Unlike sector-based imaging tools (Ghost, Clonezilla, or old-school DD), a WIM is a image. It stores files and metadata individually, not clusters on a disk.
Windows XP (released 2001) predates WIM (introduced 2006). XP’s native deployment tools were: windows xp wim
A WIM file is essentially a container file that stores multiple versions of a Windows installation. A WIM file can contain multiple images, each representing a different version of the installation. Unlike sector-based imaging tools (Ghost