WIM File Documentation

Overview

Feature Value
File Format Windows Imaging Format (WIM)
Developed by Microsoft
File Extension .wim
MIME Type application/octet-stream
Compression Supported (LZX and XPRESS)
Maximum Number of Images Unlimited (Limited by available storage)
File System Supported NTFS, FAT32
Bootable Yes (Can encapsulate bootable images)
Split Capable Yes (Into smaller SWM files)
Hardware Independence Yes
Single Instance Storage Yes (Data deduplication)
Encryption Supported No (But the drive storing WIM can be encrypted)
File Level Access Yes (Mountable as folders)
Usage Windows Deployment, Backup, Restoration
Editable Yes
Operating System Compatibility Windows primarily (Tool support on Linux and potentially other OSes)
Tool Support DISM, ImageX, WIMLib
Multi-Part Support Yes (Spanning across multiple SWM files)
Metadata Support Yes (Includes XML for image information)