20H2 Image Worked, but Tried Building a 21H1 Image and Now Image Does not Work

[littleman1234]

The image I created was 20H2 and it works perfectly fine. After I tried to capture an image of 21H1, it captures perfectly fine and deploys to computers perfectly fine, I find that when I run the command cd C:\windows\system32\sysprep and run the command: sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:C:\windows\system32\sysprep\unattend.xml it runs the portion it is supposed to and the machine shuts down. After deploying this captured image it acts like a new UEFI image and I cannot get this image to work. I believe it is a script that is not quite right, but I am not sure. Any ideas??

[george1421]

@littleman1234 Hopefully you are building this golden image on a VM so you can test. Take a snapshot of the system before you run the sysprep command and then after the machine powers off.

Without capturing the image, power the image back up in place. Does the system return to service after oobe completes? If not then you have an issue with your golden image because fog is not in the picture at the moment.

[littleman1234]

@george1421 Hello and thanks for the reply George!! I build the image on a dedicated machine I have just for building images. It is the only machine I use to build images.

Maybe I will try building the image on a VM and do it that way. So after I deploy the presysprep image, it works fine, it is only after I run sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:C:\windows\system32\sysprep\unattend.xml this is when I have trouble because I redeploy the captured image to machine and it just looks like when you buy a laptop from somewhere like Best Buy. It is sort of like the image was not captured right. I can provide pictures if you need them.

Thanks so much for your help!!

[george1421]

@littleman1234 said in 20H2 Image Worked, but Tried Building a 21H1 Image and Now Image Does not Work:

So after I deploy the presysprep image, it works fine, it is only after I run sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:C:\windows\system32\sysprep\unattend.xml this is when I have trouble

I think I see a strange workflow that I don’t under stand.

So let me see if I use my words to explain what I’m seeing.
I can create a golden image on a physical machine. I can sysprep the image which also powers off the computer using this command sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:C:\windows\system32\sysprep\unattend.xml. At this point I capture the image with FOG. I can deploy this captured image with FOG to a second computer and it boots fine. But the problem comes when I try to resysprep this image using the command sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:C:\windows\system32\sysprep\unattend.xml that is where it fails. I don’t try to recapture it with FOG.

Do I understand where its failing?

Are you a MSP or system rebuilder? (not judging just trying to understand the context).

I have a few ideas, I just want to make sure I’m on the right track.

[littleman1234]

Hello George, and thanks so much for the reply!! I am going to attach the exact steps we use to build our images. We are a school district by the way, and I appreciate any help you can give.Imaging Process.txt

[george1421]

@littleman1234 Well that’s one way to create a golden image. There are a few things I probably would do differently to make things go smoother and repeatable every time the golden image needs to be recreated (as each new windows 10 release is released).

1. How about building your image using a VM? That way you get a hardware agnostic mother image.
2. How about using MDT to automate the Golden Image creation. Use the light touch method of image deployment or if you are old enough the Ron Popeil “set it and forget it” method. In this approach you automate the windows 10 image build, install windows updates, install any global applications, make any windows settings (understand that windows 10 will reset anything to do with user profiles in sysprep) and prepare the system for sysprepping.
3. Just a few dos and don’ts
   3.1 DO NOT let the computer connect to the internet, also set windows update to only talk to wsus server and not get updates from other windows 10 computers (i.e. turn off delivery optimization).
   3.2 DO NOT connect the computer to AD (ever before sysprepping)
   3.3 DO NOT install programs that are unique guid based before image capture. This would be programs like enterprise antivirus or serialized applications.
4. Use the setupcomplete.cmd batch file to do any post image deployment customizations. This is the only way to undo some of the things microsoft reset when sysprep is run.
5. Run sysprep with a customer answer file and power off the computer.
6. Capture with FOG
7. Deploy with FOG
8. If you want hardware specific drivers pushed out you can do that with a fog post install script. And then have the setupcomplete.cmd file run the pnputil command to load them into windows during OOBE/WinSetup.

Using the above process I can build a new windows 10 image from dvd in about 50 minutes. Actual hands on time is about 7 minutes from powering on the computer to manually running the sysprep image and powering off the vm at the end. The 50 minutes includes installing 8 common company wide applications as well as windows updates in an automated manner.

Now with that said it did take me about 3 days when I first started working with MDT to get what I wanted as in a solid golden image. So its not just turn MDT on and it spits out an image. There is real work involved with setting it up the first time.

BUT I have to say what ever method works for you is OK. The double sysprep is not necessary in my opinion. Also I’ve never had a good image if I let the computer connect to AD. Doing so tattoos the golden image with AD settings, so I would avoid it until you have the golden image deployed to the target computer.