools is faster now
  • You can now configure post-installation scripts for your unattended answer files:

  • When you change the computer name to an empty value, you won't be annoyed to put a computer name as much:

  • User accounts with "None" names are now blocked
  • You can now target multiple processor architectures with your answer file:

  • You can now normalize the spacing of your unattended answer file to make it consistent:

Miscellaneous

  • The following components have been updated to their latest versions:
Component Version in 0.6 New version
Managed DISM API 3.2.0 3.3.0
Markdig 0.38.0 0.40.0
Scintilla.NET 5.6.4 5.6.6
  • You can now press Alt + U to restart background processes on demand. This is useful if the image was loaded into DISMTools and serviced by an external program. This will update the information grabbed by the program so that you have the latest information to work with
  • Operation logs can now be opened with the editor of your choosing if the operations have failed
  • DISM output is now redirected to the progress panel

Update details

Setting migration will be performed when you update to this version. These are the settings that will be affected:

Setting New status Reason
Logs > DynaLog logging control New
Logs > System Editor New

What's Changed

Full Changelog: v0.6_stable...v0.6.1_stable

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