Today I tried to do a sysprep of a Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 computer before capturing an image of it via imagex.

sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:unattend.xml

Everything went fine and the computer shutdown.

Then I rebooted the server and had a blue screen (BSOD) :

STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error}
The session manager initialization system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc000003a (0x00000000 0x00000000).
The system has been shut down.

I found out that SYSPREP had made some changes to my Boot Configuration Data (BCD). Here’s an extract of my setupact.log file :

LaunchDll:Found 'C:\Windows\System32\spbcd.dll,Sysprep_Generalize_Bcd'; executing it
Sysprep_Generalize_Bcd: Located BCD store on system drive. Generalizing it...
GeneralizeBcdStore: Found the memory tester object.
GeneralizeBcdStore: Found the Windows OS Loader object {bb3f7e5d-3afe-11e1-908d-0010184c4562} for the currently running OS.
GeneralizeBcdStore: Found the resume object {bb3f7e5c-3afe-11e1-908d-0010184c4562} for the OS loader.
GeneralizeBcdStore: System drive backed by VHD = 0
GeneralizeBcdStore: Generalizing object {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
GeneralizeBcdStore: Successfully generalized application device. Status = [0x0]
GeneralizeBcdStore: Generalizing object {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
GeneralizeBcdStore: Successfully generalized application device. Status = [0x0]
GeneralizeBcdStore: Generalizing object {bb3f7e5d-3afe-11e1-908d-0010184c4562}
GeneralizeBcdStore: Successfully generalized application device. Status = [0x0]
GeneralizeBcdStore: Successfully generalized OS device. Status = [0x0]
GeneralizeBcdStore: Generalizing object {bb3f7e5c-3afe-11e1-908d-0010184c4562}
GeneralizeBcdStore: Successfully generalized application device. Status = [0x0]
GeneralizeBcdStore: Successfully generalized hiberfile device. Status = [0x0]
Sysprep_Generalize_Bcd: Successfully generalized the bcd store. Status=[0x0]
LaunchDll:Successfully executed 'C:\Windows\System32\spbcd.dll,Sysprep_Generalize_Bcd' without error

So, after running sysprep /generalize my BCD looked like this :

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {default}
device                  locate=\windows\system32\winload.efi
path                    \windows\system32\winload.efi
description             Windows Server 2008 R2
locale                  en-us
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
osdevice                locate=\windows
systemroot              \windows
resumeobject            {bb3f7e5c-3afe-11e1-908d-0010184c4562}
nx                      OptOut
detecthal               Yes

Did you noticed the locate=… value for the device and osdevice entries ? Well it seems that those new values were causing my blue screen.

I restored the previous values (before Sysprep) with the following commands :

bcdedit /set {default} device partition=C:
bcdedit /set [default} osdevice partition=C:

After that, my computer was able to boot again.

I’m not sure, but i suspect that this little mixed up with the BCD Store maybe related to how I partitioned my disk :

WinPE Size 900Mb, boot WinPE to capture or apply an image from imagex

ESP Size 100Mb, EFI System Partition, Active Partition

Microsoft Reserved Size 128Mb

Windows Size 120Gb, C: drive

Data Size 400Gb, E: drive

My disk is initialize as a GPT disk and this is an EFI Computer.

My recommendation

Always make a backup of the BCD store before running SYSPREP :

bcdedit /export backupbcd.bcd

Read More

This article introduces Group Policy Preferences, explains how they differ from Group Policy settings, compares Preferences to logon scripts, and covers a few Group Policy Preferences gotchas.

The introduction of Group Policy Preferences into Group Policy seems to have quite a few people confused. I think that confusion has been compounded by all of the people who skipped Windows Vista, stayed with Windows XP, and are just now starting to implement Windows 7 on the desktop.

Source : 4sysops

Read More

Excellent post from Robert McMurray :

I've mentioned in previous blog posts that I use the Windows WebDAV Redirector a lot. (And believe me, I use it a lot.) Having said that, there are a lot of registry settings that control how the Windows WebDAV Redirector operates, and I tend to tweak those settings fairly often.
I documented all of those registry settings in my Using the WebDAV Redirector walkthrough, but unfortunately there isn't a built-in interface for managing the settings. With that in mind, I decided to write my own user interface.

Source : blogs.iis.net/robert_mcmurray
Related : using-the-webdav-redirector 

Read More

I just wanted to make you all aware of a new KB article myself and a couple of teammates put together around component store growth and remediation. I wanted to have something short and to the point and I think a lot of you might find this more useful than sifting through the blog trying to piecemeal together the same information. I'll probably try to put together something a little more verbose here that goes more into the internals of some of this but I am busy working on a new project and dont have tons of time. If you have any questions or comments about the material please ask them here.

How to Alleviate Disk Space Pressure Caused By a Large Windows Component Store (WinSxS) Directory
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=2592038

Source : The Windows Servicing Guy

Read More

it is a context menu editor, an autoplay editor, and default programs association editor; essentially, the settings in the "Default Programs" Control Panel page. It's a replacement for the "File Types" dialog in Windows XP, and brings some key features of TweakUI to Windows Vista/7.

Really cool and well done tool, a must have.

Source : defaultprogramseditor.com

Read More