The following was summarized from Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 165908.
Here's some information about Windows XP WIM:
A chill ran up his spine that had nothing to do with the basement draft. "Coincidence," he whispered. "It's a manipulated image. Someone edited it." windows xp wim
thread on Reddit provides excellent community-tested scripts for staging these installs. Are you looking to an existing XP setup into a WIM, or are you trying to one to a new machine? Here's some information about Windows XP WIM: A