Deployment Imaging and Servicing Management (DISM) has been a very promising way to repair corrupted system image. We’ve told you all about the magical DISM commands in following article:

1. The Source Files Could Not Be Found Error 0x800f081f
2. Source File Not Found Error
3. Dism Error 0x800f081f Source File Not Found
4. The Source Files Could Not Be Found Use The Source Option

However, we’ve seen some cases where even DISM commands fails to execute and thus you can’t repair your machine. Today, in this article, we’re going to talk about one such issue that we faced recently. While we executed DISM‘s restore health command (i.e. Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth), the following message appeared which aborted the operation as well.

Error: 0x800f081f; The source files could not be found.

This message clearly indicates that DISM is missing required source file(s) that can be provided with Windows installation disc. So here are the possible solutions that you can try to resolve this problem:

The source files could not be found. Use the 'Source' option to specify the location of the files that are required t. O restore the feature. For more information on specifying a source location, see. The DISM log file can be found at C: Windows Logs DISM dism.log. If it does not find the source file, change install.wim above to install.ESD. The same is true when you run the Dism command with 'restorehealth'. These two errors are the most common causes for your issues. How to fix ‘DISM The source files could not be found’ on Windows 10 Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM). The Deployment Image Servicing and Management or DISM tool is a tool. Fix ‘DISM The source files could not be found’. To fix the ‘DISM The source files could not be found’ error.

You can also run the component clean up command to fix the DISM the source files could not be found error. Let me tell you, it’s very easy. The only thing you need to do is, 1. Go to your search box which is situated in the top right corner of your computer screen and type Command Prompt. However, all attempts to install fail with: Installation of one or more roles, role services, or features failed. The source files could not be found. Use the 'Source' option to specify the location of the files that are required to restore the feature. For more information on specifying a source location, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=243077.

FIX : DISM Error 0x800f081f, The Source Files Could Not Be Found In Windows 10

FIX 1 – Clean Up Image Components

The first way to tackle this issue is to clean up image components. This can be done by running another DISM command. Here is what you need to do:

1. Open administrative Command Prompt.

2. Type Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup and press Enter key.

Once you’re done with that, you can retry running Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth command.

FIX 2 – Using Windows ISO Disc Image

If you’ve Windows installation media such as ISO file with you, it can be used to resolve this problem very easily. You need to follow these simple steps:

1. Locate Windows OS ISO file using File Explorer and right click on it, select Mount. This will mount the disc image to your Windows with a temporary drive letter.

2. Next, type following commands one-by -one and press Enter key after each:

After executing these commands, you have to identify correct drive letter on which Windows ISO file is mounted. Then run this final command:

*Substitute X with correct system drive letter in your case.

You’ve now redirected DISM to mounted Windows ISO file. Hence, you can now run DISM command i.e. Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and it should work.

Hope this helps! If the issue still persists, try reinstalling Windows 10 without affecting your machine.

Related:DISM fails with error 0x800f0906 on Windows 10 Creators Update (V1703).

Last updated on August 6th, 2019

This tutorial contains instructions to resolve the following problem in Server 2016: 'Windows Defender Feature Installation Failed. Source files could not be found'.

After removing the Windows Defender feature and the payload, on a Windows Server 2016, by using the 'Dism /online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:Windows-Defender /Remove /NoRestart /quiet' command, it's impossible to install the Windows Defender feature again. The problem remains even if you define an offline image, as an alternate source path, either in 'Add Roles and Features' wizard or in the DISM command: 'DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:Windows-Defender /Source:X:SourcesInstall.wim'.

How to FIX: Windows Defender Feature Installation Failed – 0x800f081f on Server 2016

1. Place the Windows Server 2016 installation Media on the server. *

* Note: If you don't own the Windows Server 2016 Installation media, then download the media in an ISO file and then mount the ISO. Keep in mind that you have to mount an image of the exact same version and build of the Windows Server 2016 that you want to repair.e.g. If you 're running the 1607 version, you need the 1607 version in an ISO file.

2. Create the following two (2) folders on the root of C: drive:

1. mountdir
2. msu

3. Launch Command Prompt as Administrator and give the following command, to list all the Windows Server 2016 versions that included in the 'install.wim' file.: *

• dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:X:sourcesinstall.wim

* Note: Where X = the drive letter of the Windows Server 2016 install media or the mounted ISO file. e.g. if the install media is on drive H: type:

• dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:H:sourcesinstall.wim

4. Find out the Index number of the installed Server 2016 edition.*

* e.g.: If you have installed the 'Windows Server 2016 Standard with the Desktop Experience', then the index number is 2.

5. Then give the command below to extract the corresponding to your Windows Server 2016 version 'install.wim' file (Index number): *

• dism /export-image /SourceImageFile:X:sourcesinstall.wim /SourceIndex:IndexNumber /DestinationImageFile:C:install.wim /Compress:max /CheckIntegrity

* Note: Replace at the above command the drive letter and the IndexNumber according to your case.

e.g. For this example we want to extract the install.wim file with Index number=2 (Windows Server 2016 Standard) to the root of the 'C:' drive (C:install.wim). So, the command will be:

• dism /export-image /SourceImageFile:H:sourcesinstall.wim /SourceIndex:2 /DestinationImageFile:C:install.wim /Compress:max /CheckIntegrity

6. When the extraction is completed, proceed and remove the 'Read Only' attribute from the extracted 'install.wim' file, by giving this command:

• attrib.exe -r C:install.wim

7. Now, mount the extracted install.wim image to 'C:mountdir' folder, with this DISM command:

• dism.exe /mount-wim /WimFile:C:install.wim /index:1 /mountDir:c:mountdir

8. give the following command to see the installed Server version.

• winver

9. According to the installed version, navigate to Microsoft Update Catalog and download the corresponding cumulative update for your Server 2016 version/build* and then place the update into the 'C:MSU' folder.

* e.g. If you have the 1607 version, proceed and download the KB4103720 update.

10. When the download is complete, proceed and update the mounted offline Windows image (at 'C:mountdir' folder) with the downloaded update (from 'C:MSU' folder), by giving this command:

• Dism /Add-Package /Image:C:mountdir /PackagePath:C:MSUUpdate-Name.msu /LogPath:AddPackage.log

* Note: In the above command change the 'Update-Name' with the name of the downloaded update. For example: if you have downloaded the KB4103720 update, the command will be:

• Dism /Add-Package /Image:C:mountdir /PackagePath:C:MSUwindows10.0-kb4103720-x64_c1fb7676d38fffae5c28b9216220c1f033ce26ac.msu /LogPath:AddPackage.log

11. When the operation is completed, open Task Manager and close the Explorer.exe task. (this is important otherwise you 'll receive the error 'the directory could not be completely unmounted' at the next step).

12. Give the following command to commit the changes back to the offline 'C:install.wim' image and to unmount it. *

• Dism /Unmount-WIM /MountDir:C:mountdir /Commit

The Source Files Could Not Be Found Error 0x800f081f

13. When the changes are committed back, open Task Manager again and from the File menu, choose Run New Task, type explorer.exe and hit OK.

14. Finally, give the following command to install the Windows Defender feature in Server 2016:

• Dism /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:Windows-Defender /all /source:WIM:C:install.wim:1 /LimitAccess

Source File Not Found Error

15. Close all windows and restart your server to apply changes.

Dism Error 0x800f081f Source File Not Found

That’s all folks! Did it work for you?
Please leave a comment in the comment section below or even better: like and share this blog post in the social networks to help spread the word about this solution.

The Source Files Could Not Be Found Use The Source Option