Can't find the option to burn an ISO disk

I'm going to ask a stupid question - apologies in advance. :(
I greatly appreciate your help. Here is what I did to follow a "certain" process from start to finish (going to be precise so you have the best shot at figuring out what might have gone wrong--have noted the possible explanations you gave above).

1) I used "here" on my receipt and product key from the purchase of Win8 Pro 32 bit to download Windows8-Setup.
2) I used Windows8-Setup to download "Windows" Disk Image File (i.e., ISO). See snip.
When you've completed step 2, have you tried burning the WINDOWS.ISO (from the snip) to a disc?

My understanding of the OP's problem, and the purpose of the ESD to ISO, is that at least some XP PCs (including mine!) don't give the option to "install by creating media" when you run the Windows8-Setup program. However XP PCs do have the ESD folder; hence the ESD to ISO tool.

In your case, as you're running the Windows8-Setup from a later version than XP, you have the "install by creating media" option and can make an ISO directly from the Setup program without looking at the ESD stuff.

I'd suggest burning that ISO and seeing what happens?

Or am I missing something?!

Edit: Just had a further thought - if you made (or already have) the WINDOWS.ISO from the setup program, and burn it to a disc, you could compare the folders and files on the disc with the ESD folder, to see if there's anything extra in ESD that's not in the regular ISO?
 
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I'm going to ask a stupid question - apologies in advance. :(
I greatly appreciate your help. Here is what I did to follow a "certain" process from start to finish (going to be precise so you have the best shot at figuring out what might have gone wrong--have noted the possible explanations you gave above).

1) I used "here" on my receipt and product key from the purchase of Win8 Pro 32 bit to download Windows8-Setup.
2) I used Windows8-Setup to download "Windows" Disk Image File (i.e., ISO). See snip.
When you've completed step 2, have you tried burning the WINDOWS.ISO (from the snip) to a disc?

1. My understanding of the OP's problem, and the purpose of the ESD to ISO, is that at least some XP PCs (including mine!) don't give the option to "install by creating media" when you run the Windows8-Setup program. However XP PCs do have the ESD folder; hence the ESD to ISO tool.

II. In your case, as you're running the Windows8-Setup from a later version than XP, you have the "install by creating media" option and can make an ISO directly from the Setup program without looking at the ESD stuff.

III. I'd suggest burning that ISO and seeing what happens?

Or am I missing something?!

IV. Edit: Just had a further thought - if you made (or already have) the WINDOWS.ISO from the setup program, and burn it to a disc, you could compare the folders and files on the disc with the ESD folder, to see if there's anything extra in ESD that's not in the regular ISO?
I appreciate your interest and comments. Thank you.

I. I have to admit that when I made my original post I had not looked at the OP's issue. I am afraid that I was responsible for a highjack. I still don't know exactly what he was interested in. But, I'm good with what you say. My highjack began in post #31. You might read forward from there.

II. As indicated the point of my exercise was to see if I could obtain the needed ESD folder (files) on a machine already running Windows 8 Pro--that would lead ultimately to the creation of an ISO that would have full EFI and BIOS support. I had no particular application of this concept in mind, although I have been mulling some over. Still, note that some ISO's are deficient in the sense that they do not have full UEFI support. And, ESD-TO-ISO.exe has an interesting property. When run on a "deficient" ISO, it adds what is needed to produce an ISO that has full UEFI support. Note, for example, that UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows yields this warning:

"It has been reported that using the downloaded Windows 8 upgrade ISO does not always give you an UEFI bootable USB option in the boot menu.

If this happens to you, then use the ESD-TO-ISO.exe program created by our member Simon (SIW2) below to create an ISO that will work with UEFI. Afterwards, start this tutorial over using this new ISO instead.

See OPTION TWO here: Windows 8 Upgrade ISO - Download or Create."


OPTION TWO uses the property of
ESD-TO-ISO.exe noted above. And, OPTION ONE, from this tutorial, uses what, for all practical purposes, is the procedure I used to get my pre-ESD-TO-ISO.exe ISO ("Windows") and to produce storage of the EDS folder on my machine. From here, I, tried to use, in effect, OPTION TWO to get my post-ESD-TO-ISO.exe ISO using the EDS files--which turned out to be invalid. So, anyway, the fundamental concept already has at least one application.

III. Good suggestion. That's on my agenda. Just not there yet. Whatever, I still would have thought that I'd end up with at least an invalid ISO on my machine somewhere--especially in the indicated place.

IV. I'll think about that. The comparison could be a valid one; not sure.
 
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Ah fair enough, I think I understand what you're trying to do now.

So as I understand it, an ISO file consists of
(a) the application and supporting files you want to run (in this case a Windows 8 installer; basically what's in the ESD folder)
(b) a bootable "wrapper" that knows how to talk to the hardware, get itself booted, allow input etc. and run the application in (a)

So is the idea that the ESD-to-ISO gives you (b) a wrapper that works with UEFI?

I noticed you said you'd downloaded from Windows 8 32-bit though. Doesn't that mean that in (a) you'll only have downloaded files for a 32 bit installer into the ESD folder (because the downloader tailors what it sends you, based on the "bit-ness" of the requesting OS)? Even if you can get it to boot, does the 32-bit installer contain UEFI support?
 

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Ah fair enough, I think I understand what you're trying to do now.

So as I understand it, an ISO file consists of
(a) the application and supporting files you want to run (in this case a Windows 8 installer; basically what's in the ESD folder)
(b) a bootable "wrapper" that knows how to talk to the hardware, get itself booted, allow input etc. and run the application in (a)

So is the idea that the ESD-to-ISO gives you (b) a wrapper that works with UEFI?

I noticed you said you'd downloaded from Windows 8 32-bit though. Doesn't that mean that in (a) you'll only have downloaded files for a 32 bit installer into the ESD folder (because the downloader tailors what it sends you, based on the "bit-ness" of the requesting OS)? Even if you can get it to boot, does the 32-bit installer contain UEFI support?

Only x64 installer has uEFI support.
 

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Ah fair enough, I think I understand what you're trying to do now.

So as I understand it, an ISO file consists of
(a) the application and supporting files you want to run (in this case a Windows 8 installer; basically what's in the ESD folder)
(b) a bootable "wrapper" that knows how to talk to the hardware, get itself booted, allow input etc. and run the application in (a)

So is the idea that the ESD-to-ISO gives you (b) a wrapper that works with UEFI?

I noticed you said you'd downloaded from Windows 8 32-bit though. Doesn't that mean that in (a) you'll only have downloaded files for a 32 bit installer into the ESD folder (because the downloader tailors what it sends you, based on the "bit-ness" of the requesting OS)? Even if you can get it to boot, does the 32-bit installer contain UEFI support?
The issue for me is could I do what I wanted. I tried it, perhaps only first (been looking for an excuse to install 64 bit), under 32 bit because that's what's on my machine. While no UEFI support would be added, the principle should be the same if I had 64 bit installed. If there is a problem on this matter, I am hoping that those having hugely more knowledge would point this out. Neither theog nor SIW2 apparently believe that using either 32 bit or having "placed" the ESD folder on an already running Win8 Pro installation should cause ESD-TO-ISO.exe not to work properly. I'll be trying to burn the "Windows" ISO today to see if the file is good (which, if bad, very well might imply that the ESD files are problematic too). In this regard, I have been wondering if my DVD burner could be causing the problem. But, that idea is not particularly reasonable (i.e., device manager shows everything to be just right, etc.). And, still I would have expected to find some sort of invalid ISO somewhere on my HDD--unless the file is not saved without first burning it to disc--which is a pretty unreasonable idea all things considered.
 
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Tried to run the ESD-to-ISO.exe. Asks if I want to create ISO, click on yes, it immediately says "C:\WIN8x86.iso not found Exiting". Tried several times, same results. Running XP-pro, ESD folder is present on C:\ and not hidden.
 

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I think I saw above where that happened to someone else. Maybe not on this thread though.
 

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it immediately says "C:\WIN8x86.iso not found Exiting".
I have the same error. I think the program checks the files in C:\ESD\ and because I use a non English version the language files are different.
 

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III. I'd suggest burning that ISO and seeing what happens?

IV. Edit: Just had a further thought - if you made (or already have) the WINDOWS.ISO from the setup program, and burn it to a disc, you could compare the folders and files on the disc with the ESD folder, to see if there's anything extra in ESD that's not in the regular ISO?

On the above, I replied:

III. Good suggestion. That's on my agenda. Just not there yet. Whatever, I still would have thought that I'd end up with at least an invalid ISO on my machine somewhere--especially in the indicated place.

IV. I'll think about that. The comparison could be a valid one; not sure.

Following up:

On
III, Burned the "Windows" ISO. Disc works fine. Thought maybe the ESD-TO-ISO.exe not work problem might imply bad ESD files. Re-downloaded "Windows" ISO renaming it "Windows2." Again, ESD-TO-ISO.exe did not work. Related disc again is fine. Thought maybe I should have deleted ESD folder before downloading "Windows2." Did so along with the Web Setup folder (or whatever called exactly) and the desktop shortcut. Could not get the ISO downloaded or get the deleted folders recreated yesterday--after 4 or 5 long, but failed, download attempts. Maybe MS download servers are overly burdened by those trying to upgrade before the big price increase.

On
IV, Not there yet. Did some comparisons, but need to get the currently-being-attempted download/folder recreation done before I can make meaningful comparisons.

Thanks again.
 
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Last follow up--maybe. Downloaded third ISO on 32-bit Win8 laptop. Got new ESD folder, etc. Same result. ESD-TO-ISO.exe didn't create a disc. Had successfully made Win8x64 (with UEFI support disc) on older 64-bit Win7 desktop (no UEFI) using ESD-TO-ISO.exe. Put last created ESD folder from 32-bit Win8 laptop in C: on the older desktop. Created Win8x32 ISO using older 64-bit Win7 desktop. Put original ESD folder used in creating Win8x64 (with UEFI support disc) on older 64-bit Win7 desktop in C: on 32-bit Win8 laptop. ESD-TO-ISO.exe still couldn't create an ISO.

What I did is not conclusive. So, I am not with concluding with high probability based of the evidence I have. But, my evidence suggest that ESD-TO-ISO.exe doesn't play well with 32-bit Win8 systems. One confounding factor may be that my 32-bit Win 8 system is from a Technet full install ISO. Not that doing so would eliminate this problem, but the last thing I did was to download again to my 32-bit Win8 installation, but this time I used the product key for the Technet ISO. Same result. Given the new ESD folder, ESD-TO-ISO.exe did not create an ISO.

I leave it to anyone else interested at this point--maybe. I've been thinking of moving to 64-bit. If I do, rather than use my Technet 64-bit full install, I think I'll install Vista 64-bit, assuming I didn't throw it away, and do a clean install using one of Win8 upgrades. In this regard, does anyone think I would have obtained different results in trying to use ESD-TO-ISO.exe successfully on a Win8 upgrade clean install rather than a Win8 Technet full install?
 

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Today, in my third conversation with MS Support, the rep told me that the ISO create option has been removed from the download. But for an additional $14.99, one can purchase a bootable DVD.

I wonder if they made some other mod to the download that prevents ESD-to-ISO.exe from working? Perhaps SIW2 could shed some light on it if he reads this???
 

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I don't know if there is now a new version of esd being downloaded from MS.

Can somebody Dir it and post up the result?

Doesn't make a lot of sense as the command window indicates it is creating fine.

Click image for larger version
 

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Today, in my third conversation with MS Support, the rep told me that the ISO create option has been removed from the download. But for an additional $14.99, one can purchase a bootable DVD.

I wonder if they made some other mod to the download that prevents ESD-to-ISO.exe from working? Perhaps SIW2 could shed some light on it if he reads this???
I downloaded yesterday via product key creating a 32-bit ISO. I also used ESD-to-ISO.exe yesterday to create a Win8x32 ISO using a 64-bit Win7 machine and the ESD folder from my download. See my post #50. I don't think anything had changed through 1/31/13.
 

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I don't know if there is now a new version of esd being downloaded from MS.

Can somebody Dir it and post up the result?

Doesn't make a lot of sense as the command window indicates it is creating fine.

Click image for larger version
Here you go--as of afternoon of 1/31/13. Did you see my post 50? Above are you referring to my experience trying to get ESD-TO-ISO.exe to work under Win8? If so, then agreed it sure looks like it is working--all the way to the end. But, no ISO is created under my Win8.
 

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Tried to run the ESD-to-ISO.exe. Asks if I want to create ISO, click on yes, it immediately says "C:\WIN8x86.iso not found Exiting". Tried several times, same results. Running XP-pro, ESD folder is present on C:\ and not hidden.
Try this, copy ESD-TO-ISO.EXE and the associated BIN folder to the root of the drive where the ESD folder is located (most likely C:\). Run ESD-TO-ISO.EXE from the root of C:\. It should now find the ESD folder and create the ISO file. For some reason on XP, ESD-TO-ISO.EXE can't find the ESD folder if it's executed from the desktop or a dowload folder.
 

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I got the ESD-to-ISO to work. My problem was self-induced by extracting the zip file without checking "use folder names", so it didn't have the bin folder it was looking for. The error message I had been receiving (win8x86.iso not found) was very misleading, since that's the filename it eventually created. Had it told me what was actually missing, I might have had it working 2 days ago.

OK, so I got the iso file created. But when it tried to burn a dvd, it said that the blank disc I gave it was not blank, even though Windows said it was blank, and so did Nero, which I then used to burn it.

Thanks to "longle" for mentioning the bin folder in post #55. (Did not have to put it in the C:\ root as suggested - worked fine from a temp folder.)
 

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I know I'm late to the party, but I want to help anyone else who came across this thread. If you are not seeing the .ISO file in the root of your system drive after running ESD-To-ISO.exe, try run it as Administrator.

That solved the problem for me.
 

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