Cloned copy of Microsoft Windows Boots to a Black Screen

Problem

• You clone a copy of Windows from one hard drive to another by copying the entire disk, using disk cloning tools
• The copy of Windows starts to boot, and then hangs a black screen
• You may also see a mouse cursor, but other than that, Windows does not respond
• The system is being booted in UEFI mode

Cause

• A UEFI copied version of Windows needs to have the DOSDevices registry entries removed, as Windows will detect the disk change and try and re-enumerate the drive letters.

Instructions

• Boot the system using Windows PE, and find the drive letter that holds the offline, broken copy of Windows,
• Use the attached Bootfix utility - run the command below, where f: is the drive containing the non-working copy of Windows

bootfix f: -all

• This will delete the entries in the f:\Windows\System32\Config\SYSTEM registry file > MountedDevices key 

Applies to:

• UEFI Windows server and Windows desktop

Multiple Uses of Sysprep

During an image build process, an image is created and customised before being Sysprepped ready for capture. Once captured, the image can then be deployed.

It is recommended that if the image is revised, that you revert back to a copy of the image that was not Sysprepped ready for capture. However, sometimes this is not possible leading to an image going through the Sysprep process multiple times. Normally, you can only Sysprep a machine three times. After the third attempt, you will receive a fatal error message if you try to Sysprep the machine again.

Solution

There is a workaround solution for this that involves modifying the registry or creating an answer file. Please ensure that you test all images that you capture and deploy (all images should always be tested, but after using this workaround we recommend that you thoroughly check the entire image).

Method 1 - Registry Edit

For a machine running Windows 7, you will need to follow the steps below:-

• Open the registry editor by typing "regedit" in the Start Search Box
• Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform
• Locate the REG_WORD entry "SkipRearm"
• Set SkipRearm to 1
• Close the registry editor.

You can now sysprep the machine as normal, for example:

c:\windows\system\sysprep\sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown (and then press Enter).

This will run Sysprep and shutdown the machine ready for capture.

Method 2 - Using an Answer file

An XML answer file can be used which includes the SKIPREAM command to allow the image to be Sysprepped again, even though it has reached the normal limit.

If you wish to create your own answer file from scratch, you will need a technician machine with the Windows 7 Automatic Installation Kit (WAIK) tools installed. Once installed you can use the Windows System Image Manage which is included as part of the kit to create an answer file.

A sample XML file is attached to this article. Extract skipream.xml from the ZIP file and copy it to a location accessible by Sysprep, for example c:\wsim. Then, run Sysprep and reference the XML file:

sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:c:\wsim\skiprearm.xml

Applies to:

• Images being built on Windows 7

WIM Files

Windows Image File are used to store boot-up images (for example, images that run Windows Setup from CD or USB, or Network Boot), Windows PE (again, from CD, USB or Network boot) or entire operating system images.

WIM files can be manipulated using systems such as MDT or WDS, to add drivers or distribute them out to clients.

On occasion, it can be necessary to manually mount a WIM file to add drivers, or to inspect the contents. This article will cover the basics.

• What Tools You Need
• WIM Index - Seeing What Images Are Contained Inside a WIM File
• Mounting the WIM File
• Adding Drivers to a Mounted Image
• Unmounting the File

The Tools You Need

You will need the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) to load images. For some image functions - for example, adding drivers, your ADK version must match, or be greater, than the version of the operating system contained inside the image. Sometimes the version of operating system you are running also matters. For example, the Windows 10 versions of the ADK are operating system specific. The 1511 version of the kit requires Windows 10, version 1511.

Windows ADK Page here.

Seeing What Images Are Contained Inside a WIM File

You can do this without mounting, or extracting, the WIM file.

Instructions:

• After installing the Windows ADK, open up the Deployment Tools Command prompt. This will give you easy access to the DISM.EXE utility.
• Run the command below against the WIM file, in this case, BOOT.WIM in the Stone folder.

dism /get-wiminfo /wimfile:"boot.wim"

• The Index number tells you how to reference the image with other DISM commands. For example, the Windows PE Image above can be accessed using Image Index 1.

Mounting the WIM File

• Make a directory for the mounted files. This directory should be empty. In the examples below, this d:\Mount.
• You will need the Index number of the image you want to mount, for example Index 1, from above.
• Again using the Deployment Services command prompt and DISM, run the command below.

dism /mount-wim /wimfile:"boot.wim" /index:1 /mountdir:"d:\mount"

• Or for reading only - without changes being permitted:

dism /mount-wim /wimfile:"boot.wim" /index:1 /mountdir:"d:\mount" /readonly

• This will then give you a folder that you can browse with Windows Explorer.

Adding Drivers to A Mounted Image

You can add drivers to an image using the DISM command.

• To add drivers from a specific driver INF file:

dism /Image:"d:\mount" /Add-Driver /Driver:"e:\drivers\video\mydriver.inf"

• To add drivers from a folder:

dism /Image:"d:\mount" /Add-Driver /Driver:"e:\drivers\video"

• And lastly, to add drivers from a folder and all subfolders:

dism /Image:"d:\mount" /Add-Driver /Driver:"e:\drivers" /recurse

Unmounting the File

When you are finished, the Image must be unmounted, even if you do not wish to save any changes.

• To unmount an image, without saving changes run the following:

dism /unmount-Wim  /MountDir:"d:\mount" /discard

• To unmount an image, saving any changes you have made instead run the following:

dism /unmount-Wim  /MountDir:"d:\mount" /commit

Applies to:

• Windows Server and Windows Client Deployment Tools