MDT auto-logon and update fails on when re-imagining Windows 10

mdtwindows 10

Overview:

In our environment, we have MDT + WDS. Each night a Windows 10 VM boots and MDT installs Windows 10, along with downloading and install the latest updates from Microsoft. The "install.wim" we're using was copied from a Windows 10 ISO downloaded from MSDN.

This process works excellent so long as we continue to run this process using the "install.wim" file from a Windows 10 ISO as the base image. If we use DSIM to capture a new image (i.e. after the MDT-managed Windows 10 install and MS updates), the process only partially works. Meaning, when attempting to run the same task sequence on a newly-capture "install.wim", MDT installs Windows 10, but it doesn't auto-login, download and install the latest Microsoft updates. Instead, after Windows 10 installs, Windows 10 just sits at the logon screen.

Desired outcome:

I would like to install Windows 10 using MDT and capture that installation using DSIM. After that, we want to import that newly-installed and newly-patched version of Windows 10 into WDS and at a later date be able to re-run the task sequence on the new base image. Meaning, MDT would a) install Windows 10. Then b) auto-login and download and install the latest Windows updates. Finally c) shutdown the machine once all of that is complete. I should be able to run these actions on any Windows 10 base image we specify.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Import the unedited Windows 10 "install.wim" into WDS.
  2. After running the "import the Operating Systems" wizard in MDT (to read OSs from WDS), configure a task sequence to install, patch and shutdown Windows 10.
  3. Use the above-mentioned task sequence to install Windows 10. (All works excellent so far).
  4. Detach the C-Drive and attach the C-Drive as an additional drive on a separate machine, i.e. a Windows Server 2016 VM. Then, run DSIM to capture the Windows 10 install. The DSIM command used is as follows:
dism /Capture-Image /ImageFile:"E:\MDT_Capture_Files\Win10Capture_DISM.wim" /CaptureDir:F:\ /Name:"Windows10CaptureDISM"
  1. In WDS, replace the above-mentioned Windows 10 "install.wim" with the WIM created by DSIM.
  2. Boot the computer (in Step #3), reinstall Windows 10 using MDT. This is where things go wrong. Windows 10 installs, but the auto-login does not work. Even when we manually sign in, the rest of the MDT task sequence does not run.

Best Answer

MDT requires some steps to be performed during Specialize and OOBE phases of Windows Setup, and those phases will only be "Triggered" if you sysprep the machine.

Apparently using a non-syspreped image is strictly not supported in MDT Deployments.

Source: Click here (see Keith Garner's response)

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