DISM SxS etc

[Sphinx'LostNose]

So, I've read Microsoft's documentation, and it ends up being a lot of words that don't explain anything. I've seen other places of people using DISM commands, but it doesn't explain what they do.

I know DISM is used for working with images before deployment, but people are using it for repairing a running instance of Windows. How exactly does it do that? Does it use some files from SxS?

What about when Windows does a "Refresh" or "Reinstall", does it use something similar or some files from a recovery partition?

[rproffitt]

I read your post twice and can't determine what you are trying to do. Yes, you ask some questions but what you are trying to accomplish is unclear.

[Reverend Jim]

The only thing I've ever used dism for is to reduce the space used by my current Windows OS and the command and options I use aren't displayed when you type dism /?. The command I use is

DISM /online /Cleanup-Image /SpSuperseded

This is what you would run after installing a service pack. It deletes all of the Windows uninstall files associated with the service pack.

[Sphinx'LostNose]

rproffitt:

Some people use DISM to repair the currently running version of Windows when it will not perform updates properly. The command they use is: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

I know DISM is a tool used for working with offline images. So, I am wondering why DISM is also used for repairing the currently loaded OS. How does it achieve this? Does it use SxS to do that?

Reverend Jim: So, you are using the tool also to cleanup what seems to be packages under WinSxS. Microsoft really gets on my nerves when they cram too much into one tool so that it deals with unrelated areas.

Thank you both for your earlier and future replies.

[rproffitt]

@Sphinx. Interesting. While I've only be around PCs since about the model 5150 I never used DISM to repair a busted Windows. At the office we use images if the damages is deep enough that old SFC won't do along with those usual malware scans.