Error DISM 0x800f081f usually occurs after running the command “DISM / Online / Cleanup-Image / RestoreHealth” on a Windows 10 or Windows 8-based computer to fix Windows photos.
” Error 0x800f081f, The source files could be found.
Use the “Source” option to specify the location of the files that are required to restore the feature… “
The command “DISM / RestoreHealth” is used to fix the problem by searching Windows Updates (WSUS) to replace corrupt files. If for some reason DISM may not be necessary files to repair Windows images, then you must specify an additional location as a repair source of the appropriate files.
In this guide, you will find detailed instructions to resolve DISM Error 0x800f081 on Windows 10 or Windows 8.
How to fix DISM error 0x800f081f in Windows 10/8
To resolve the error “DISM / Online / Cleanup-Image / RestoreHealth” 0x800f081f, you must specify a valid Windows image file (install.wim) containing all the necessary files from the repair process.
* The install.wim file must have the same version of Windows, Edition & Language as the version of Windows installed.
The install.wim file is contained in any Windows installation Media in the “sources” folder (sources install.wim). **
** If you have downloaded the Windows 10 ISO, using the media creation tools, you will “realize that under the ‘source’ directory, instead of install.wim you find an install file .esd. The Install.esd contains some Windows 10 version, so it is necessary to extract a valid Windows 10 image (according to the installed Windows version to use it with DISM, otherwise DISM will show an error “The source files could be found – 0x800f081f”. Detailed instructions to do that can be found in Step 2 below.
If you do not own a Windows Media installed, follow the instructions in Step-1 to get one. ***
*** Recommendation: Go ahead and download Windows Installation Media by following the instructions in Step 1, even if you already have one.
Step 1. Download Windows Media to install in ISO format.
1. From the link below, run the Media Creation Tool under your version of Windows.
2. Accept License Terms.
3. Select Create installation media for another PC and click Next.
4. Click Next at the “Select Language, architecture and edition” screen.
5. Select the ISO file and click Next.
6. Select the download location for the Windows ISO file and click Save.
7. Be patient until the download is complete and continue to the next step.
Step 2. Extract the install.wim file from the install.esd file.
1. When the download is complete, right-click on the Windows ISO file you downloaded and select Mount. *
2. From the mounted Windows ISO file, copy the install.esd file from the “source” directory (e.g., D: sources install.esd) to the root directory of the C: drive.
Example: In this example, the drive letter of the mounted Windows ISO file is D:
3. Right-click the Start menu
and choose Command Prompt (Admin).
4. Type cd to go to the root directory of the C: drive
5. Then type the following command and press Enter to find the image inside the “install.esd” file:
- Dism / Get-WimInfo /WimFile:install.esd
6. According to your Windows 10 installation version, take note of the index number. *
* Example: If you have Windows 10 Home version installed on your system, the index number is “2”.
7. Then give the command below to extract corresponding to your Windows version “install.wim” file (Index number): *
- dism / export-image /SourceImageFile:install.esd / SourceIndex: IndexNumber /DestinationImageFile:install.wim / Compress: max / CheckIntegrity
* Note: Replace IndexNumber according to your Windows 10 installed version.
For this example (for Windows 10 Home-based computers), we want to extract the install.wim file with Index number = 2. So the command would be:
- Dism / export-image /SourceImageFile:install.esd / SourceIndex: 2 /DestinationImageFile:install.wim / Compression: max / CheckIntegrity
7. When the process is complete, you will find the downloaded install.wim file on the C: drive (C: install.wim).
8. Continue to the next step.
Step 3. Run the DISM tool to fix Windows Image.
Important: Follow the steps below, exactly as mentioned:
1. Right-click the Start menu
and choose Command Prompt (Admin).
2. Type the following command and press Enter :
- DISM / Online / Cleanup-Image / StartComponentCleanup
3. When the operation is completed, give the following command (and press Enter ).
- DISM / Online / Cleanup-Image / AnalyzeComponentStore
4. Finally, repair the Windows image by specifying “C: install.wim” as the source of well-known files by issuing this command:
- DISM / Online / Cleanup-Image / RestoreHealth /Source:WIM:c:install.wim:1 / LimitAccess
5. When the “RestoreHealth” process is complete, type the following command (and press Enter ) to complete the repair process:
- SFC / SCANNOW
5. When the SFC scan is complete, you’re done!