A fatal error occured while trying to sysprep the machine

[qaisar]

OS: Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit

HW: HP 8100 Elite Small Form Factor

 

I am trying to run sysprep on Windows 7 Ent 64bit computer and I am getting this error:

 

"A fatal error occured while trying to sysprep the machine"

 

A little background of this Image:I installed Windows 7 Ent 64bit from a Microsoft DVD, installed my applications etc, ran the sysprep, created a WIM file and named it Win7_ent_64bit_Sales.wim. No issues in creating this image.

Now I am trying to create another image (lets say for HR Dept that will have HR specific applications) using Win7_ent_64bit_Sales.wim and I do not get any issues in deploying this image to the same hardware.

 

When I try to run sysprep on this image using the following command I get the above mentioned error:

 

c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /unattend:unattend.xml (BTW, I used the same command and same unattend file (without the SkipRearm switch) when I created my first Win7_ent_64bit_Sales.wim image)

 

Contents of unattend.xml file:

 

*******************************************************

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">

<settings pass="specialize">

<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">

<CopyProfile>true</CopyProfile>

<SkipRearm>0</SkipRearm>

</component>

</settings>

<cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="catalog:e:/sources/install_windows 7 enterprise.clg" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />

</unattend>

*******************************************************

 

I have disabled the Windows Media center Share *** service

I tried <SkipRearm>1</SkipRearm> in the unattend.xml file

I tried with and without activating the Windows

I tried running "cscript.exe c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs -rearm" before running sysprep

I tried double clicking on "sysprep.exe" and selecting "Enter system Audit Mode" and "Generalize"

I tried with the computer joined to the domain and without

I removed the "Realtek Audio Drivers"

 

 

but nothing worked...attached are the log and xml files from c:\windows\system32\sysprep.

 

Any help is appreciated...

[qaisar]

forgot to attach the file ...sorry

sysprep_error.zip

[qaisar]

Well, after my 10th attempt of sypreping it finally worked and this is what I did:

 

1: The OS time clock was two hours behind so I corrected the time

2: Ran the slmgr.vbs -rearm command (did not activate the Windows manually)

3: Removed the <SkipRearm> command from unattend.xml file

4: Changed the value "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform\SkipRearm" to 1 (Note: there were two locations where I changed the "SkipRearm" reg value before running the sysprep but now I only see one location)

 

and to be honest I am not sure if the combination of all four steps fixed the problem or just one or two...but the problem is fixed.

 

thanks

[jamitupya]

keep in mind this http://technet.micro...28WS.10%29.aspx when your building your images.....

 

basically you can only sysprep 3 times on an install..... read the above for a better understanding

 

 

 

from the technet article...

Resetting Windows Activation

When you install Windows with a single license product key, you have 30 days during which you must activate that installation of Windows.

 

There is no limit to the number of times that the Sysprep command can run on a computer. However, the clock for Windows Product Activation begins its countdown the first time Windows starts. You can use the sysprep /generalizecommand to reset Windows Product Activation a maximum of three times. After the third time that you run the sysprep /generalize command, the clock can no longer be reset.

 

When you run the sysprep /generalize command, the activation clock will automatically reset. You can bypass resetting the activation clock by using the SkipRearm setting in the Microsoft-Windows-Security-SPP component. This enables you to run the Sysprep command multiple times without resetting the activation clock. For more information about this setting, see the Unattended Windows Setup Reference (Unattend.chm).

 

ImportantIf you anticipate running the Sysprep command multiple times on a single computer, you must use the SkipRearmsetting in the Microsoft-Windows-Security-Licensing-SPP component to postpone resetting the activation clock. Because you can reset the activation clock only three times, if you run the Sysprep command multiple times on a computer, you might run out of activation clock resets. We recommend that you use the SkipRearm setting if you plan on running the Sysprep command multiple times on a computer.

 

 

 

ImportantBefore running the Sysprep command the final time before deploying the computer, rearm the computer by setting the SkipRearm setting to 0. This causes the activation timer to reset.

 

 

 

You can review the number of times you can use the SkipRearm setting by using the slmgr /dlv command. For information, see Work with Product Keys and Activation.