DISMUI was already supporting the new version of Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP3. The new version however extends the capabilities for the new CTP by enabling you to remove Modules at any time. This is not possible by the integrated DISM command!

DISMUI does this in a safe way because it is checking for packages that are used by other installed modules before removing them.

Even though this works using this feature might not be supported by Microsoft but it helps you a lot during the image building process or even just for testing.

Using the new feature is easy: Just uncheck the module that should be removed and confirm the warning message. Then continue as usual – DISM does the rest for you!

I have released a new version of DISMUI that enables support for Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP2.

It also contains several small changes mostly related to the new CTP.

This is a minor release that contains only bug fixes for the following functions:

• Dependency Tree Viewer in WES7 & POSReady 7
• Integration into POSReady 7 with /integrate switch
• Language Pack installation only when needed
• minor fixes

The new version of DISMUI received many updates including support for the current Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1. One major change is the support of Modules which are the new way of adding features in Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1.
A module is not only a combination of features of the OS itself – a Module can also contain custom files, drivers and custom commands that are executed when installed. This way you are again able to easily add your own application to your image.

Because Microsoft supports Modules only with Windows Embedded Standard 8 – DISMUI has an additional feature that brings Modules also to Windows Embedded Standard 7 and POSReady 7!

At the moment there is still the need to create the Module for Windows Embedded Standard 7 and POSReady 7 manually but it uses the exact same format as the Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1 Modules.

I will publish a short manual soon how to create a Module and how to install it with DISMUI.

New Features

• Support for Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1
• Module Installation in Windows Embedded Standard 7 and Windows Embedded POSReady 7
• Advanced OS detection and DS/Catalog Version detection
• Additional security checks
• Much faster detection of installed feature packages
• Option to switch the view between tree and list view
• Enhanced dependency and conflict checking

Feature Overview

• Online & Offline Servicing of
• Windows Embedded Standard 7
• Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1
• Windows Embedded POSReady 7
• Online Configuration of Windows Embedded POSReady 7 and automated offline servicing
  (Important feature for POSReady 7 to stay supported)
• Integration into POSReady 7 – easy UI to service OS – even by the End Customer!
• Module Installation for Windows Embedded Standard 7 & POSReady 7
• Driver Installation
• Dependency Tree Viewer
• Dependency Checking
• Conflict Checking
• Footprint impact calculation
• Minimum Requirements Check
• and many more!

DISMUI has received many new features and has been optimized – therefore it made it to Version 2.
The tool also received a dedicated site on the Elbacom website.

New Features

Automated Offline Servicing

POSReady 7 does not support online servicing of the operating system. Therefore DISMUI offers the "Service image offline" option which will automate the offline servicing for you. The configuration can be done online but all the servicing operations will be done in an on-the-fly created Windows PE environment!

This method can be used for Windows Embedded Standard 7 too.

DISMUI needs two files from the Setup media to create the Windows PE system. Please ensure that you have a setup media connected when choosing this option.

Footprint Calculation

DISMUI will calculate the estimated OS footprint when selecting or deselecting feature packages. This will inform you how your current selection will impact on the operating systems size.

Operating System Detection

When launching DISMUI it will detect on which operating system it runs on. The best option (Online, Online with offline servicing, Offline) will be chosen based on the current system. It will also disable the online mode when running on a full Windows 7 system. On Windows PE it will automatically find the image location.

Update Check

DISMUI now offers the ability to check for new updates from within the tool.

Icons

The tool has now received icons that were missing in the previous version to make it look more complete.

Required Components

DISMUI will now include all required components to run out-of-the box (or out-of-the-zip).

Other changes

• Improved automatic detection of distribution share
• Improved detection of MUI DVD
• Improved responsiveness while executing tasks
• Bugfixes & Other small improvements

Branding

We now offer to create a customized branded version of DISMUI.

If you are interested please contact us for more information.

DISMUI has been updated to fix some issues when installing Feature Packages in Offline Mode.

For bigger packages there was a need to create a scratch directory. DISMUI 1.4.2.1 is now creating a temporary scratch directory to solve the issue. This directory will be removed afterwards.

Other improvements:

• DISMUI detects if it is running under Windows PE (e.g. POSReady 7 Setup) and switches to Offline Mode and searches for the Windows installation automatically
• Logfiles are now saved in the correct location
• Scratchdir handling

A new version of DISMUI is now available. The new version features enhanced support for POSReady 7.

The following features have been added:

• Language Pack OPK DVD is now supported as Distribution Share Directory
  By selecting the DVD drive that contains the language pack DVD from the OPK you can easily add and remove language packs from your POSReady installation
• Language Pack directory of POSReady 7 OPK DVD added automatically
  DISMUI now adds the LangPacks directory of the POSReady 7 DVD automatically.
• Minor bug fixes

DISMUI can be used as an easy to use replacement for the DISM command line. Since version 1.4.1 DISMUI also support POSReady 7.

Why should I use DISMUI instead of DISM?

• DISMUI takes care of dependencies which means that if you add a new feature DISMUI will also include other needed feature packages automatically.
• DISMUI checks for conflicts which means that you cannot destroy your image by adding a component that conflicts with another.
• DISMUI checks for minimum image requirements which means that you cannot remove features that are needed by the system.
• DISMUI reapplies installed languages packages automatically. This is needed after each change – otherwise you could add an application that has no language strings included and therefore does not display any texts!

Using DISMUI

To modify your POSReady 7 image just insert the POSReady 7 DVD containing the Distribution Share (DS) and launch DISMUI.
The tool will show you immediately which features are currently installed on the system.
If you uncheck a feature it will be removed from the system.

Adding Feature Packages the right way

Please note that Microsoft only supports adding features to the system when it is offline.
This means that you should boot from the POSReady 7 setup DVD and add features from there while the image is not running.
You can also use DISMUI there however since DISMUI needs the .NET Framework to run you will need to do additional preparation work once.

Creating a portable version of DISMUI

I have already described how to make DISMUI portable using the open source implementation of .NET called Mono. Here is an adapted guide especially for POSReady 7:

1. Go to http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html and download the Windows version.
2. Run the downloaded setup file on a development machine.
3. Copy the installation folder containing the Mono Framework to a USB drive.
4. Download the newest version of DISMUI (1.4.1 or newer)
5. Copy DISMUI to a USB drive
6. Create a batchfile or shortcut to run the following command

“MonoDirectory”\bin\mono “DISMUIDirectory\DISMUI.exe”

Using portable DISMUI from within the POSReady 7 setup

You can now use the USB key containing DISMUI and Mono to run the tool within the POSReady 7 setup environment.
For this boot you POSReady 7 setup DVD and press Shift+F10 at any time.
Navigate to your USB key and launch the previously created batchfile or shortcut.

Within DISMUI select the “Offline” option and enter the path to your POSReady 7 image.

Now you can add features easily by just following the wizard.

DISMUI was updated to work with the CTP2 of Windows Embedded POSReady 7. The tool allows you easily add and remove Feature Packages in POSReady 7 CTP2 via a graphical user interface.

The new version fixes minor issues when using a POSReady 7 CTP Distribution Share.

Changes:

• Fixes when using a POSReady 7 CTP Distribution Share
• Suppresses Conflict Dialog when no packages are available to select
• Permanent Packages check in Conflict Dialog

The new version introduces a new feature to display all the dependencies of a selected Feature Package. This will help you to find out why certain components are pulled into the image.

Show Dependencies

To display the dependencies just double click on a Feature Package or select it and click “Show dependencies”.
The following dialog will display all Feature Packages that are needed by the selected Feature Package.
DISMUI will also try to load Driver Packages from the Distribution Share to display them properly in the dialog.
If a dependency could not be located it will be displayed in the “Not Found” section.

Dependencies of Media Center:

Additional fixes

• Checks if the WiX dependencies are located in the DISMUI directory.
  See here for more information
• The POSReady 7 (CTP) Distribution Share and all other flat Distribution Shares will now work with the tool.
  No additional changes to the DS are required anymore.
• Minor fixes