Hey everyone, I'm looking for some help with a frustrating issue I've been having. For the past couple of days, I've been trying to create a custom 'Golden' Windows 11 image to distribute across multiple devices, but I keep hitting a BSoD every single time I attempt to capture it. I'm using Hyper-V Manager for my virtual machines.
Here's what I've done so far: I downloaded the official Windows 11 ISO, created a new VM with 100GB of storage from my Host SSD, configured everything by disabling encryption, enabling TPM, and setting up an external virtual switch. I booted into the VM, completed the Windows installation, installed necessary software and drivers, debloated the OS with a script, and removed some Microsoft packages that were blocking the OOBE.
Once that was done, I ran sysprep.exe, ticked 'Generalize', set it for OOBE, and shut down the VM. Afterward, I created a WinPE ISO using `copype` and `MakeWinPEMedia`. I added another DVD drive to the VM and booted into WinPE, then opened cmd with Shift+F10, using Diskpart to assign letters to the volumes.
I've tried saving the .wim file on various types of storage: a virtual HDD, a real hard disk, and even a USB drive, but when I run the DISM command to capture the image, I always get a BSoD. It usually crashes around 1% to 10% with a 'SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION' message. I've retried this process three times, starting from scratch each time, and I'm at a loss about what might be going wrong. Any advice or similar experiences would really help me out! Thanks!
1 Answer
Have you considered using tools like MDT or SCCM for your deployment? Golden images can be a real hassle, and those tools can streamline the process a lot better than manual methods. They can help automate the process and make it less error-prone!
I opted for this process because I wanted to start from scratch, but I did check out MDT and SCCM. I thought SCCM required a license, which is why I didn’t go that route. Can you use it for free just to learn?