Image

Recovery Images

A Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) group sits under Deployed and lists the recovery images found on the host - including those on hidden recovery partitions, which is where Windows normally keeps them out of reach.

A boot.wim or winre.wim loaded directly gets the Features page as well, so features can be configured inside it. The same file listed only as a sibling of a loaded install.wim does not - there it is serviced as part of that session instead.

Editions of one image usually carry the same WinRE. The list shows such a shared recovery image once, noting how many editions it covers, and the Apply page services it once for all of them - see Reapply Across Editions.

ISO Support and Image Edits

NTLite supports ISO, WIM, ESD, and SWM formats. You can convert between formats, create bootable ISOs, and edit images across any host-guest combination. For the edit-cache workflow - reference ISOs, writable edits, and organizing the list - see the Image Management guide.

Download Image

Add → Download fetches an official Windows ISO or ESD straight from Microsoft. Pick the release, platform, language and edition set; the file is verified against Microsoft's published checksum before it joins the list. A copy you already hold is recognized and offered with Locate instead of downloading it again. Walkthrough in the Download Windows guide.

ESD Images

An ESD is read-only, so loading one of its editions first converts it to WIM. The Convert popup lists every edition: the one you are loading is ticked and locked, and ticking others keeps them in the converted image too. The ESD is replaced by the result, so create a New edit first if you want to keep it.

A Packed ESD - the kind Microsoft serves, and the kind Download Image fetches - holds a whole install media, setup files included. Create ISO on it opens one popup that writes the setup files and the editions you tick into a bootable ISO beside the ESD, and Convert image there deletes the ESD once the ISO is built. Loading an edition builds an editable image folder in the Edit cache instead.

Mounted Images

For an image to be editable, it first needs to be mounted. This is done automatically on loading the image. It consists of temporary virtual extraction of the image in the temporary folder. This will not take space on the disk as normal files, these are just links. Only after changing or integrating something to the image does this take more space accordingly.

To unmount the image and clean the temporary folder, either Apply changes, or right-click the mounted image and choose Unload. The Unload dialog then offers the saving modes described under Image Options below.

Live Install

The tool can also edit the already installed Windows (C:\Windows). Same applies as with images - read the popup warnings carefully, as this applies directly to your currently installed operating system.

Editing the live OS and other deployed images is not a paid-tier feature: it carries the same licensing as working on image files, so the free and trial versions reach it too.

Extra Info

The two image sizes to the right of images, for example 12000 | 8000, show the NTFS hard-linked size on the left and disk/real size on the right.

The Last change column shows compact relative dates, with editions grouped under one shared date per image to keep the list quiet. Uncheck Compact ‘Last change’ dates in Menu → Settings to always show the full date and time on every row.

Edition Rows

Editions are numbered by their index in the image, and the name they share - Windows 11, say - sits once on the image row above, so each edition row shows only what sets it apart, such as Pro. A colored bar on the row's edge marks its state: the accent color while an edition is mounted, green once it is loaded. The Status column spells the same state out in words. Hover a row, or its number, for a Load button.

Saving Mode

Unload is how you save a mounted image by hand: pick the action on the image and choose how the mount is released.

• Save changes - commits the changes to the loaded edition, keeps the other editions, and unmounts.
• Discard changes - drops the edits and unmounts the image without saving anything.

Format

When saving or exporting, pick the container format:

• WIM (Standard, editable) - standard image format, ready for mounting and editing.
• ESD (High compression, read-only) - high-compression read-only format. Not supported on Windows 7 or on boot/WinRE images.
• SWM (Spanned, split) - image splitting format. Used to bypass the FAT32 single-file 4 GB limitation, or to span the image across multiple media. You set the split part size. SWM files cannot be re-saved in place, and re-splitting into smaller parts is not supported - keep the part size at or above the source's current one, or export to WIM or ESD instead.
• Keep image mounted - the fourth choice in the same group, writing no container at all. The changes are applied to the mount directory and left there, not written back to the actual image until you unload with saving enabled, or reapply in another session. Useful across several sessions, to avoid waiting for saving and remounting each time. Only the loaded and install.wim editions stay mounted; a boot.wim or WinRE touched in the same run is still saved.

Remove Editions

Every image in the folder that has editions to choose from is listed, each edition with a checkbox - tick the ones to remove, and the rest are kept. An image with a mounted edition stays locked: unload that edition first, or remove its siblings through the Apply page. You can also remove editions directly in the list by right-clicking an edition and choosing Delete. The source is only rewritten at the end, so a cancelled or failed run leaves it intact.

A Recompress checkbox appears once at least one edition is ticked, defaulting on. Left on, the WIM is rebuilt without the dropped editions, so the file actually shrinks in the same session. Turned off, the removal is metadata-only: the editions go, but the file keeps its original size. Not offered for SWM sources.

Export

Export writes the selected edition, or the whole WIM, to a file without altering the loaded session. Pick the format above, then a destination:

• Recompress image - rewrites the source file in place. When the chosen format matches the source it acts as a recompress; choosing a different format converts it (for example WIM to ESD for distribution, or ESD to WIM for editing). Mounted images cannot be replaced in place - unload first.
• Select destination - pick a separate destination file. If a file already exists at that path, choose Replace to overwrite it or Merge to add the image into the existing container. The path's drop-down offers the last three export destinations.

Editions export straight out of an ISO as well: right-click the ISO's install image or one of its editions and choose Export. The ISO itself cannot be rewritten, so a separate destination is the only choice there.

Export here writes the image and stops. To chain an ISO onto the same run, tick Create ISO on the Apply page instead - the apply pipeline is what builds one straight after the export. From the image list, Create ISO is its own action, described below.

Create ISO

Builds a bootable ISO from an image folder or edition. You choose the destination ISO file and an ISO label - the disc volume name, up to 32 characters. A “Prompt for any key before booting” option controls whether the ISO waits for a keypress on boot or proceeds with the boot directly. The destination's drop-down keeps the last three ISO paths for quick swapping. Create ISO needs the complete ISO content - it is disabled for isolated, standalone WIM files, but works on a packed ESD, which carries its own setup files.

Download Updates

Download Windows updates directly from Microsoft servers with automatic detection and selection. Keep your offline images up-to-date with local caching. Covered in depth in the Download Windows Updates guide.

Install Updates

This wizard helps you quickly install updates to your current installation. It uses the Updates page described in the Integrate section.

Host Refresh

This wizard helps you prepare and execute the Windows refresh feature - a migration to either the same or a different version of Windows. It is useful for reinstalling Windows or feature upgrades without needing to reinstall all your apps and reconfigure settings.

In the wizard, provide the full, unedited ISO content of the targeted Windows version. Optionally select your previous preset for auto-loading. Once you press OK it will auto-load the selected image for editing. The Process button on the Apply page will be replaced with the Continue button - use that when ready to process and migrate. Full walkthrough in the Host Refresh Wizard guide.

Remove Reinstalls

Due to Windows 10 1903 changes, installing cumulative updates returns updated parts of removed components. This wizard automates cleanup of those reinstalled component parts. Works only if the original component was removed by build 6962 or newer.

Works with the free version as well. Cleanup can be started from the UI, or by using the tool parameter:

ntlite.exe /cleancu