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Windows could not finish configuring the system...restart
Windows could not finish configuring the system...restart
- Not sure what happened, but I keep getting the error:
Windows could not finish configuring the system. To attempt to resume configuration, restart the computer.
I tried to boot in safe mode and it gave me the same error.
Any thoughts on what to try or is this a lost cause?
I can't remember all the stats of the computer since it is a backup one, but it does surpass all the requirements.
Answers
- After formatting the hard drive and re-installing everything I was able to get past my issue. My guess is that some file was left from the random files previously on the HD and win7 wasn't able to format it correctly.
In case anyone else needs...I used GParted to format the drive.
- Marked As Answer byflicknstock Tuesday, January 13, 2009 4:13 AM
All Replies
- Where in the setup process does this occur? Is it during the initial phase where you choose the hard drive? or is it during the installation phase where you have the checklist?
Daniel Nerenberg MCT MCSE MCITP MCTS MVP - It is after the initial phase right after the first restart.
Windows says "Starting" (with the fuzzy icon)
Then in the blue sunlit background
setup is updating registry settings
setup is starting services
then error
I'm past the checklist.
I'm looking at the setupact.log file and it says it has completed phase 2...but not sure exactly whats after phase 2 or where to find phase 3.
I've tried re-installing everything but the same issue happens.
The part I'm at does allow me to do the Shift+F10 to bring up the cmd window.
I've tried booting with every available option and they all fail at this point.
I was looking for the boot log to see if that had any insight, but I can't even find the file (so either I'm looking in the wrong spot or it isn't being created....i'm leaning toward the first option)
The hard drive that I'm using did contain an older OS (2K, I think), but I did pick the option to do a clean install so I didn't expect that to cause an issue.
- After formatting the hard drive and re-installing everything I was able to get past my issue. My guess is that some file was left from the random files previously on the HD and win7 wasn't able to format it correctly.
In case anyone else needs...I used GParted to format the drive.
- Marked As Answer byflicknstock Tuesday, January 13, 2009 4:13 AM
- I'm getting the same error on a new RC upgrade install. It says "Windows could not finish configuring the system. To attempt to resume configuration, restart the computer." and, upon restart, returns this same message over and over. I've installed W7B on a lesser powered laptop and everything is running great and fast. This install is on a faster desktop and is W7RC1. Compatibility checker ran perfectly. Not willing to do a clean install - don't have that kind of time to donate to MS.
If anyone has any ideas on how they got past this, I'd appreciate it.
Note to MS: This is a pretty poor way to handle an error condition, assuming that is the issue. - My experience has been similar to as TJude's. Installation would proceed to the final configuration when I'd get stuck in an endless reboot cycle of a crash and reboot during service configuration followed by the "Windows did not start properly" option screen. If I attempt to start in Safe Mode I'm given a screen informing my that setup cannot continue in Safe Mode and I must reboot (which of course puts me back into the reboot loop).
This happens with both x86 and x64 version of W7RC1. I've tried the installation as a clean install, both on a partition on my primary drive and on a separate dedicated drive. Also tried it as an in-place upgrade to Vista Ultimate, same issues. The system passes the Windows 7 system compatibility test with flying colours. It's not exactly confidence inspiring if the "latest and greatest" is unable to install on 1 year old hardware that MS's own compatibilty test says is more than sufficient .........
Hardware:
Asus P5N-EM HMDI mobo
Intel E8400 Core2 Duo 3.0ghz proc
4gb DDR2 Corsair PC-6400 ram
500gb 7200.11 Seagate SATA (primary drive, installing onto 100gb partition)
80gb Seagate PATA (tried as dedicated drive for Win7)
2x Samsung SH-223F dvd-burner - I'm having the same problem.. Completely fresh install on new Sata Hdd. Formatted drive and did custom install. Gets to the same error noted in previous posts. Wiped drive and did anothe completely fresh install.. Stopped again at the same place. Until I see a workaround or fix for this, I won't be doing another install.. Not a very good start when you can't get past first base.... :(
ASUS P5WD2-E
INTEL Pentium D 3.2Ghz cpu
2GB PC2-4300 Ram
500Gb Hitachi Deskstar 7200rpm drive (install to complete drive)
ATI Radeon X1800 512MB Video
LG SuperMulti DVD Burner - Yep that's where I'm at now. Went through the pain of building up a system, syspreped, imagex-ed it, copied it to my deployment and start a new install.
I get the same error you are getting.
Did the same on a Virtual PC and had no problems...
I have not tried completely wiping the drive, partitions and all just yet on target system.
The target system is the same hardware model as the syspreped system.- Proposed As Answer byhankinnc Saturday, May 16, 2009 12:12 AM
- Try this that worked for me. Put install disk in CD drive and reboot. Do not tell the bios to boot from the CD. After I did this (accidentally) the windows opening screen came up with the 2 choices: Run Windows or repair your computer. I chose run and it has been working fine ever since. I have no idea why.
Hank Try this that worked for me. Put install disk in CD drive and reboot. Do not tell the bios to boot from the CD. After I did this (accidentally) the windows opening screen came up with the 2 choices: Run Windows or repair your computer. I chose run and it has been working fine ever since. I have no idea why.
Hank
Thanks for that thought, but I am not asking it to boot from the CD anyway - I simply put the install DVD in the drive and it auto-launches. I will try booting from that DVD, a variant of your post, and will post back with results.
... As I suspected - that didn't work! Microsoft needs to fix this.
I was pretty excited about the beta, but this RC1 has blown my confidence. Alas!- Finally got RC1 to install.. I formatted my drive Fat32 using PartitionMagic 8 . During install Windows won't install on a FAT partition, so I used the install to format to NTFS. AFter that, everything installed fine.. There are times when it appears like there's nothing happening, but there it.. Need to give it time I gess.
I had the same problem. Looking through the posts there seems to be a common factor: pre-formatted drives. Since there's not much on a newly formatted disk, I'm guessing the problem is something to do with ownership/permissions on either System Volume Information or the Recycle Bin.
I was setting up a dual boot system and wanted to maintain drive letter consistency. The solution was to create the partition, assign a drive letter but NOT to format the partition. Windows Seven was quite happy to accept this unformatted partition and kept the assigned drive letter.
Good old partition issues. Didn't Vista have this issue and there was an MDT Task Sequence fix to do with partitioning and formating the hard drive? Could this cause issues where in 7 you want USMT to not format the disk I wonder?
Seems to be a lack of any official answer to the issue.
IronPaw- I, too, experienced this problem while attempting to apply a WIM image that I prepared with Sysprep and captured with IMAGEX. The source and target hardware were considerably different, but I don't believe that to be a factor here. Others have noted that this problem occurs with "clean" installations that are performed directly from a Windows 7 RC1 DVD.
It is worth noting that there is another thread that describes the problem (in more detail, but without resolution) at the following URL:
http://windows7forums.com/windows-7-installation-upgrade/1468-install-fails-windows-could-not-finish-configuring-system-attempt.html
I am a seasoned system-builder and an enterprise deployment professional. As such, I have extensive experience with Microsoft OS deployments and the related tools, e.g., Sysprep, imagex, diskpart, MDT, etc. That said, I still cannot determine why setup is failing in this manner.
As has been noted in this thread and others, the problem seems to occur when the target hard disk (on which Windows is to be installed) is formatted using a third-party tool (i.e., a tool other than the facility provided during Windows 7 setup). As I shall demonstrate, this is not necessarily the case. Nonetheless, users have been able to work around this problem by reformatting the target disk (using the Advanced -> Format option) during Windows Setup.
This is not an acceptable workaround/solution, for several reasons, not least of which are the following:
1.) This solution requires customers to avoid the use of third-party disk management tools, such as Paragon Partition Manager, Partition Magic, etc. I am hesitant to suggest that Microsoft is intentionally preventing the use of third-party tools, but such a suggestion is evidenced by a) the complete lack of meaningful diagnostic information in the setup logs, and b) the complete lack of an official response to this issue. One might postulate that this "feature" was deliberately included with the pre-RTM versions of Windows 7, and if that is true, Microsoft has done a major disservice to its enterprise customers who are scrambling to prepare for Windows 7 deployments.
2.) This problem prevents the restoration of backups that are created using third-party tools. Products such as Acronis TrueImage, Norton Ghost, etc., cannot be used to create and restore backups of system disks. In other words, the only way to perform a full system backup in Windows 7 may be to use the Microsoft-provided tool (Control Panel -> System and Security -> Backup and Restore -> Create a System Image).
In order to determine whether or not this problem occurs as a result of using third-party disk formatting tools, I decided to try it "the Microsoft way". I prepared the hard disk using DISKPART (which is the very utility that Setup uses), as follows:
> select disk 0 > clean > create partition primary > format fs=ntfs quick > active
I then booted the computer into Windows PE 3.0 with the Sysprepped volume mounted to D: and copied all of the files on D: to the freshly-formatted C: drive:
> xcopy D:\ C:\ /e/c/i/f/h/r/y/k/o/x
After rebooting, Setup begins and... THE SAME ERROR occurs!
So, this issue (assuming it only has one root cause) is not directly related to the hard disk partitioning strategy. Rather, this issue is related to SIDs, ACLs, or some other file-level check that is being performed during Setup.
Microsoft, you owe us a response on this issue. Don't make us go through our Enterprise Support channels, lest I be forced to tell our organization's CIO that Windows 7 is not ready for enterprise deployment and to forgo a massive volume license purchase come October.- Edited byGeraldCough Friday, August 07, 2009 2:49 PMHyperlinks.
Has anyone found a solution to this issue yet? I have the same issue when install wim files from/to many different types of laptops. I have done some testing and found that the following configs restore without issue when adding the software in piece by piece, but when building the whole image and then capturing it, the 1st boot will fail. I ran sysprep with OOBE and Generalize between each step until I ran into the activation issue at the 3rd try.
Clean Windows 7 Enterprise - Restore Successful
Windows 7 with all drivers and patches - Restore Successful
Windows 7 with Office 2007 Pro Plus - Restore Successful
Windows 7 with Office 2007 Pro Plus, Adobe Acrobat Read, Flash Player, Shockwave Player and all Office 2007 patches - Restore SuccessfulMy last successful image size was 11,221MB.
08.17.2009 Update - I did resolve this issue, by determining that the problem was from a particular piece of software installed like some other posts here. The issue in my case was a printer driver for the OCE im4510 and 4511. After removing the drivers from my image before sysprep, my restore is now working.
- Edited byDerek Hussey Monday, August 17, 2009 6:25 PM
- I was successful but I had to leave Norton Antivirus and Cisco Clean Access agent out of the build.
I'M NOT SURE IF THAT FIXED IT. But eventually I was able to apply an image.
I also had to eliminate Crystal Reports Run time software...
I installed these applications AFTER the OS was installed.
Cisco Clean Access will not work on my Windows 7 RC build. Keeps prompting for credentials.
Just try to eliminate pieces of software and build, capture, and apply.
It's painful but it might lead to a good build... We've run into the same problem in building Win 7 images for our agency. An updated vanilla image will unpack just fine. However, when we start to add in the software for our images we hit this problem. I've gone through each of the software packages one by one, and it appears that for us the unpacking phase gets hung up only after the Citrix XenApp web client (either versions 10.2 or 11.0) gets installed.
Of course there is nothing in the sysprep error logs to indicate any problem - if there are, the errors are far too vague to do any sort of troubleshooting with. It would be nice to have more specific information included to help pinpoint these things.
Judging by this, I would assume that this is error is being caused by various software packages - I doubt everyone else is installing the Citrix XenApp web client, however it appears to be one piece of software that does not make Sysprep happy. Why Sysprep is getting caught up on these software packages is beyond me, though.
- I can confirm I am running into the exact same problem as result of sysprep with the oobe and generalize option, and I do have Citrix XenApp Web Plugin 11.000 installed on the master image. However, I have no indication that Citrix would be the cause of the issue nor do I have to the contrary, but I just wanted to input this confirmation. I may not have the opportunity to retry the sysprep process after systematically uninstalling applications, so I may not be able to further confirm.
- Hey Microsoft
Did you find any solution to this uberbug?
I lost two days trying to make this work. Sysprep /generalize /oobe throws me the same error: "Windows could not finish configuring the system. To attempt resume configuration, restart the computer"
Something interferes with the generalize process. Logs seem not to help anyone.
Someone said to stop ALL Microsoft services listed by running msconfig. This is the next thing I'll try. It's 4:32 am, bed time. Aaaaggghhhh
- Hi all
It seems that killing the “wmpnetwk.exe” before sysprepping lets the sysprep process run smoothly.:)
It worked. I got to the mini setup oobe window. Everything is just fine.
One problem is that the Administrator account created during MDT deployment is not removed as it should by sysprep. I had to disable it. Weird, the log says it remved the account.
I hope it helps someone.
hardkorn
- "It seems that killing the “wmpnetwk.exe” before sysprepping lets the sysprep process run smoothly.:)"
Yes, but wmpnetwk.exe is not running on Enterprise by default. All Media Player services in Windows 7 Enterprise are set to "Manual", and in the processes list, thye never show up.
I have a FULLY configurated Windows 7 Enterprise installation, which gives me the same error as in the first post: "...could not finish configuring..." during boot.
However, I have created a new installation, simply based on a clean Windows 7 Enterprise installatation with NO changes en NO updates nothing, and this one works with sysprep! During boot it says "Starting services" and then the GUI appears. Everything works fine.
Please keep in mind that we are testing on ONE system, same hardware. We use /shutdown, so the system shuts down, and then we simply turn it on again. :)
Conslusion: is seems that somewhere along the way installing our system, the sysprep method doesn't work anymore. This could be Updates, installed software, installed services etc.
I'm currently removing all the software components and services, just until the sysprep works. -> this is what keeps me going, because with a clean installation, sysprep works! - Isn't the Administrator account supposed to be disabled by running sysprep /generalize? I ran Sysprep and the MDT log says the Administrator account is disabled, but it still exists and I can select it at welcome page.
What the heck? I also ran "net user administrator /active:no" after the sysprep step in MDT task, but to no avail. It won't delete the Administrator account.
Aaaagghhhh - MpDay:
Yes that is what we are saying. Something along the way is causing sysprep to fail AFTER a reboot (or after shut down and imaging).
I had to eliminate a few pieces of software to get it to work. MpDay:
Yes that is what we are saying. Something along the way is causing sysprep to fail AFTER a reboot (or after shut down and imaging).
I had to eliminate a few pieces of software to get it to work.
Do you know which software? I think that should have been the most important part of you answer...
NOTE: are we all on x86 here? It seems that the x64 versions of Windows 7 don't have these problems.- I'm running x64 Enterprise with this problem. Like I mentioned earlier, one piece of software (Citrix XenApp web plugin) was what killed Sysprep's unpacking phase.
- Have any of you tried sysprep on a bare install first, then build with 3rd party apps to rule out 3rd party software being the actual problem, as it seems only speculation at the moment and not actually resolving the issue.
This error has also happen with OEM builds of Windows Vista that we have shipped and that was found to be a failed imageX and not the sysprep.
Personally i think its a driver initialising on setup thats the problem, hense why x64 bit works and x86 has problems.
As a side note, isnt the Admin account enbedded in the OS and set to Disabled by default, so it cannot be removed! - Our Test case:
Windows 7 Enterprise x86, out of the box installatation: sysprep works.
Windows 7 Enterprise x86, fully installed (includes Office 2007 etc, but NO Citrix stuff): sysprep could not finish configuring.. error.
Windows 7 Enterprise x86, fully installed -> removed ALL software and extra services: sysprep could not finish configuring.. error.
So, if we uninstall ALL software, it still doesn't work. Something in Windows changed along the way, but the error remains after uninstalling everything.
When the error appeard, you can use Shift+F10 to open cmd. I used services.msc to see what's started etc.
Some services were stared, but the "Remote Desktop Services UserMode Port Redirector" was hanging at "Stating..."
I could simply start all the other services without any problems, so the system was fully functional and I was able to open eventvwr.msc. There was nothing noticeable in the logs.
With our saved image disk, I disabled the "Remote Desktop Services UserMode Port Redirector" service and tried again. This time, it failed again, but services.msc didn't show any hanging services. Some were started, some were not.
I tried to use the MSDTC uninstall and reinstall trick that I saw on this forum, but that doesn't change anything. Heres my findings not sure if it helps anyone
I have tried on a Windows 7 Ent X86 on a Dell Laptop intially installed all the pieces of software, I took a ghost image of the machine before sysprepping,
I then ran sysprep the machine for deployment and get the error "Windows could not finish configuring the system. To attempt to resume configuration, restart the computer" upon the sysprep (mini-setup stage) or whatever it is now called.I have reimaged the machine and removed the software and still the problem occurs after sysprep.
After rebuilding the machine from scratch again and wiping all partitions and then installing the software one by one and then trying sysprep it seems it works after Windows updates and after I installed the majority of pieces of software and done further (painful process of install app, then sysprep and see) I found that my issue was due to the "Alcohol 120% 1.9.8.7612" program causing the problem - maybe because it installs virtual drives or something - or the drivers it installs.
The other issue I sometimes got is a known issue which when running the sysprep on the machine you get a fatal error and the solutiion to that is the WMPNetworkSVc Service needs to be stopped otherwise sysprep doesnt run (just stopped not disabled) then when you run sysprep /oobe /Generalize it will either shutdown or reboot dependent on what option you choose.
This Media player service issue I think microsoft should fix they should either incorporate it so that sysprep automatically stops that service when sysprep is run or Microsoft should fix the issue what is causing it.
Hope this helps anyone as it was a pain to try and work out that the alcohol software was the problem in this case.Other software I have installed and tried which works and doesnt cause a problem:-
AVG antivirus 8.5.409
CDburnerXP 4.2.5.1490
spybot
Adaware
Winzip 12.1
ImgBurn
IrfanView 4.25 and plugins
Itunes
Quicktime
Acrobat Reader 9.1
Flash 10, Shockwave 11 players
Ccleaner 2.2.2
defraggler 1.1.2
VLC 1.01
CutePDF
PGP 9.91
Windows7 Firewall Control
Java Runtine Environment 6 u16
Windows Live Messenger
Nvidia Drivers
Conextant HDA V92 modem
Update for Microsoft Windows (KB972636)
Office 2007 and all windows updates patches for Office 2007 to date 20 August 2009The problem I had was caused by:-
Alcohol 120% 1.9.8.7612
Just removing it didnt resolve it I had to make sure I didnt install it before sysprep. Install after the machine has been built and up and running it is ok :DIn order to try and help MpDay and anyone else who has this issue I would suggest trying the long painful process of install software bit by bit sysprep and see, obviously if any software installs drivers this could be the issue but just removing the software might not fix it as I had that issue with the Alcohol software and removing it didnt fix it
The issue with this error is such a nightmare to resolve as it seems all sorts of apps or drivers might cause this problem and the only way to find out is from either trying it yourself and working out or from finding what others have posted on the internet.I hope my findings help anyone else with this issue and maybe save them time in diagnosing what is causing their issue with sysprep
GOOD LUCK!
Cecil :D
- I also missed off I had installed the DirectX 9 Mar 2009 redist and that worked ok too
Cecil :) - Now working with Win7 enterprise. Bare install and sysprep works fine (have to kill WMPNetworkSVc).
As soon as I add any unattend.xml the boot up fails in specialize pass.
I built one up with Office 2007 and it will sysprep OK (no unattend, just sysprep by itself).
I did NOT install Crystal reports runtime, or any antivirus, or any cisco network access control software.
The unattend failure is driving me crazy though.
I suggest building up a virtual, install each piece of software, take a snapshot, then try sysprep. That is how I found that Business Objects with crystal reports was causing the post sysprep, reboot loop.
- Proposed As Answer byGeraldCough Friday, August 21, 2009 6:42 PM
- Whoops, I didn't mean to click "Propose Answer" on the above post. Unfortunately, there appears to be no way to undo that.
Is anyone else installing Daemon Tools before capturing the image? Cecil 2009 mentions that his problem was Alcohol 120%. I'm wondering if my problem was Daemon Tools.
Maybe certain types of filter drivers (such as those that Alcohol 120%, Daemon Tools, and most virus scanners install) are causing this problem.
Jared ESD, does the Citrix XenApp Web Plugin install a filter driver? (If so, it should be listed in the device manager, under "Non-Plug and Play Drivers"; you may need to select View -> Show Hidden Devices to see this category of devices.)
I will say this again: Microsoft, your silence on this matter is quite telling. I suppose that sending a severely flawed product to manufacture is not something of which Microsoft is particularly proud, but this issue needs to be addressed. Windows 7 is not enterprise-ready as long as this bug exists. - Interesting,
Indeed, Daemon-Tools is one of the installed apps on our system. Especially Daemon-tools was the one that made me thinking in the beginning, because it has special SPTD drivers etc, but a quick uninstall didn't solve the issue. As mentioned, uninstalling software had no effect. Once it's installed, your sysprep will always fail.
We have no anti-virus software pre-installed, no web-plugins (except adobe flash etc).
I think a complete re-install is the only option, like netjim66 did, using a virtual machine with snapshots.
Sysprep in Windows 7 has become a very time consuming thing, and a huge waste of time. We are testing every sysprep with fingers and toes crossed, while it's giving us a high blood pressure, an increased heart rate and a sweaty forehead... - I'm running into the same issue now.. all kinds of stuff in our image, if I have to start from scratch I think I might lose my mind.
Going to try a run without our AV (Kaspersky) and see how it goes. I have a feeling this might turn a wonderful deployment (so far) into a nightmare. - GeraldCough, I do not see a filter driver listed in device manager for the Citrix XenApp plugin.
- Jeff, It's not Kaspersky. We have no anti-virus software in our image, and it doesn't work. We only use Microsoft Office, Dynamics NAV + CRM client and Adobe Reader + Flash plug-in, silverlight etc.
We have done some extra research, focussing on the Services in the registry (CurrentControlSet\services).
After uninstalling ALL the software (while sysprep still fails), we have made a comparison against an original CLEAN installation of Win 7 Enterprise.
These are the differences. The services in the list below are present in our "Installed, fully configured" version of windows 7, where ALL software had already been uninstalled. However, this is the version where sysprep always fails.
NOTE: remarkable is, that there are services in the original CLEAN installation, that were NOT present in our "Installed, fully configured" version!
Extra services in our "Installed, fully configured" Windows 7 image:
Bonjour Service
CRM Client
DefragFS
only present in the clean installation: DXGKrnl
drmkaud
DUMeterSvc
FLEXnet Licensing Service
HdAudAddService
ialm
igfx
MSKSSRV
MSPCLOCK
MSPQM
MSTEE
MTsensor
only present in the clean installation: netvsc
odserv
ose
Outlook
PDAgent
PDEngine
sptd
only present in the clean installation: SynthVid
TeamViewer4
only present in the clean installation: vmicheartbeat
only present in the clean installation: vmickvpexchange
only present in the clean installation: vmicshutdown
only present in the clean installation: vmictimesync
only present in the clean installation: vmicvss
WUDFRd
yukonw7
Well, most of them are Microsoft based (office, CRM etc), but sptd is a leftover from daemon-tools, and PDAgent from PerfectDisk. The MSTEE, MTsensor (and so on) are unknown to me.
Does anyone have an idea, IF one of these services could stop sysprep from finishing it's installation?
Thanks - why do you have Deamon-tools listed??? and possibly Deamon tools might be like the Alcohol 120% software whereby once installed sysprep always screws up even after removing it (I can say for Alcohol 120% if it is installed sysprep fails, even if you have removed it before running sysprep - the only way is to make sure it is not installed before running sysprep).
Have you tried your machine built without Daemon tools installed??? removing the software once installed is not the fix. or are you trying to fix it as it is?- Edited bycecil 2009 Wednesday, August 26, 2009 8:13 PM
or are you trying to fix it as it is?
Exactly. We are not looking forward in making a complete new image. We still want to know HOW we can fix sysprep installations that fail.- When the error msg comes up i pressed shif+f10 to bring up cmd prompt, typed explorer.exe and it logged on. dont think this has fixed the problem but at least it gets u in.
- I had the same issue with Alcohol 120% installed. The solution was to uninstall Alcohol 120% and SPTD driver and then sysprep. A complete rebuild was not needed. SPTD driver can be uninstalled using this installer(Choose Uninstall).
Hope this helps.http://www.duplexsecure.com/en/downloads
Deepak- Proposed As Answer byPer Bjurström Friday, September 18, 2009 3:44 PM
- Having the same error after sysprepping Windows 7 and loading the image onto a Raid 0 with 2 drives using Imagex. I imaged an IDE drive with Windows 7 and enabled Raid in the bios to load the driver into windows. I then used ghost to clone the IDE drive to the 2 drives in Raid 0 and the system boots fine. Major difference between Ghost and imagex is ghost is sector-based and imagex is file-based. Some file is getting screwed up somewhere. I need to get this to work with imagex, someone help please....
I had the same issue with Alcohol 120% installed. The solution was to uninstall Alcohol 120% and SPTD driver and then sysprep. A complete rebuild was not needed. SPTD driver can be uninstalled using this installer(Choose Uninstall).
Hope this helps.http://www.duplexsecure.com/en/downloads
Deepak
This helped me, just launched a command prompt (Shift-F10) and run the uninstaller from the command-prompt using a USB-disk.
Per- I'd just like to add a +1 to the thread. I too am getting this exact same error, and I have no idea what's causing it.
I first discovered the error when I took an imagex wim of the Win7 OS. When I redeployed the WIM, I got the error during the OOBE.
As a test, I just ran a sysprep /generalize /oobe with a reboot, and I get the same error. So something during the sysprep process seems to trigger it.
Anyway - I hope someone can figure out what the issue is.
Update: I just did a sysprep WITHOUT the /generalize bit, and it worked. No change to OS or apps. Just a change in the sysprep switch.- Edited byDreamensioN Monday, September 28, 2009 11:51 AMUpdate
- Okay, it's October 22. Windows 7 is now on shelves.
Where's the fix, Microsoft? Heck, I'll settle for acknowledgment of the problem. We can't deploy Windows 7 in an enterprise environment until this problem is resolved.
I understand that Microsoft does not "endorse" installing filter drivers in systems that are to be Sysprepped, but despite the fact, doing so has never been an issue in Windows 2000 or XP.
If Microsoft is going to remove from Windows 7 functionality that existed in previous OSs, at least improve Sysprep/Setup's internal processes so as to fail GRACEFULLY during Sysprep. Don't wait until the machine has already been Sysprepped and then put it into an infinite reboot loop during Setup, absent any meaningful error messages in the GUI or logs.
Until this issue is resolved, the checkbook will not be coming out.- Proposed As Answer bybfang1968 Tuesday, October 27, 2009 10:39 PM
Okay, it's October 22. Windows 7 is now on shelves.
Where's the fix, Microsoft? Heck, I'll settle for acknowledgment of the problem. We can't deploy Windows 7 in an enterprise environment until this problem is resolved.
I understand that Microsoft does not "endorse" installing filter drivers in systems that are to be Sysprepped, but despite the fact, doing so has never been an issue in Windows 2000 or XP.
If Microsoft is going to remove from Windows 7 functionality that existed in previous OSs, at least improve Sysprep/Setup's internal processes so as to fail GRACEFULLY during Sysprep. Don't wait until the machine has already been Sysprepped and then put it into an infinite reboot loop during Setup, absent any meaningful error messages in the GUI or logs.
Until this issue is resolved, the checkbook will not be coming out.
Here same problem.
We want to start the deployment. I have spent days/weeks to solve this problem but I can't find the resolution.
Is it really a service that Windows 7 is failing on? Is it a driver? Is it an application?
Tried almost everything. Nothing helps! Help!
Regards,
Mark S.- Proposed As Answer bybfang1968 Tuesday, October 27, 2009 10:38 PM
There is no problem with sysprep but you have to do this:
delete whatever other OS's partition and create new partition, running FRESH install.
You can leave the manufactory partition there (like the Dell Diagnose Partition) without problem.
I have done it with all my software installed, office2007, adobe, symantec end point protection, etc.
Try it, it will work for you!Here same problem.
Mark,
We want to start the deployment. I have spent days/weeks to solve this problem but I can't find the resolution.
Is it really a service that Windows 7 is failing on? Is it a driver? Is it an application?
Tried almost everything. Nothing helps! Help!
Regards,
Mark S.
There are two issues with Sysprep in Windows 7:
- Sysprep fails to start because a Windows Media Player service (related to DRM) is running. (Killing the related process allows Sysprep to start.)
- Sysprep completes successfully, but "Mini Setup" (or whatever Microsoft is calling it nowadays) fails with the message in the title of this thread.
I think we should all create a list of applications/drivers/etc. that cause this error to occur. The easiest way to do this is to create your Windows 7 images in a virtual machine, e.g., using Sun VBox. Take a snapshot of the VM before you install each piece of software, and Sysprep the installation after each new piece of software is installed. If Mini Setup fails at any point, it will be obvious which piece of software caused the failure. Then, you can simply revert to the previous snapshot and avoid installing the problematic software.
I will report back with my findings as to what is causing this failure in our particular environment.I'll start this list of incompatible software:
PASW 17 (statistical analysis software) causes Mini Setup to fail with "Windows could not finish...". I've tested this several times in a VM.
Hello Gerald,Here same problem.
Mark,
We want to start the deployment. I have spent days/weeks to solve this problem but I can't find the resolution.
Is it really a service that Windows 7 is failing on? Is it a driver? Is it an application?
Tried almost everything. Nothing helps! Help!
Regards,
Mark S.
There are two issues with Sysprep in Windows 7:
- Sysprep fails to start because a Windows Media Player service (related to DRM) is running. (Killing the related process allows Sysprep to start.)
- Sysprep completes successfully, but "Mini Setup" (or whatever Microsoft is calling it nowadays) fails with the message in the title of this thread.
I think we should all create a list of applications/drivers/etc. that cause this error to occur. The easiest way to do this is to create your Windows 7 images in a virtual machine, e.g., using Sun VBox. Take a snapshot of the VM before you install each piece of software, and Sysprep the installation after each new piece of software is installed. If Mini Setup fails at any point, it will be obvious which piece of software caused the failure. Then, you can simply revert to the previous snapshot and avoid installing the problematic software.
I will report back with my findings as to what is causing this failure in our particular environment.
Sysprep does start (because we have the Enterprise version, the WMP service is not running), so that's ok.
We are facing the problem "windows could not finish configuring the system".
We already started re-installing Windows 7 in Hyper-V with snapshots.
Because we have a very large list of applications (about 30 to 40) it take's a long time to resolve this problem.
I think that the following applications could cause the problem:
Virtual PC 2007
Kaspersky Antivirus Networking Client (so not the real antivirus application, but only the network client to push to real antivirus application to)
Microsoft SQL Server 2005/2008
Because the sysprep is failing when Windows 7 is going to start services, we thought to resolve this by removing the failing service.
When the sysprep fails (with the error: windows could not finish configuring the system), you can press SHIFT+F10 to get a Command Prompt.
When quering all services with command "sc query state= all", we have managed to get a list of all stopped and started services.
Our list is: here
We hope to find the solution in the services list, because it takes a very long time to reinstall all applications in Hyper-V with snapshots.
When we know something more, we will report this a.s.a.p.
Regards,
Mark- I've been reading this thread for the last couple of weeks while I workout the kinks in my Windows 7 Enterprise sysprep process. I was encountering the exact same error that started this thread, and I figured out what was causing it for me after starting over from scratch. In my case, it was caused by pre-installing network printers prior to running sysprep. I'm not sure how many other people may or may not do that, but I thought I'd put it out there. It definitely didn't cause problems with XP & sysprep. As with other people's experience on this thread, simply uninstalling the printers did not remedy my Windows 7 sysprep problems; I had to start over from scratch.
- Little update from here:
The services list does not seem to be the issue.
I can not find any service that's causing the problem.
I am almost finished reinstalling the system op a virtual Hyper-V machine.
I am now using the "audit mode" to install/configure the image.
After every application I make a snapshot and try a sysprep.
Everything seems to work, with the same applications and updates.
Do you all use the "audit mode" to configure your image?
(Audit mode can be started by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+F3 on the first boot after an installation when it asks for username/password/computername etc and by the command sysprep.exe /audit /reboot command
I dealt with the "Windows could not finish configuring the system" problem for days but now I've made 5 images all of them working without that dreaded error.
Windows 7 deployment is quite a bit too sensitive compared to XP and Vista in my opinion.
Anyway, there's 3 things you have to do to get Windows 7 fully working with MDT 2010
1. Implement the "Multiple users" error script fix.
2. Make sure the first vanilla image you ever use is actually "Hand installed" meaning either a mounted ISO or a clean DVD install. No Deploying.
3. Make sure the image you want to capture is NOT joined to a domain.
Hope this spares someone the hours I put into finding this out.
- Johnsen- I experienced the same error in Windows 2008 R2 when deploying from a template in VMware Virtual Infrastructure. I had previously deployed from the template without issue, the only change being that Kaspersky Antivirus and Network Agent was installed. After reading through this forum, I removed Kaspersky Antivirus and Network Agent and then the sysprep process worked fine again. Although I am happy that I can use sysprep again, the workaround is not ideal as now Antivirus is going to have to be installed on each server deployed. Hopefully someone finds a permanent fix.
- Here's what I'm doing now:
Downloaded Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit ISO.
Mounted the iso and imported it into MDT 2010.
Installed latest WAIK on the machine with MDT 2010 (no beta versions).
Deploy to my Dell Optiplex with standard task sequence adding machine to WORKGROUP. Just used all defaults.
Add my applications, add shortcuts to desktop and pin items to task bar.
Sysprep with NO unattend in the sysprep folder.
Shutdown and Generalise
Boot with WAIK 7 CD and imagex copy to another location.
Import to MDT 2010 as custom image and use setup files from Windows 7 already in MDT
Set a new task (default) to deploy.
Set "Copy Profile" as TRUE. "Do not clean task bar" to TRUE
Deploy to another Optiplex and all seems well.
I do not have to kill the WMPNetworkSVc service anymore either.
Seems a lot of the other problems I was having like copy profile not working seem to be gone.
If I put an unattend file in the sysprep folder THEN run sysprep, I still have issues with the restart loop. - Well I have found for those people with daemon tools/alcohol 120%/etc issues with the SPTD driver,
Change the following key before sysprep
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\sptd\Start to 0x02
and and the end of sysprep (or even with group policy) set it back to 0x00
This has solved our Sysprep failure. (You can even do it while the error is showing, Shift+F10, regedit..., then click ok to reboot).
Source:
http://www.mail-archive.com/ntsysadmin@lyris.sunbelt-software.com/msg53334.html I had the same issue with Alcohol 120% installed. The solution was to uninstall Alcohol 120% and SPTD driver and then sysprep. A complete rebuild was not needed. SPTD driver can be uninstalled using this installer(Choose Uninstall).
Hope this helps.http://www.duplexsecure.com/en/downloads
Deepak
Hi Deepak, thanks for your answer, it solved my problem.
I have Windows 7 Professional x86 installed on Dell Optiplex, I also installed a bunch of other programs (Daemon Tools Lite v4.35.5, 7-Zip, Adobe Reader 9.2, Office 2007, Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition with SP1 and SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition with SP1).
When sysprepping with the above image, I had the same problem as the title of this thread, I did the following and sysprep worked!
1. Disable "Windows Media Player Networking Sharing"
2. Uninstall Daemon Tools Lite
3. Uninstall SPTD using SPTDinst-v162-x86.exe (downloaded from the link above)
4. Restart
5. Run sysprep- Using VMware I installed a fresh Reference VM, to which I gradually add more bits and customisations. From the beginning I logged in wiwth CTL-SHIFT-F3 to get into Audit Mode. The sequence every time is:
1. Power on, this goes into Audit mode because that is the default
2. Do custom stuff, add app(s), change settings, etc
3. Shutdown and take snapshot
4. Power on
5. sysprep /reboot /generalize /oobe /unattend:C:\blah.xml (including copyprofile, which works)
6. Watch what happens
If it worked, great - go back to snapshot and start from 1 again.
If it screwed, go back to previous snapshot.
I managed to get working sysprepped images for a long time, but after a bunch of new installs, my image would give the dreaded
Windows could not finish configuring the system. To attempt to resume configuration, restart the computer.
I went back and forth and isolated it to Kaspersky Antivirus 2010. This software alone would cause the error.
After reading some posts here I figured that some Kaspersky service was screwing things up. So I manually disabled the "avp" service (which, by the way, could only be done from within the application - doing it as administrator in the services control panel would give me "access is denied" errors. But that is probably done to current day AV semantics).
Then I sysprepped again (without any running avps), but I would still get the same error.
I am now installing KAV2010 post-OOBE, but I don't like it as it defeats the idea of an image based install.
Since it does not appear to be caused by a misbehaving service, pre-sysprep disabling and post-sysprep enabling would not help either. And even if it did I could not figure out how to change the avp service startup config with command line...
FYI, the images I am cooking up are Windows 7 64-bit Enterprise.
