Hey everyone, I've been having a pretty frustrating issue with some Dell Pro devices that were imaged with Windows 11 24H2 OS Build 26100.4349 and are running via SCCM. After a Windows Update to OS Build 26100.4652, they get stuck on 'Preparing Windows' and when I finally get to the login screen, I only see a black desktop with the mouse pointer showing. Sometimes it seems to fix itself, but I can't pinpoint what triggers it. I've been troubleshooting with several methods like running sfc and dism commands, deleting local appdata packages, and even turning off features like AppLocker and Sophos, but nothing consistently works. Interestingly, some machines seem to fix themselves when I manually install the latest update (26100.4770). I'm seeking advice from anyone who's faced this issue and how they managed to resolve it. Given that thousands of units are affected, it's quite a challenge!
4 Answers
You might want to consider reinstalling Windows if this keeps happening. It could save you a lot of headache in the long run if you have a clean slate, especially with so many devices!
Have you tried copying the app data folder from a working unit? It might help if they share the same configurations.
Have you checked the app tile layer? There was a weird bug back in the day that stopped the start menu from working. If it’s truly a profile issue, it could be worth inspecting that.
I think the newer version handles that differently; I can't even locate those folders now.
Is this a clean image or have you tweaked it at all? Sometimes changes made during imaging can cause issues like this.
It's a clean image! We don’t modify anything while capturing.
I totally get that, but with so many devices, we really need to find the root cause and not just sweep it under the rug.