Unsolved Windows Installation Error

[UserBxl]

Hello everyone,

I just installed a fog server in my company
I am still testing my deployments for my future mission to deploy several images on a large part of my computer park (± 2000 machines to deploy)

So I created my FOG server on a debian11. the installation went very well.

When I launch a deployment on (several) test PCs: I constantly get this error: “The computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed. To install Windows, click “OK” to restart the computer, and then restart the installation.”

I mainly use ThinkBook 14 G2 ARE

this occurs after the deployment, whereas this one seems well applied.

For you, is this a problem on my fog server or is it a bad configuration in the BIOS? Or an image problem?

Thank you in advance and forgive my English

[Tom Elliott]

@UserBxl Typically this is due to the way the base image was created. Either drivers on the new system is interferring or the FOG Client is running things before sysprep has the time to finish setting things up.

Usually this is user error.

[UserBxl]

@Tom-Elliott What surprises me is that the pc on which I created my image is the same model as the one receiving the image. There should be no driver incompatibilities

I just created a test image (with just a windows, chrome & 7zip, some quick settings) I launched the sysprep correctly

I’m new to deployment and imaging

[Tom Elliott]

@UserBxl Does the base image have FOG Client installed? Is the service disabled and re-enabled after the sysprep process completes?

[UserBxl]

@Tom-Elliott Yes the fog client has been installed on the base image (HTTP://10.10.10.38/fog/client > Download smart installer)
I enter the IP address of my server and I deselect “fog tray”

As for the second question, I did nothing in this direction. Before my sysprep I simply run:
cd c:\windows\system32\sysprep
net stop wmpnetworksvc

[Tom Elliott]

@UserBxl https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=What_do_I_have_to_do_to_an_image_before_capturing%3F

[JJ Fullmer]

@UserBxl Do you have an unattend.xml file with sysprep?
Did you happen to open the microsoft store or any microsoft store apps before running sysprep as that can cause issues.

This error typically means there’s an error in the unattend file or something went wrong with sysprep.

When you see the error you may be able to hit shift+f10 to bring up a cmd console and you can try to look at sysprep log files, i.e. notepad C:\Windows\System32\sysprep\Panther\setupact.log there’s a few places they may reside, see also https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/deployment-troubleshooting-and-log-files?view=windows-11

That may help point you in the right direction.

Some common ones I’ve run into

• Needing to provision store apps properly and make sure they are never opened before running sysprep. I run this powershell before sysprep as well

Write-Verbose "Removing current user packages"
		Get-AppxPackage | Remove-AppxPackage -EA 0;
#see also https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/application-management/apps-in-windows-10
		$allowedApps = @(
			"Microsoft.549981C3F5F10", #cortana
			"Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller",
			"Microsoft.GetHelp",
			"Microsoft.HEIFImageExtension",
			"Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension",
			"Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge.Stable",
			"Microsoft.Microsoft3DViewer",
			"Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub",
			"Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes",
			"Microsoft.MPEG2VideoExtension",
			"Microsoft.MSPaint",
			# "Microsoft.Office.OneNote",
			"Microsoft.ScreenSketch",
			"Microsoft.StorePurchaseApp",
			"Microsoft.VCLibs",
			"Microsoft.VP9VideoExtensions",
			"Microsoft.WebMediaExtensions",
			"Microsoft.WebpImageExtension",
			"Microsoft.Windows.Photos",
			"Microsoft.WindowsAlarms",
			"Microsoft.WindowsCalculator",
			"Microsoft.WindowsCamera",
			# "microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps",
			# "Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub",
			# "Microsoft.WindowsMaps",
			# "Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder",
			"Microsoft.WindowsStore",
			# "Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI",
			# "Microsoft.XboxApp",
			"Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay",
			"Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay",
			# "Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider",
			"Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay",
			"Microsoft.YourPhone",
			"Microsoft.ZuneMusic",
			"Microsoft.ZuneVideo"
		)

		Write-Verbose "Removing provisioned appx packages that dont match allowed list"
		Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object { 
			$_.DisplayName -notin $allowedApps;
		} | ForEach-Object {
				if($_.PackageName) {
					Write-Verbose "Removing provisioned package $($_.DisplayName)"
					Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online -packagename $_.PackageName;
				}
			}

• Typo in the unattend i.e. missed a /> or put a setting twice
• Typo in domain join fields like OU or domain
• Specifying settings that aren’t compatible with one another (i.e. workgroup join and domain join)

Hope that helps to get you started.

[UserBxl]

Hello everyone,

Finally, I reinstalled a windows 10 with a bootable key. I directly clicked on shift f10 to enter cmd

and I fiddled in regedit to modify the ChildCompletion key

Only, this key did not exist in my system. So I created it with this command: reg add “HKLM\SYSTEM\SETUP\STATUS” /v “ChildCompletion” /t REG_DWORD /d 3 /f

I’m posting this hoping it helps future users.

Now that my problem is solved, what do you recommend so that it does not come back again? Should I modify this key in my base image before the sysprep?

Cordially

[UserBxl]

@JJ-Fullmer Thanks a lot for your answer. I retry a capture, paying attention to the points mentioned.

[Mentaloid]

@UserBxl

Just a follow up to the original fog-client info:

I have the client installed in my images: solution for the boot loop issue (if it is the underlying problem)…

A snippet from my sysprep batch file:

sc stop FOGService
sc config FOGService start=disabled
sc stop FOGService

copy \\server\share\W10\unattend.xml %systemroot%\System32\sysprep\unattend.xml
mkdir %systemroot%\setup\scripts
copy \\server\share\W10\setupcomplete.cmd %systemroot%\setup\scripts\setupcomplete.cmd

reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

c:
cd \windows\system32\sysprep
c:\windows\System32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /quiet /oobe /generalize /shutdown /unattend:unattend.xml

Note the service stop and disable. I keep the setupcomplete.cmd and unattend.xml on a network share for ease of access.

in setupcomplete.cmd

@echo off
del /Q /F c:\windows\system32\sysprep\unattend.xml
del /Q /F c:\windows\panther\unattend.xml
sc failure FOGService reset= 86400 actions= restart/60000/restart/60000/restart/60000
waitfor /t 5 null
sc failureflag FOGService 1
sc config FOGService start= delayed-auto
sc start FOGService

This allows a capture to work with the fog client pre-installed, then turns it on again after the OOBE completes.

I don’t think this is in the link that @Tom-Elliott gave. I based this off of stuff collected from the FOGProject forums ages ago.

@JJ-Fullmer That is an interesting powershell script for winapps provisioning issues, thanks! I’ll have to give it a shot for my W11 image I am having some minor issues with!

[UserBxl]

Hello everyone,

The problem continues to persist (and even during the creation of the image)

When I have to restart my PC (in OOBE mode) to: change domain, restart after name change, restart after update, etc…

This happens randomly during a reboot. I come across this error. It is therefore impossible for me to create an image.

I find solutions (change on regedit, etc) but my OOBE mode is lost and I have to start over each time.

A solution ?