ESD files are compressed and encrypted versions of WIM files and need to be decrypted before you can view and use the content within. Unlike ISO files, Windows does not natively support ESD files, and thus cannot be mounted. A few methods are used in which you can convert an ESD file into an ISO file, so that they can be used easily.
Convert ESD File to ISO
DISM++
Dism++ is a tool that gives a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to the Windows DISM utility. DISM is a powerful command-line tool from Microsoft for different Windows operations like adding/removing Windows components, compacting the operating system, installing/uninstalling Windows updates, backup and restore the system, etc. While DISM is a command-line tool, DISM++ uses a GUI to perform the same tasks. In addition to other useful tasks, DISM++ can also convert ESD files to ISO format. The process is simple and can be done by non-professional users. Perform the following to convert an ESD file to an ISO image: The DISM++ tool will now begin converting the ESD file into an ISO file. The conversion process may take some time to complete. Once completed, you will receive your desired ISO file in the directory you selected.
ESD Decryptor Utility
You can also perform the same as above using the ESD Decryptor Utility. This is a command-line tool that will convert any ESD file into an ISO image into a few simple cmdlets. Here is how: The tool will now begin decrypting and converting the ESD file into an ISO image, which will be saved automatically in the same directory as the extracted folder.
NTLite
NTLite is another tiny utility that converts your ESD files to ISO images. Follow the given steps to use this tool for conversion: Once selected, the tool will begin converting the ESD file into an ISO file, which can be found in the selected directory.
Closing Words
Once you have converted an ESD file into an ISO image, you should be able to use it like another ISO file. There are other tools available online that we have not discussed in this post, such as ESDtoISO and ESD Toolkit. This is because ESDtoISO does not officially work, and the latter (ESD Toolkit) is basically a renamed version of the ESD Decrypter utility.
