How to Extract System.img and System.new.dat Files on Windows

Android ROM files and Android OTA update files usually come packed as zip files. These zip files are a collection of different types of files. Of these, the system.img and system.new.dat are the ones that carry the apps and ringtones and other stuff.

If you have ever wondered how people got their hands on the stock ringtones or apps, they extract these files to get hold of them.

Here’s a detailed step by step guide to extract system.img and system.new.dat files to get the system dumps on windows.

Extract System.img and System.new .dat Files on Windows

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What is a system.new.dat file?

It is a part of Android OS. It mainly consists of default system apps, wallpapers, ringtones etc. This file is used for extracting system dump of Android OS.

What is a system.img file?

It’s the Android file system, which means all the support files that Android needs, the applications, but also the framework, the Dalvik VM, initialization scripts and so on. It is also used for ROM development purposes.

Since it is not possible to extract these files on windows PC with a normal extractor tool. We are going to use Auto Tool v3.0. This is a special software made for extracting this type of file. Follow the steps given below and you will simply learn how to extract these files on Windows PC.

Requirements

We are going to need the tools below, download them:

While installing Python 3.6.x don’t forget to check the box at the bottom which says Add Python 3.6 to PATH.

Note: When installing Python 2.7.x, Go to Advanced option > Check the box says Compile .py files to bytecode after installation.

Steps to Extract System.new.dat file

Step 1. Download and extract the Auto tool 3.0 file. (Use 7zip tool for extraction)

Step 2. Run Auto Tool v3.0.exe. After running it, you will see a screen like this.

Step 3. Now type 1 and hit enter for adding the syatem.new.dat file to be extracted. A new window will pop up(Name of the window will be – Input_Dat), copy the file in this window.

Step 4. Once you copy, it will show you Press any key to continue… Now press any key. A process of converting your system.new.dat file into EXT4 format will get started.

Step 5. Once the process is completed you will see that EXT4 superblock info stating the successful completion of the process. Now press any key again to continue the extraction of EXT4 file.

Step 6. When the above process is completed, it will show Done. Go To Folder System_unpack press any key to continue. The process is completed you will get the extracted file in folder System_unpack which will be located in the directory of Auto Tool 3.0.

You have successfully extracted the system.dat file on your windows PC.

Steps to Extract System.img on Windows

Step 1. Download and extract the Auto tool 3.0 file. (Use 7zip tool for extraction)

Step 2. Run Auto Tool v3.0.exe. After running it, you will see a screen like this.

Step 3. Now type 4 and hit enter. A window will pop up, copy the system.img file in that folder and press any key to continue. (Process of converting the file into system.img file to EXT4 will be started).

Step 4. Once the file is converted into EXT4 it will say press any key to continue. Press any key any and the extraction process will get started.

Step 5. When the process gets completed, it will display a message as “Done. Go To the Folder System_unpack press any key to continue”. You will get your extracted file in the folder System_unpack which will be in the same directory as Auto Tool 3.0.

Congratulations! You have successfully extracted the system.img file on your windows PC.