Windows OS Hub
  • Windows Server
    • Windows Server 2022
    • Windows Server 2019
    • Windows Server 2016
    • Windows Server 2012 R2
    • Windows Server 2012
    • Windows Server 2008 R2
    • SCCM
  • Active Directory
    • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
    • Group Policies
  • Windows Clients
    • Windows 11
    • Windows 10
    • Windows 8
    • Windows 7
    • Windows XP
    • MS Office
    • Outlook
  • Virtualization
    • VMWare
    • Hyper-V
    • KVM
  • PowerShell
  • Exchange
  • Cloud
    • Azure
    • Microsoft 365
    • Office 365
  • Linux
    • CentOS
    • RHEL
    • Ubuntu
  • Home
  • About

Windows OS Hub

  • Windows Server
    • Windows Server 2022
    • Windows Server 2019
    • Windows Server 2016
    • Windows Server 2012 R2
    • Windows Server 2012
    • Windows Server 2008 R2
    • SCCM
  • Active Directory
    • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
    • Group Policies
  • Windows Clients
    • Windows 11
    • Windows 10
    • Windows 8
    • Windows 7
    • Windows XP
    • MS Office
    • Outlook
  • Virtualization
    • VMWare
    • Hyper-V
    • KVM
  • PowerShell
  • Exchange
  • Cloud
    • Azure
    • Microsoft 365
    • Office 365
  • Linux
    • CentOS
    • RHEL
    • Ubuntu

 Windows OS Hub / Windows 10 / How to Run SysPrep on Upgraded Windows

November 3, 2016 Windows 10

How to Run SysPrep on Upgraded Windows

I have faced a strange error when trying to run SysPrep on the installed system, which is going to be used to create a reference image to deploy Windows 10 using System Center Configuration Manager 2012 R2. After starting SysPrep, the following error appears:

Sysprep was not able to validate your Windows installation, Review the log file at %Windows%\System32\Sysprep\Panther\setupact.log for details. After resolving the issue, use Sysprep to validate your installation again.

Sysprep was not able to validate your Windows installation

Let’s open the Sysprep log file setupact.log and analyze the errors.

2016-10-23 13:12:51, Error      [0x0f0036] SYSPRP spopk.dll:: Sysprep will not run on an upgraded OS. You can only run Sysprep on a custom (clean) install version of Windows.

The error evidently reports that SysPrep cannot be run on the systems upgraded from previous Windows versions. It is just our case: the system has been upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 Indeed, according to the article in KB828287 knowledge base: Microsoft does not support the use of Sysprep to create images of an installation that has been upgraded (SP installation is not considered to be an upgrade). SysPrep is only supported in clean installations. Whether you have to reinstall the system from scratch?

I managed to find an simple solution. Using Process Monitor with the filter by process sysprep.exe and having compared a clean and upgraded versions of Windows 10, I could get the list of register keys checked by SysPrep when being started that allow to determine whether the system is clean or upgraded. Here is what you have to do to delete the mark of the upgraded system for Windows 10 checked by SysPrep (it also works in other Windows versions):

Important. The described solution is not officially supported by Microsoft and does not guarantee that you will not have any problems with the system image you obtained in this way.
  • Open the Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
  • Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\
  • Delete the Upgrade key (if exist) and the registry value with the name UpgradeUpgrade registry key
  • In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\Status\SysprepStatus key specify the CleanupState value equal to 7
  • Restart your computer and try to run SysPrep again
Tip. In case of Windows 10, to make SysPrep work I had to delete all non-standard Modern applications separately (not in the provision mode) installed from Microsoft Store by the system users.

You can do it by deleting all user profiles (if applicable), completely uninstalling all Metro applications for all users (not recommended) or by uninstalling such applications manually. The last option can be done like that:

  • Get the list of all installed Metro applications in all user profiles (we need only packages with the Installed status):
    Get-AppxPackage -AllUser | Format-List -Property PackageFullName,PackageUserInformation
  • And uninstall them one by one as follows: Remove-AppxPackage -Package <packagefullname>. Or like this: Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online -PackageName <packagefullname>

3 comments
3
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
previous post
Granting Remote Access on SCManager to Non-admin Users
next post
Using FSRM on Windows File Server to Prevent Ransomware

Related Reading

How to Deploy Windows 10 (11) with PXE...

June 27, 2022

Checking Windows Activation Status on Active Directory Computers

June 27, 2022

Configuring Multiple VLAN Interfaces on Windows

June 24, 2022

How to Disable or Enable USB Drives in...

June 24, 2022

Adding Domain Users to the Local Administrators Group...

June 23, 2022

3 comments

Truandale July 11, 2018 - 4:01 pm

Спасибо, добрый человек. Респект и уважуха тебе. Очень полезная и нужная статья. Как раз искал как sysprep на обновленной windows запустить. 👍
Thank you, kind man. Respect for you. Very useful and necessary article. I was just looking for a sysprep on the updated windows to run

Reply
Hitt December 9, 2018 - 7:48 pm

Thank you very much, very useful!!!

Reply
Ahmed Sayed November 17, 2021 - 5:07 am

Thanks. Very useful.. This really helped me out alot.

Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Categories

  • Active Directory
  • Group Policies
  • Exchange Server
  • Microsoft 365
  • Azure
  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10
  • Windows 7
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • PowerShell
  • VMWare
  • Hyper-V
  • MS Office

Recent Posts

  • How to Deploy Windows 10 (11) with PXE Network Boot?

    June 27, 2022
  • Checking Windows Activation Status on Active Directory Computers

    June 27, 2022
  • Configuring Multiple VLAN Interfaces on Windows

    June 24, 2022
  • How to Disable or Enable USB Drives in Windows using Group Policy?

    June 24, 2022
  • Adding Domain Users to the Local Administrators Group in Windows

    June 23, 2022
  • Viewing a Remote User’s Desktop Session with Shadow Mode in Windows

    June 23, 2022
  • How to Create a Wi-Fi Hotspot on your Windows PC?

    June 23, 2022
  • Configuring SSH Public Key Authentication on Windows

    June 15, 2022
  • How to Run a Program as a Different User (RunAs) in Windows?

    June 15, 2022
  • FAQ: Licensing Microsoft Exchange Server 2019/2016

    June 14, 2022

Follow us

woshub.com

ad

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • RSS
Popular Posts
  • Unable to Connect Windows 10 Shared Printer to Windows XP
  • How to Restore Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10
  • How to Remove Unused Drivers from Driver Store
  • Restore Missing CD/DVD Drive in Windows 10
  • How to Configure a Slideshow Screensaver Using GPO
  • Recovering Files from a RAW Partition using TestDisk
  • Windows 10: WSUS Error 0x8024401c
Footer Logo

@2014 - 2018 - Windows OS Hub. All about operating systems for sysadmins


Back To Top