Greetings,

I have installed MDT 2013 on a server running Windows 2012 R2 after which I anstalled the WIN 8.1 X64 ADK.  I have created a deployment share and a task sequence to capture  reference image.  The reference computer is a VM living in Hyper-V that is running under Windows Server 2012 R2 on another machine.  There is network connectivity between the reference Image and I can map a drive to the deployment share and invoke the task sequence.  Once I select it, it prompts me for all of the information and credentials it needs.   I tell it to begin and it just sits there and does not appear to be running at all.   Task Manager reveals no Network traffic, no CPU activity or memory usage around any precesses related to the tak sequence.  When I look at the monitor in the deployment share, it reports that the task sequence i running, but there is no forward progress.  I av checked the task sequence parameters a dozen times....I have checked the deployment share rules and other properties and all seems to be in order.   Has anyone seen this behavior before?  If so, are there some additional troubleshooting steps I can take?

Thanks!! 

Larry

OK, please can anyone offer any advice as I am staring down the barrel of 90 of these laptops and I cant image a single one.

We have HP 250 G2 Notebook laptops (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/pscmisc/vac/us/product_pdfs/HP_250_G2_Notebook_PC_DS.pdf)  The BIOS options are as follows with no seemingly way to enable 'legacy support' as with other HP models.

I boot to deployment wizard, selects my image and install then after 1st reboot I get this:

I've tried all possible combinations of BIOS Settings and have googled but found no answers.

One possibility I'm looking at is the version of Windows 7 I have is old, perhaps I should update the version of Windows 7 on my deployment share to Win7SP1 (Downloading right now) although I don't want to go through building my image again if I can help it.  I can comfortably image every other unit I have.

I'm out of ideas, never seen this before, can anyone help?

Regards JH

HI all

im trying to run the following command/script as either an application or command line in MDT to disable systemrestore for a client.

I have a batch file that sets the execution level and then launchs a PS script that runs the command Disable-ComputerRestore -Drive "C:\"

if I run this locally on a client machine works fine however when I run it from MDT is says it has run correctly by the system restore does not disable. I have wasted a whole day on something which should just work.

any suggestions welcome

C

I want to get vbs msg, that returns system info before selecting task sequence in MDT.

Currently using UserExit script.

Deployment rules:

[Settings]
Priority=Default
Properties=MyCustomProperty

[Default]
OSInstall=Y

UserExit script = msg.vbs

SkipCapture=YES
SkipAdminPassword=YES
SkipBDDWelcome=YES
SkipProductKey=YES

......

msg.vbs

______

' System info
Function UserExit()
UserExit = Success

End Function

Function msg ()
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
' --- script to display cpu, ram, hdd ......

End Function

_________

However if once deployment starts - all other rules are ignored, like:

SkipCapture=YES
SkipAdminPassword=YES
SkipBDDWelcome=YES
SkipProductKey=YES
SkipComputerBackup=YES
SkipBitLocker=YES
SkipUserData=YES
SkipSummary=YES

Any help with that?

I guess that there is issue with msg.vbs functions

I am trying to create a new unattend.xml file for Windows 8.1 

Upgraded to MDT 2013 and ADK 8.1.

MDT is failing to create an XML file. Tried using Windows System Image Manager and failing as well. The log states "1:43 PM : This application requires version 6.3.9600.16384 of the Windows ADK."

When i am looking version of Windows System Image Manager, the version is 6.3.9600.16384.

What am i missing?

Thank you.

I've had MDT 2012 set up and working fine (with USMT 4.0), and have been utilizing the USMT via batch file to copy profiles and transfer them manually in some cases.  I'm needing to move some people to Win 8.1 and between computers with 8.1, so I updated to MDT 2013.  As I figured, it broke everything I had going.  After putting back the USMT files where they were, the batch files no longer work as they must be "run as administrators".  I added my domain admin account as a local admin, and even tried a plain local admin account.  No go.  For the life of me, I have no idea what the hang up is.  Below is the batch file, what am I missing since this used to work fine?  I also cannot simply run the scanstate.exe, and it flashes a cmd prompt and closes before I can see what it's doing.

if exist "c:\usmt" then  Goto SkipUSMT
echo d | xcopy \\server\folder\deployment\usmt\amd64 c:\usmt
cd /d c:\usmt\
set /P Input=Computer Name?
scanstate \\server\folder\deployment\captures\%Input% /i:migdocs.xml /i:migapp.xml /v:13 /uel:90
:SkipUSMT

Hello,

I've recently setup MDT 2013 to deploy some customized images that we deploy to student laptops, that were sysprep-ed and captured with ImageX.  I've uploaded the custom image WIM files to MDT, and setup a task sequence.  Almost everything works, thanks to Microsoft documentation and searches of this forum for various questions I've had, however I'm stuck on two items:

1.) MDT forces an administrator account to be created during the process.  That's not such a huge issue, but I'd like to disable the administrator account at the end of the task sequence.  I'm not sure where/what to add to do this.

2.) We would like the machine, after imaging, to deploy the generic Windows Welcome, as if it had just been purchased from the OEM.  This way when the student receives the imaged laptop, they can create their own personal account.  These laptops are not bound to AD.  Right now, when the task sequence finishes the systems are logged in as an administrator.  Again, I'm not sure what code to add to the task sequence (and where) to accomplish this.

Any information or links on what I'm looking for would be greatly appreciated.  I'm sure that both these items are possible, but I'm not using the proper terminology on my searches to find the information I'm looking for.  Thanks!

Hello

first of all I ma new to MDT & does not really knows how exactly it works.

I need to accomplish two tasks in my company

1. deploy a custom image through MDT/WDS.

2. capture a customized image.

I will start from task 2 senario

I created a task sequnce based on standard task sequence in MDT,  this installs standard windows. then i do my customization in refrence computer and in unattend.xml (customized oobe / specialize passes in unattend.xml), this unattend belongs to capture sequence & run the capture sequence. this prefectly captures the custom.wim

Problems:

1. now in some of remote locations we cannot reach through nbetwork. so we use manual dism.exe /apply-image method. we use this custom.wim. in this way there is no customization applied & its just as plain windows installation.

2. if i use MDT to deploy custom image, this takes unattend file of deploy task sequence. (again no customization)

oner thing i noticed when i extracted custom.wim is that there is no panther folder in custom.wim. while i remember old dism /capture-image method kept unattend in pather folder.

please help in achieving my tasks.

Desktop Technology Specialist

Hello all, I've been capturing and deploying images by way of Hyper V and MDT 2013 for the better half of 2014. It's been functioning well but I've hit a snag recently when I try to make updates to my VMs and capture new images. 

I've been browsing to my deployment share and running LiteTouch.vbs as I usually do, then sysprep runs and I select my task sequence for capturing Windows 8.1 Update 1 images. It then functions normally and goes into WinPE but after Set Phase and Configure steps, it shows me the error in the attached image.

My BDD log mentions the following :

I am really just starting out with OS deployment so I'm really hoping someone could point me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a short(ish) 9 minute video on how to find the bdd.log and/or smsts.log file.

Some Key takeaways:

• Start off looking for your bdd.log file. Search everywhere on your machine.
• You might also need to look at the smsts.log file. When in doubt include both.
• Use the SLShare property to automatically copy the logs to a server file share.
• When asking for help on the MDT TechNet Forms, copy the log files to a public site like OneDrive and share the link.
• CMtrace.exe is the tool of choice for viewing log files.

Keith Garner - Principal Consultant [owner] - http://DeploymentLive.com

Was really hoping someone could shed some light on an issue that I'm having.  I'm testing MDT 2013 - Lite Touch in a VMware based lab environment.  I added an 8.1 ISO to the deployment workbench, deployed it to a VM, captured that image as a WIM, and have been practicing deploying that WIM to another blank VM.  I've mostly been following the quick reference guide.  I've had good success pushing the OS and post deployment apps to a VM via standard task sequence, but problems arise when I enable the pre/post application windows update tasks in the sequence. 

A little background, we have a WSUS 3.0 server that we use for approximately 150+ users.  It is setup on port 80.  I have the property added to my customsettings.ini file and have updated my deployment share, but always get failures for running ZTIWindowsUpdate at the end of the sequence.  When I set LT to join the machine to the domain, I have not been specifying an OU so the machine always shows up in our default Computers OU after sysprep.  That's fine, except that we have a separate OU dedicated for WSUS machines that is managed via Group Policy.  I'm not sure if I should be forcing a target OU of WSUS via CS.ini or if I should be doing something else.

I am getting all sorts of fun errors in the BDD and WindowsUpdate logs, none of which are very helpful.  For a while I was just getting errors like "ZTI ERROR - Unhandled error returned by ZTIWindowsUpdate."  The logs seemed to indicate that it was locating updates but as soon as it said "downloading" it would fail with a generic message.  I tried mounting the share locally and running ztiwindowsupdate.wsf via cmd prompt and started getting messages like "failure ( 9902 ): ztiwindowsupdate has run and failed too many times" and my new favorite:

ZTI ERROR - Unhandled error returned by ZTIWindowsUpdate: Invalid root in registry key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU\UseWUServer"

Can anyone actually explain to me what ZtiWindowsUpdate.wsf really does?  I'm talking about from a high level workflow perspective, not a "read my comments" perspective.  I don't understand the logic behind the part that's supposed to prevent infinite loops, it seems like it's very easy to hit the 7 count limit and with no ability to reset the count besides increasing the max number.  Why am I even hitting the limit when all I am doing is running the script from cmd prompt?

I've considered creating a separate WSUS server in my test lab, but I would at least like to get the ZtiWindowsUpdate script working w/o WSUS first (over the Internet) just to prove that it works as it should.

Any help is appreciated.  Sorry if it sounds like I am pulling my hair out (I am).  I have a lot of respect for the MDT guys, they've made a fine product and I am excited to implement it over the next few months.

I have a simple PowerShell script that I'm using when I import drivers to MDT. It works, but for some reason it will get stuck forever to this step where it creates a selection profile. It won't return any error and it's still creating the selection profil, but it won't continue any further from that step.

Import-Module "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Deployment Toolkit\bin\MicrosoftDeploymentToolkit.psd1"
New-PSDrive -Name "DS002" -PSProvider MDTProvider -Root "D:\MDT\Production"

$Manufacturer = Read-Host 'Manufacturer is?'
$ModelName = Read-Host 'Model is?'

new-item -path "DS002:\Out-of-Box Drivers\Windows 7\x64\$Manufacturer" -enable "True" -Name $ModelName -Comments "" -ItemType "folder" -Verbose
#Import the drivers
import-mdtdriver -path "DS002:\Out-of-Box Drivers\Windows 7\x64\$Manufacturer\$ModelName" -SourcePath "D:\DriverSource\HP\Windows 7 x64\HP_Z_Elite_Pro_G1" -Verbose

#Create selection profile
new-item -path "DS002:\Selection Profiles" -enable "True" -Name "$Manufacturer $ModelName - Windows 7 x64" -Comments "" -Definition "<SelectionProfile><Include path=`"Out-of-Box Drivers\Windows 7\x64\$Manufacturer\$ModelName`" /></SelectionProfile>" -ReadOnly "False" -Verbose

$HOST.UI.RawUI.ReadKey("NoEcho,IncludeKeyDown") | OUT-NULL
$HOST.UI.RawUI.Flushinputbuffer()

Hello,

Has anyone been able to capture and deploy Windows 8 64B on Lenovo Thinkpad 10? I have  a MDT 2013 and SCCM 2012 environment. Your guidance would be highly appreciated.

Bchords

I'm having major problems with installing the NIC driver when I deploy my OS.

So far the problem is with Lenovo M78 and L540.

I have a WinPE folder in my OOB, with the correct .inf files and a winPE folder in selection profiles.

The way I extract drivers is I build a Image on a physical computer so all the drivers are installed with no error.

I then use Driverbackup and Double driver to extract the driver and the import them into MDT.

So the drivers should be correct.

Also according to pcivendor it should be the correct one.

I regenerate my deployment share and then take the LitetouchPE_86.wim and copy it to my USBstick and rename to Boot.wim. (my pxeboot is not working)

On the M78 it's this driver I'm having problems with, but it should be the correct one.

pci\ven_10EC&DEV_8168&SUBSYS_308917AA&REV_04

When I deploy the Image and select my TS etc it starts deploying, but stops when it's wants to install drivers for the OS With this error message

" A connection to the deployment share (*****deploymentshare$) could not be made.

The following networking device did not have a driver installed

pci\ven_10EC&DEV_8168&SUBSYS_308917AA&REV_04"

The weird thing is that when I install the exact same driver that I use in my winpe in OOB, (by hand on the client) the deployment will continue and will finish,,, with warnings though.

It seems like the drivers are not being injected to my boot.wim.

I have check the Driverstore\filerepository and the NIC are there but only as a .sys, not as a .inf

I'm using MDT 2013 only (no WDS etc.)

Client is win7 x86

Lenovo M78 and L540

Sorry I have been going at this for almost 18 hours, so there maybe grammar and typo through out my post.  

Link to all the logs will come up later when my account is approved, sorry.

Hello,

I'm trying to upgade windows XP to windows 7 using USMT 4.0 with HardLink
I added three deployment variables:

1. Name: OSDStateStorePath
   Value: %_SMSTSUserStatePath%
2. Name: OSDMigrateAdditionalCaptureOptions
   Value: /nocompress /hardlink
3. Name: OSDMigrateAdditionalRestoreOptions
   Value: /nocompress /hardlink

But with no luck, I can still see the files copied to the OSDStateStorePath.

Any leads?

Thank you!

The definitive post on missing drivers in MDT (most comprehensive list I've done so far)…

Please to NOT post questions from this thread, instead create a new thread.

How to debug Network Driver Problems

One of the earliest hurdles an MDT administrator will come across is the management of device drivers, specifically networking drivers. With most other drivers, like Audio, printer, and video drivers, a quick call to Windows Update or install over the network will resolve the Installation. However unless the Network (and storage) Drivers are installed into Windows from the start, it will be much more difficult to install the rest of the system.

This post should help you get started if you find a machine that did not install a device driver properly, and you want to know how to find and import the correct drivers.

Installing network drivers in the full OS

• Step 1 - Try network connection again
  It's possible that you might get a DHCP error from MDT, but when you try again later to connect the Deployment Share it works! This may be caused by a slow or malfunctioning DHCP server in your network. Re-check your DHCP servers, ensure that PortFast is enabled on your routers. If all else fails get your network administrators to document the DHCP delay. A long delay in modern networks is unnecessary. 

• Step 2 - Verify connectivity
  You may not have a driver problem but a network problem. Check the physical connection on the computer (Network installs on MDT *REQUIRE* a wired network connection, no Wi-Fi). Open a web browser. Check the IP Address (ipconfig.exe /all). Ping the Deployment Server, manually connect to the Deployment Share. IF you can't connect to the Deployment Share, neither can MDT.

• Step 3 - Find the Correct Driver Package
  Before you load the driver into MDT, first verify that you have the correct driver. There are scenarios where you may *think* you have the correct driver, but the driver will never run because the package is designed for a different OS/SKU/Platform/whatever. Install the driver package by:
    ○ Open the Device Manager (devmgmt.msc).
    ○ Find the network device in the list (ensure this is the wired device, not the wireless device)
    ○ Right click on "Properties" and click on the "Details" tab.
    ○ From the "Details" tab, select the property "Hardware Ids" select all the values, and copy to the clipboard, it would be a good idea to save for later. Should look something like:
        PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1502&SUBSYS_21F317AA&REV_04
        PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1502&SUBSYS_21F317AA
        PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1502&CC_020000
        PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1502&CC_0200
    ○ From the "Driver" tab, click on "Update Driver…", click on "Browse my computer for driver software" locate the driver package on the local machine or USB Drive, and install the package.
    ○ You should get a confirmation that the driver package was installed.
    ○ IF you do not get confirmation, MDT driver installation may not work.

 Windows will install the driver starting with the *.inf install package, and will typically include a *.sys (binary) and a *.cat (digital Signature). If the driver package has been re-packaged into a *.cab, *.zip, or other compressed *.exe file, the package must be extracted first. This is a hard requirement for any driver used by MDT and/or SCCM. All driver packages that are signed by Microsoft (WHQL) will be installed from the *.inf file, and you should only use devices that have the Microsoft WHQL Logo as a sign of quality.
 
 If you need a help on where to find driver packages for your devices, the 3 largest Computer OEM manufacturers supply drivers grouped by Make and Model that are easily imported into MDT and SCCM. See: http://deploymentbunny.com/2014/07/08/back-to-basicwhere-to-find-drivers-for-servers-and-clients/

• Step 4 - Load driver into MDT
  If you have more than 20 driver packages, or if you anticipate you will have more than 20 drivers, you should start grouping your drivers in sub-folders for organization. One popular method is to group by Computer Make and Model. Ensure that you are using the correct Driver Selection Profile in your task sequence. If you are unsure, disable any selection profile(s) to ensure the driver is installed correctly.

• Step 5 - Run the full MDT installation
  During installation MDT will perform the following:
    ○ Run the PNPEnum.exe utility and capture output to PnPEnum.xml. The VEN_Xxxx and DEV_Yyyy from the "HardwareIDs" property above must be present in this list. Otherwise we won't have a match.
    ○ Search through the %DeployRoot%\control\drivers.xml file looking for a match for the HardwareID. MDT may filter the search based on the folder search type.
    ○ MDT will copy each matching driver to the local c:\drivers directory using the xcopy.exe command. You can search (grep) for the string "xcopy" in the ZTIDrivers.log file, that will get you list of all driver packages matched by MDT.
    ○ MDT will allow the machine to boot into the NEW OS, and Driver Installation will begin in the OS. IF there are multiple drivers found and copied locally, the Windows (not MDT) will determine the best one. The c:\windows\inf\SetupAPI.*.log files will detail which drivers copied locally were installed (or *not* installed).

Installing Network Drivers in WinPE

• Step 6 - Try the network connection again
  (See above

• Step 7 - Verify Connectivity from within WinPE
  Verifying network connectivity will be a bit more difficult in WinPE, since we have a limited User Interface, so all investigation must be done in the debugging mode (Press F8) cmd.exe
    ○ Try connecting to the Deployment Share:
    c:\> net use * \\MDT\DeploymentShare$ /u:UserDomain\UserName *
    ○ Try pinging the Deployment Server:
    c:\> Ping.exe MDT.Corp.contoso.com
    ○ Verify that you have an IP address ( ipconfig /all ) If you have an AutoConfiguration address - Driver OK - WinPE can't reach the DHCP server. If you have "Media Disconnected" - Driver OK - Physical adapter not plugged to network. If no devices are listed - Driver bad - Driver not installed.
    ○ Check the x:\windows\system32\WpeInit.log - This log will show the network driver (if found) being installed.
   
• Step 8 - Verify driver packages are getting included into WinPE
  Firstly, verify the correct driver package from within the full OS above. By default MDT will import *all* Storage and Networking drivers into your WinPE image. However it is possible to change the subset of files copied via "Selection Profile" or other method. Cross check your WinPE Driver Settings.
    ○ From within the MDT console, right click on the root of your Deployment Share and select properties.
    ○ Click on the "Windows PE" tab, and the "Drivers and Patches" sub tab for both x86 and x64.
    ○ Your Network Drivers package must be in the "Selection Profile" if enabled.
   
  Finally verify that the correct Network Driver package is being copied to WinPE. If necessary this may include setting up a debugger to watch the MDT Provider build the WinPE Image from scratch. My preference is to use the SysInternals http://live.sysinternals.com/Dbgview.exe tool.
    ○ Open up the MDT console.
    ○ Download and run the DbgView.exe tool.
    ○ Update the deployment share in question.
    ○ The DbgView tool should show what drivers were copied to each WinPE Image.

Other

• Whenever you add a driver into the MDT console, you must update the deployment share for that drivers to be added to your WinPE Image. If you are unsure, select "Completely regenerate the boot images." to ensure the drivers is imported. Additionally, you must copy the updated LitetouchPE_x??.wim and *.iso files to the other consumers of the WinPE image like WDS/PXE and or any USB offline media.
  
• Note that some Broadcom NetXtreme class of drivers have a multi-function driver architecture that may have difficulty loading in WinPE. Ensure that you load the "RIS" class of drivers from Broadcom in your MDT environment. 
  
• Note that by default MDT does *NOT* support the installation of Windows over Wireless network devices (Wi-Fi). The MDT installation sources must either be available through wired networking, or offline (USB Flash) media.
• This post does not discuss origination of drivers within MDT ( Chaos vs. Total Control ), that is a different topic. http://www.deploymentresearch.com/Research/tabid/62/EntryId/112/MDT-2013-Lite-Touch-Driver-Management.aspx

Further Help

If you are still having problems with drivers in via MDT, ask the experts in the MDT Technet Forum:

• Include a short description of the problem. Including the Make/Mode if necessary.
• Include the HardwareIDs from the Device Manager (Devmgmt.msc) into the post (from above).
• Copy your known good driver package (step 3 above) to OneDrive.
• Copy the following log files to a public site like OneDrive and include the link:
    ○ PnpEnum.xml (from Client)
    ○ Bdd.log (From Client) - or at least the ZTIDrivers.log file.
    ○ c:\windows\inf\SetupAPI.*.log (from client)
    ○ %DeployRoot%\control\Driver*.xml
    ○ %DeployRoot%\control\SelectionProfile*.xml
    ○ %DeployRoot%\control\settings.xml (if problems in WinPE)
    ○ x:\windows\System32\WpeInit.log (if problems in WinPE)
    ○ If the MDT server is not including your driver package in WinPE include the DBGView log.

This post is by Keith Garner - Keith was a developer on the MDT team where he developed the ZTIDrivers.wsf script, he also worked for the Windows Hardware Quality Labs as a technical PM on Driver Quality, and developed samples for the Microsoft Device Driver Kit (DDK) specifically around the area of Device Driver installation in the OS (Windows NT 5.0, 2000 and Windows XP). (So yes, I know drivers :^).

Keith Garner - Principal Consultant [owner] - http://DeploymentLive.com

Here is a short(ish) 6 minute video on how to debug unattend.xml problems within Windows Setup.

Some Key Takeaways:

• When running Windows Setup, press Shift+10 to get to cmd.exe
• Look for logs in c:\windows\panther
• A copy of the unattend.xml file will be in c:\windows\panther\unattend.xml
• Double check each file to see if they have content (sometimes files listed as size Zero Bytes are actually not Zero!)
• When asking for help on the MDT TechNet Forums, copy all the panther logs to a public site like OneDrive and share the link.

Keith Garner - Principal Consultant [owner] - http://DeploymentLive.com

(Sorry for what is probably a simple question; didn't see a clear-cut answer when I searched this forum.)

I want to suggest that we put WinRE in our images, now that we've got MDT 2012, but we need our OS needs to be on the first partition and that partition must be named "C".  We also anticipate using the REFRESH scenario, as needed, and the preceding matches the requirements in the documentation "Verify Adequate Target Computer Resources".  However, if WinRE is added, is that placed on the first partition?  And does that "bump" the OS to a second partition?

Thank you in advance,

Mike

south-central Nebraska

Simple question. How to add a new custom variable to MDT using PowerShell? I only know how to do it from VBS.