For a Limited Audience: A Collection of Generic Answer Files, Each with a Different Purpose

hsehestedt · Jun 25, 2024

Mr Hosam said:
I used " Fully Unattended Installation, Creates Recovery Partition Last "
and i run into an error as below, Any Help Please

Windows could not parse or process unattend answer file
[C:\\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml] for pass [oobeSystem].
The settings specified in answer file cannot be applied.
The error was detected while processing setting for
component [Microsoft-Windows-Shill-Setup].

First, I hope that this was just a typo:

The error was detected while processing setting for
component [Microsoft-Windows-Shill-Setup].

Notice that the error references "Shill-Setup". That should be "Shell" (with an e rather than an i). I hope that you typed this manually. If not, make sure that this is correct in your real answer file.

Also, I notice that the path being referenced is "C:\\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml". The answer file as I have created it is intended to be place onto the root of your installation media and saved as autounattend.xml, not unattend.xml.

If you have made any changes to the answer file, could you post a copy of the file as you are using it here? This would allow me to test it to see if I can figure out where the problem is.

At this point I feel that it would be good to explain what the difference between the autounattend.xml and the unattend.xml file is:

-----
What is the difference between the autounattend.xml and the unattend.xml answer files?

autounattend.xml - This file deals with the information needed by Windows to understand how to install Windows, the critical pieces of information needed to setup Windows. For example, what disk should Windows be installed on, how should that disk be partitioned, etc.

unattend.xml - This file deals mainly with the OOBE (Out Of Box Experience). In other words, once the basic installation is done and Windows is booted for the first time after the initial installation, this file applies customizations to Windows. For example, it changes the computer name to the name you specify, it sets OEM information for the system, allows you to bypass the EULA, create user accounts, etc.

Note that the unattend.xml file is only used if you create a reference system. You can take most of the settings that are in the unattend.xml file and place them in the autounattend.xml if you do not want to create a reference system.
-----

After you check the above, if you are still having difficulties, please post a copy of your answer file if you have made any changes to it so that I can test if to see if I have any difficulties with it.

Have you also made sure that in your system, the drive to which Windows should be installed onto is drive number 0 (zero)? On some systems, this needs to be changed. On my primary desktop PC, as an example, Windows is installed on disk 2. You can verify this like this:

Boot from your Windows installation media WITHOUT AN ANSWER FILE. At the first static screen where Windows setup stops tomask you for information, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt. Run DISKPART. Within diskpart, do a "list disk". Hopefully from the information displayed you can determine which disk is the one to which Windows needs to be installed. Make note of that drive number. That is the drive number to use in the answer file. Note that if you need more info on a drive to determine if it is the correct drive, you can do this:

select disk 0
detail disk

Repeat the above commands for disk 1, 2, etc. as needed.

When done, type "exit" to exit from diskpart and then reboot your system.

If this still does not help, please let me know and I will help further.

Mr Hosam · Jun 26, 2024

hsehestedt said:
First, I hope that this was just a typo:

The error was detected while processing setting for
component [Microsoft-Windows-Shill-Setup].

Notice that the error references "Shill-Setup". That should be "Shell" (with an e rather than an i). I hope that you typed this manually. If not, make sure that this is correct in your real answer file.

Also, I notice that the path being referenced is "C:\\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml". The answer file as I have created it is intended to be place onto the root of your installation media and saved as autounattend.xml, not unattend.xml.

If you have made any changes to the answer file, could you post a copy of the file as you are using it here? This would allow me to test it to see if I can figure out where the problem is.

At this point I feel that it would be good to explain what the difference between the autounattend.xml and the unattend.xml file is:

-----
What is the difference between the autounattend.xml and the unattend.xml answer files?

autounattend.xml - This file deals with the information needed by Windows to understand how to install Windows, the critical pieces of information needed to setup Windows. For example, what disk should Windows be installed on, how should that disk be partitioned, etc.

unattend.xml - This file deals mainly with the OOBE (Out Of Box Experience). In other words, once the basic installation is done and Windows is booted for the first time after the initial installation, this file applies customizations to Windows. For example, it changes the computer name to the name you specify, it sets OEM information for the system, allows you to bypass the EULA, create user accounts, etc.

Note that the unattend.xml file is only used if you create a reference system. You can take most of the settings that are in the unattend.xml file and place them in the autounattend.xml if you do not want to create a reference system.
-----

After you check the above, if you are still having difficulties, please post a copy of your answer file if you have made any changes to it so that I can test if to see if I have any difficulties with it.

Have you also made sure that in your system, the drive to which Windows should be installed onto is drive number 0 (zero)? On some systems, this needs to be changed. On my primary desktop PC, as an example, Windows is installed on disk 2. You can verify this like this:

Boot from your Windows installation media WITHOUT AN ANSWER FILE. At the first static screen where Windows setup stops tomask you for information, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt. Run DISKPART. Within diskpart, do a "list disk". Hopefully from the information displayed you can determine which disk is the one to which Windows needs to be installed. Make note of that drive number. That is the drive number to use in the answer file. Note that if you need more info on a drive to determine if it is the correct drive, you can do this:

select disk 0
detail disk

Repeat the above commands for disk 1, 2, etc. as needed.

When done, type "exit" to exit from diskpart and then reboot your system.

If this still does not help, please let me know and I will help further.

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--
Notes about this answer file:

This answer file is for UEFI based systems only.

It includes a Windows 10 / 11 Pro key.

It creates an Admin level user named "WinUser", full name "Windows User" with an initial password of "Password1".

Locale settings are set to United States English.

IMPORTANT: The "User Locale" has been changed from en-US to en-001 in both places where it appears. This is the equivalent of
           "English (World)". By doing this, Windows will not believe itself to be in a location where Microsoft Store access
           is available and as a result none of the "bloatware" placeholder icons will be installed to Start. After Windows is
           installed you will need to do the following:

           1) Make certain that Windows has Internet access BEFORE you perform step 2 below. If you perform step 2 before
              Windows has had a chance to connect to the Internet, the placeholder icons will appear in Start as soon as
              Internet access becomes available.

           2) Open Settings > Time & language > Language & region. Under "Region" change "Country or region" to United States
              (or the region appropriate to you). Also, change the "Regional format" to "English (United States)" or to the
              setting appropriate for your region. Note that "Recommended" can also be used here.

Time zone is set to US Central Time. Change this if needed.

It includes settings to bypass Windows 11 system requirements.

The size of the Recovery Tools partition created by this answer will be larger than normal at 2 GB. Change this if you are very short on space or prefer a smaller Recovery Tools partition.

It will install automatically to disk 0 and creates the recovery partition last, as Microsoft recommends. To accomplish this,
we do not use the standard method of specifying the disk configuration information, but we create a diskpart script to
configure the disk.

This answer file can be used with both Windows 10 and 11. The settings to bypass
Windows 11 system requirement checks will have no effect on Windows 10.

END OF NOTES
-->
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <SetupUILanguage>
                <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            </SetupUILanguage>
            <InputLocale>en-US</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>
            <UserLocale>en-001</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <ImageInstall>
                <OSImage>
                    <InstallTo>
                        <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                        <PartitionID>3</PartitionID>
                    </InstallTo>
                    <!--
Below you will find 6 lines that are commented out. These lines will allow you to specify a specific Windows edition to install
in those case where your Windows image has more than one of the same edition. As an example, suppose that you have more than
one Windows Pro edition. Maybe one of these is a standard Windows Pro edition, and another has Windows Pro with drivers added
for use in a specific system. If you are specifying a generic Windows Pro key for installation, setup will pause and expect
you to specify which Windows Pro edition to install since there is more than one. By uncommenting the section below, you
are telling setup exactly which one of these to install. Make sure to update the index value to the correct value for
your situation. You can ignore this if you are using a standard retail Windows installation media.

Note that you can also change the value for "key"  to /IMAGE/NAME or /IMAGE/DESCRIPTION to specify the edition to be
installed by NAME or DESCRIPTION rather than by index number.
-->
                    <!--
                    <InstallFrom>
                        <MetaData wcm:action="add">
                            <Key>/IMAGE/NAME</Key>
                            <Value>Windows 11 Pro</Value>
                        </MetaData>
                    </InstallFrom>
-->
                </OSImage>
            </ImageInstall>
            <UserData>
                <ProductKey>
                    <Key>VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T</Key>
                </ProductKey>
                <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
            </UserData>
<!--
The first 4 Synchronous Commands below bypass the Windows 11 system requirement checks. The checks that are bypassed are:

TPM Check
Secure Boot Check
RAM Check
CPU Check

The remaining Synchronous Commands will partition the hard disk with the following settings:

NOTE: Synchronous Command #5 selects disk 0. If disk 0 is not the disk you need to use, change this to the correct disk number.

Partion Type   |     Size (in MB)       | Format
================================================
    EFI        |            260         | FAT32
    MSR        |            128         | NONE
  Windows      | Remaining Space - 2 GB | NTFS
  Recovery     |           2,048        | NTFS
================================================
-->

            <RunSynchronous>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>1</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassTPMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>2</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassSecureBootCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>3</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassRAMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>4</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassCPUCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>5</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo select disk 0 &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>6</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo clean &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>7</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo convert gpt &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>8</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo create partition efi size=260 &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>9</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo format fs=fat32 quick label=&quot;System&quot; &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>10</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo create partition msr size=128 &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>11</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo create partition primary &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>12</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo shrink desired=2048 minimum=2048  &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>13</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo format fs=ntfs quick label=&quot;Windows&quot; &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>14</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo assign letter=W &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>15</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo create partition primary &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>16</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo format fs=ntfs quick label=&quot;Recovery&quot; &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>17</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo set id=&quot;de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac&quot; &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>18</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001 &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>19</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo exit &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>20</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c diskpart.exe /s X:\DiskPartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
            </RunSynchronous>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <InputLocale>en-US</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>
            <UserLocale>en-001</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <OOBE>
                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                <ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
                <UnattendEnableRetailDemo>false</UnattendEnableRetailDemo>
            </OOBE>
            <UserAccounts>
                <LocalAccounts>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <Password>
                            <Value>QwBPAEUAJAAyADAAMQA3ACQAQwBPAEUA</Value>
                            <PlainText>false</PlainText>
                        </Password>
                        <DisplayName>CoEAdmin</DisplayName>
                        <Group>Administrators</Group>
                        <Name>COE</Name>
                    </LocalAccount>
                </LocalAccounts>
            </UserAccounts>
            <TimeZone>Arabian Standard Time</TimeZone>
            <FirstLogonCommands>
                <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <CommandLine>reg add &quot;HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon&quot; /v AutoLogonCount /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f</CommandLine>
                    <Order>1</Order>
                </SynchronousCommand>
            </FirstLogonCommands>
            <AutoLogon>
                <Password>
                    <Value>QwBPAEUAJAAyADAAMQA3ACQAQwBPAEUA</Value>
                    <PlainText>false</PlainText>
                </Password>
                <Username>COE</Username>
                <Enabled>true</Enabled>
                <LogonCount>1</LogonCount>
            </AutoLogon>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="specialize">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <OEMInformation>
                <Manufacturer></Manufacturer>
                <SupportHours></SupportHours>
                <SupportPhone></SupportPhone>
                <SupportURL></SupportURL>
            </OEMInformation>
            <OEMName></OEMName>
            <TimeZone>Arabian Standard Time</TimeZone>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="catalog:c:/data/windows/windows tools and deployment apps/assets and tools for deployment/catalog files for windows sim/windows 11 22h2 catalog files/install_windows 11 pro.clg" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
</unattend>

hsehestedt · Jun 26, 2024

I think that I have found the problem...

First, I should note that your answer file also failed for me, but I got a very different error.

When making changes to the user account information, I've noticed that you should always do this using the "Windows System Image Manager". For some reason, making changes manually to this section seems to sometimes cause password problems.

To resolve the issue, I did this:

1) Load the answer file into the "Windows System Image Manager".

2) DELETE both of the password blocks and then re-add them.

NOTE: I've noticed this behavior before, as a result, any time I make changes to the user account info I always delete the password block and re-add it just to be on the safe side.

Below is an updated version of the answer file. Note that the user account now has NO password. You can change this if you like, but I suggest that you try this answer file as it is first to see if this solves the issue for you or if you are still having any problems with it.

I tested it here and it worked fine for me.

NOTE: I made one other change: I changed the two occurrences of en-001 to en-US. You can change this back if you like, but again, I would suggest testing it as it is. I was planning on changing it back myself and testing it but I'm simply running short on time at the moment. I may try it myself later.

XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--
Notes about this answer file:

This answer file is for UEFI based systems only.

It includes a Windows 10 / 11 Pro key.

It creates an Admin level user named "WinUser", full name "Windows User" with an initial password of "Password1".

Locale settings are set to United States English.

Time zone is set to "Arabian Standard Time". Change this if needed.

It includes settings to bypass Windows 11 system requirements.

The size of the Recovery Tools partition created by this answer will be larger than normal at 2 GB. Change this if you are very short on space or prefer a smaller Recovery Tools partition.

It will install automatically to disk 0 and creates the recovery partition last, as Microsoft recommends. To accomplish this,
we do not use the standard method of specifying the disk configuration information, but we create a diskpart script to
configure the disk.

This answer file can be used with both Windows 10 and 11. The settings to bypass
Windows 11 system requirement checks will have no effect on Windows 10.

END OF NOTES
-->
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <SetupUILanguage>
                <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            </SetupUILanguage>
            <InputLocale>en-US</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>
            <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <ImageInstall>
                <OSImage>
                    <InstallTo>
                        <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                        <PartitionID>3</PartitionID>
                    </InstallTo>
                    <!--
Below you will find 6 lines that are commented out. These lines will allow you to specify a specific Windows edition to install
in those case where your Windows image has more than one of the same edition. As an example, suppose that you have more than
one Windows Pro edition. Maybe one of these is a standard Windows Pro edition, and another has Windows Pro with drivers added
for use in a specific system. If you are specifying a generic Windows Pro key for installation, setup will pause and expect
you to specify which Windows Pro edition to install since there is more than one. By uncommenting the section below, you
are telling setup exactly which one of these to install. Make sure to update the index value to the correct value for
your situation. You can ignore this if you are using a standard retail Windows installation media.

Note that you can also change the value for "key"  to /IMAGE/NAME or /IMAGE/DESCRIPTION to specify the edition to be
installed by NAME or DESCRIPTION rather than by index number.
-->
                    <!--
                    <InstallFrom>
                        <MetaData wcm:action="add">
                            <Key>/IMAGE/NAME</Key>
                            <Value>Windows 11 Pro</Value>
                        </MetaData>
                    </InstallFrom>
-->
                </OSImage>
            </ImageInstall>
            <UserData>
                <ProductKey>
                    <Key>VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T</Key>
                </ProductKey>
                <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
            </UserData>
            <!--
The first 4 Synchronous Commands below bypass the Windows 11 system requirement checks. The checks that are bypassed are:

TPM Check
Secure Boot Check
RAM Check
CPU Check

The remaining Synchronous Commands will partition the hard disk with the following settings:

NOTE: Synchronous Command #5 selects disk 0. If disk 0 is not the disk you need to use, change this to the correct disk number.

Partion Type   |     Size (in MB)       | Format
================================================
    EFI        |            260         | FAT32
    MSR        |            128         | NONE
  Windows      | Remaining Space - 2 GB | NTFS
  Recovery     |           2,048        | NTFS
================================================
-->
            <RunSynchronous>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>1</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassTPMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>2</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassSecureBootCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>3</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassRAMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>4</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassCPUCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>5</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo select disk 0 &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>6</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo clean &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>7</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo convert gpt &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>8</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo create partition efi size=260 &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>9</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo format fs=fat32 quick label=&quot;System&quot; &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>10</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo create partition msr size=128 &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>11</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo create partition primary &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>12</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo shrink desired=2048 minimum=2048  &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>13</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo format fs=ntfs quick label=&quot;Windows&quot; &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>14</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo assign letter=W &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>15</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo create partition primary &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>16</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo format fs=ntfs quick label=&quot;Recovery&quot; &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>17</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo set id=&quot;de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac&quot; &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>18</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001 &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>19</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo exit &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>20</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c diskpart.exe /s X:\DiskPartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
            </RunSynchronous>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <InputLocale>en-US</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>
            <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <OOBE>
                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                <ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
                <UnattendEnableRetailDemo>false</UnattendEnableRetailDemo>
            </OOBE>
            <UserAccounts>
                <LocalAccounts>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <DisplayName>CoEAdmin</DisplayName>
                        <Group>Administrators</Group>
                        <Name>COE</Name>
                        <Password>
                            <Value>UABhAHMAcwB3AG8AcgBkAA==</Value>
                            <PlainText>false</PlainText>
                        </Password>
                    </LocalAccount>
                </LocalAccounts>
            </UserAccounts>
            <TimeZone>Arabian Standard Time</TimeZone>
            <FirstLogonCommands>
                <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <CommandLine>reg add &quot;HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon&quot; /v AutoLogonCount /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f</CommandLine>
                    <Order>1</Order>
                </SynchronousCommand>
            </FirstLogonCommands>
            <AutoLogon>
                <Username>COE</Username>
                <Enabled>true</Enabled>
                <LogonCount>1</LogonCount>
                <Password>
                    <Value>UABhAHMAcwB3AG8AcgBkAA==</Value>
                    <PlainText>false</PlainText>
                </Password>
            </AutoLogon>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="specialize">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <OEMInformation>
                <Manufacturer></Manufacturer>
                <SupportHours></SupportHours>
                <SupportPhone></SupportPhone>
                <SupportURL></SupportURL>
            </OEMInformation>
            <OEMName></OEMName>
            <TimeZone>Arabian Standard Time</TimeZone>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="catalog://minipc-ck10/windows_driveiso_files/sources/install_windows 11 pro.clg" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
</unattend>

Mr Hosam · Jun 30, 2024

hsehestedt said:

I think that I have found the problem...

First, I should note that your answer file also failed for me, but I got a very different error.

When making changes to the user account information, I've noticed that you should always do this using the "Windows System Image Manager". For some reason, making changes manually to this section seems to sometimes cause password problems.

To resolve the issue, I did this:

1) Load the answer file into the "Windows System Image Manager".

2) DELETE both of the password blocks and then re-add them.

NOTE: I've noticed this behavior before, as a result, any time I make changes to the user account info I always delete the password block and re-add it just to be on the safe side.

Below is an updated version of the answer file. Note that the user account now has NO password. You can change this if you like, but I suggest that you try this answer file as it is first to see if this solves the issue for you or if you are still having any problems with it.

I tested it here and it worked fine for me.

NOTE: I made one other change: I changed the two occurrences of en-001 to en-US. You can change this back if you like, but again, I would suggest testing it as it is. I was planning on changing it back myself and testing it but I'm simply running short on time at the moment. I may try it myself later.

XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--
Notes about this answer file:

This answer file is for UEFI based systems only.

It includes a Windows 10 / 11 Pro key.

It creates an Admin level user named "WinUser", full name "Windows User" with an initial password of "Password1".

Locale settings are set to United States English.

Time zone is set to "Arabian Standard Time". Change this if needed.

It includes settings to bypass Windows 11 system requirements.

The size of the Recovery Tools partition created by this answer will be larger than normal at 2 GB. Change this if you are very short on space or prefer a smaller Recovery Tools partition.

It will install automatically to disk 0 and creates the recovery partition last, as Microsoft recommends. To accomplish this,
we do not use the standard method of specifying the disk configuration information, but we create a diskpart script to
configure the disk.

This answer file can be used with both Windows 10 and 11. The settings to bypass
Windows 11 system requirement checks will have no effect on Windows 10.

END OF NOTES
-->
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <SetupUILanguage>
                <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            </SetupUILanguage>
            <InputLocale>en-US</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>
            <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <ImageInstall>
                <OSImage>
                    <InstallTo>
                        <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                        <PartitionID>3</PartitionID>
                    </InstallTo>
                    <!--
Below you will find 6 lines that are commented out. These lines will allow you to specify a specific Windows edition to install
in those case where your Windows image has more than one of the same edition. As an example, suppose that you have more than
one Windows Pro edition. Maybe one of these is a standard Windows Pro edition, and another has Windows Pro with drivers added
for use in a specific system. If you are specifying a generic Windows Pro key for installation, setup will pause and expect
you to specify which Windows Pro edition to install since there is more than one. By uncommenting the section below, you
are telling setup exactly which one of these to install. Make sure to update the index value to the correct value for
your situation. You can ignore this if you are using a standard retail Windows installation media.

Note that you can also change the value for "key"  to /IMAGE/NAME or /IMAGE/DESCRIPTION to specify the edition to be
installed by NAME or DESCRIPTION rather than by index number.
-->
                    <!--
                    <InstallFrom>
                        <MetaData wcm:action="add">
                            <Key>/IMAGE/NAME</Key>
                            <Value>Windows 11 Pro</Value>
                        </MetaData>
                    </InstallFrom>
-->
                </OSImage>
            </ImageInstall>
            <UserData>
                <ProductKey>
                    <Key>VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T</Key>
                </ProductKey>
                <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
            </UserData>
            <!--
The first 4 Synchronous Commands below bypass the Windows 11 system requirement checks. The checks that are bypassed are:

TPM Check
Secure Boot Check
RAM Check
CPU Check

The remaining Synchronous Commands will partition the hard disk with the following settings:

NOTE: Synchronous Command #5 selects disk 0. If disk 0 is not the disk you need to use, change this to the correct disk number.

Partion Type   |     Size (in MB)       | Format
================================================
    EFI        |            260         | FAT32
    MSR        |            128         | NONE
  Windows      | Remaining Space - 2 GB | NTFS
  Recovery     |           2,048        | NTFS
================================================
-->
            <RunSynchronous>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>1</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassTPMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>2</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassSecureBootCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>3</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassRAMCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>4</Order>
                    <Path>reg add HKLM\System\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassCPUCheck /t reg_dword /d 0x00000001 /f</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>5</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo select disk 0 &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>6</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo clean &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>7</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo convert gpt &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>8</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo create partition efi size=260 &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>9</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo format fs=fat32 quick label=&quot;System&quot; &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>10</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo create partition msr size=128 &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>11</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo create partition primary &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>12</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo shrink desired=2048 minimum=2048  &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>13</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo format fs=ntfs quick label=&quot;Windows&quot; &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>14</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo assign letter=W &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>15</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo create partition primary &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>16</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo format fs=ntfs quick label=&quot;Recovery&quot; &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>17</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo set id=&quot;de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac&quot; &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>18</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001 &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>19</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c echo exit &gt;&gt; X:\diskpartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>20</Order>
                    <Path>cmd.exe /c diskpart.exe /s X:\DiskPartUEFI.txt</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
            </RunSynchronous>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <InputLocale>en-US</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>
            <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <OOBE>
                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                <ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
                <UnattendEnableRetailDemo>false</UnattendEnableRetailDemo>
            </OOBE>
            <UserAccounts>
                <LocalAccounts>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <DisplayName>CoEAdmin</DisplayName>
                        <Group>Administrators</Group>
                        <Name>COE</Name>
                        <Password>
                            <Value>UABhAHMAcwB3AG8AcgBkAA==</Value>
                            <PlainText>false</PlainText>
                        </Password>
                    </LocalAccount>
                </LocalAccounts>
            </UserAccounts>
            <TimeZone>Arabian Standard Time</TimeZone>
            <FirstLogonCommands>
                <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <CommandLine>reg add &quot;HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon&quot; /v AutoLogonCount /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f</CommandLine>
                    <Order>1</Order>
                </SynchronousCommand>
            </FirstLogonCommands>
            <AutoLogon>
                <Username>COE</Username>
                <Enabled>true</Enabled>
                <LogonCount>1</LogonCount>
                <Password>
                    <Value>UABhAHMAcwB3AG8AcgBkAA==</Value>
                    <PlainText>false</PlainText>
                </Password>
            </AutoLogon>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="specialize">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <OEMInformation>
                <Manufacturer></Manufacturer>
                <SupportHours></SupportHours>
                <SupportPhone></SupportPhone>
                <SupportURL></SupportURL>
            </OEMInformation>
            <OEMName></OEMName>
            <TimeZone>Arabian Standard Time</TimeZone>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="catalog://minipc-ck10/windows_driveiso_files/sources/install_windows 11 pro.clg" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
</unattend>

it worked but when I added the password as below with password " COE$2017$COE " it for some reason making it as " COE$2017$COEPassword "
How can i remove the " Password " that come in the end of the password?

hsehestedt · Jun 30, 2024

If you want to change the password or modify it, you should load your answer file in the Windows System Image Manager (installed as part of the Windows ADK) just as you show it in your last screenshot.

If we look at your screenshot, you will notice that the value shown for your password is an encrypted hash of your password. Highlight that hash and delete it, then enter your new password. Save this. You will note that your password again gets changed into an encrypted hash. Just be sure to change the password everywhere! For example, change the password where the account is created in the answer file, but also change it in any other locations such as the "AutoLogon" section as well.

hsehestedt · Jun 30, 2024

Some additional information: If you do not want your password to be shown as an encrypted hash, change the option for plain text to "true".

Mr Hosam · Jul 1, 2024

hsehestedt said:
If you want to change the password or modify it, you should load your answer file in the Windows System Image Manager (installed as part of the Windows ADK) just as you show it in your last screenshot.

If we look at your screenshot, you will notice that the value shown for your password is an encrypted hash of your password. Highlight that hash and delete it, then enter your new password. Save this. You will note that your password again gets changed into an encrypted hash. Just be sure to change the password everywhere! For example, change the password where the account is created in the answer file, but also change it in any other locations such as the "AutoLogon" section as well.

hsehestedt said:
Some additional information: If you do not want your password to be shown as an encrypted hash, change the option for plain text to "true".

View attachment 100345

Thanks for the help it worked, I deleted the password then i saved the Answer file after that I re-added the password and now windows start and make the password as intended.

hsehestedt · Jul 1, 2024

Mr Hosam said:
Thanks for the help it worked, I deleted the password then i saved the Answer file after that I re-added the password and now windows start and make the password as intended.

Excellent! Thanks for letting us know that it worked.

CanOWorms · Aug 11, 2024

This website has a very comprehensive autounattend.xml, generator including commands to: disable Windows apps like Media Player, install virtual machine support, remove Bitlocker device encryption, etc. I've tested it on unblemished OEM .ISOs as well as customized .ISOs and the generated autounattend scripts work like champs. Highly recommended.

bradyholt · 2025-04-23T12:29:30-0400

hsehestedt said:
Excellent! Thanks for letting us know that it worked.

I have been watching and using your answerfiles but I too have ran into an error on one. Are you still around to look at one?

hsehestedt · 2025-04-23T17:12:21-0400

bradyholt said:
I have been watching and using your answerfiles but I too have ran into an error on one. Are you still around to look at one?

Absolutely! How can I help?

bradyholt · 2025-04-23T22:00:29-0400

hsehestedt said:
Absolutely! How can I help?

You are too kind. Thank you

So I have been using your fully unattended recovery partition BEFORE Windows for almost a year mainly on 23H2 and supporting users in several countries this has been so much easier to give them the xml file and then they just boot to a USB, so thank you for doing what you have done. I also use Intune to manage all our users and we went through an audit and I had to push out 24H2 and on a couple of machines they were unable to upgrade due to a "Couldn't update the system reserved partition". So I remembered your post and came back to try to make a new answer file with the Fully Unattended with the recovery partition AFTER Windows. I copied the file and cleaned it up and removed the admin account and added some of my own items. It is pretty clean and the only real difference is trying it with the new partitioning way you have done. What happens is it goes through the first setup phase then while installing it gets to around 55% and then reboots and then has a "Computer has restarted unexpectedly" error.

I used DISM to apply the latest CU to a wim so I thought it was my custom wim, so I tried on a vanilla wim. Same error. I have tried it on several wims (arm pro, x64 pro, x64 Enterprise LTSC) all get the same error. I thought it might be how I use the $OEM$ folder in sources and have the SetupComplete.cmd run and install extracted drivers from the $OEM$>$1 folder so I removed that from the installer. Still got the same error. So I am at a lost and registered on this forum today and thought why not try and see if you still watch this. So I am extremely grateful for you to respond. I have included 2 answer files one from the arm installer and one from the x64. Let me know if you see what I did wrong. Again thank you for this amazing post you created.

hsehestedt · 2025-04-23T22:31:42-0400

I got your message and have downloaded the answer files. I'm not at home in front of my main machine at the moment, but I'll be looking at these later on. I'll let you know what I find later tonight r tomorrow morning depending upon how it goes.

Without even having looked at the answer files yet, just some comments about the partitions:

I notice that you are referencing two different partitions: The System Reserved Partition, or System Partition for short and the Recovery Partition. These are two different partitions. Note that it is NOT complaining about the Recovery partition, the error references the system partition.

I don't know yet until I look at the answer files whether I will really need this yet, but I thought that I might just ask for it already...

On one of these systems where you got this error, could you boot from a Windows install drive (without an answer file!) and at the first static screen, do this:

Run diskpart
Select the Windows disk. For example, "select disk 0". Note that it may not be disk 0 on your system.
then issue a "list partition".

Take a photo of the output and send that to me.

bradyholt · 2025-04-23T23:00:57-0400

hsehestedt said:
I got your message and have downloaded the answer files. I'm not at home in front of my main machine at the moment, but I'll be looking at these later on. I'll let you know what I find later tonight r tomorrow morning depending upon how it goes.

Without even having looked at the answer files yet, just some comments about the partitions:

I notice that you are referencing two different partitions: The System Reserved Partition, or System Partition for short and the Recovery Partition. These are two different partitions. Note that it is NOT complaining about the Recovery partition, the error references the system partition.

I don't know yet until I look at the answer files whether I will really need this yet, but I thought that I might just ask for it already...

On one of these systems where you got this error, could you boot from a Windows install drive (without an answer file!) and at the first static screen, do this:

Run diskpart
Select the Windows disk. For example, "select disk 0". Note that it may not be disk 0 on your system.
then issue a "list partition".

Take a photo of the output and send that to me.

I guess I should have given more detail. It wasn't just the unable to upgrade from 23H2 to 24H2 but also using Intune allows me to wipe machines and keep in mind I have only used your other auto answerfile on maybe 40 machines so far but I have tried to remote wipe 2 of those and they start the wipe but then error out so I assume that was because the recovery partition is not set in the Microsoft way. But doing the Microsoft way remotely with a non technical user is painful if possible at all. This is why I loved the answerfile so I could automate it with the most basic of users. The recovery and system reserved errors I have got could completely be coincidental and have nothing to do with your way of creating the answer file. Because of 90% of my users are remote I want to attempt to be as close to the Microsoft standard. Because several of the known machines are remote so I just excluded them from the update for now. The one machine that is local to me that had the error in the screenshot, I did the old mount the partition and delete the EFI fonts trick to clear up space. It is very possible it has nothing to do with your answerfile, but again I just want to attempt to be as close to Microsoft standard I can but still make life easier for me to support remote users. No rush take your time. I truly appreciate the effort.

hsehestedt · 2025-04-23T23:10:26-0400

Okay, I was able to do some research quicker than expected. I had to setup a couple of things on the laptop I have with me thanks to having all my software on a thumb drive that goes with me everywhere, and here is what I have for you so far:

I took a look at your answer file, and I don't believe that this is the cause of the problem at all.

I think that the issue is simply that you are out of space in that partition, or to state it more accurately, there is not enough space to perform the upgrade. To be clear, this is the 260MB System Partition that I am talking about.

This was news to me: Apparently some programs such as third-party antivirus programs, will write to this partition causing a lack of space.

Take a look at his article and see if this helps at all:

Note: This article is meant for Windows 10, but this should still apply to Windows 11.

“We couldn’t update system reserved partition” error installing Windows 10 - Microsoft Support

When upgrading to Windows 10, you may encounter the error “We couldn’t update system reserved partition”, error code 0xc1900104, or error code 0x8000f0922.

support.microsoft.com

Please do let me know what happens. I'm extremely curious about the results!

Side Note: I notice in your answer file that you have a line to bypass CPU checks on Windows 11. I have learned from @garlin that this entry does nothing, so you can simply delete it. The only ones you need are:

BypassTPMCheck
BypassSecureBootCheck
BypassRAMCheck

It won't hurt anything to have the CPU check there; this is just information to let you know that you do not need it.

hsehestedt · 2025-04-23T23:15:16-0400

Just saw your post so I see that you are already aware of the issue involving that partition and clearing up space by deleting fonts.

Hmmm, not too sure what is going on yet. I'm going to research more but it's possible that I may need to go as far as installing 23H2 and then trying to upgrade to 24H2.

Question: Have you tried to install 23H2 with the answer file, then go straight to an upgrade to 24H2 without installing other software? If that works it points to something being caused by software installed after the initial installation of Windows.

hsehestedt · 2025-04-23T23:20:08-0400

One more note: The reason that Microsoft suggests placing the Recovery partition after the Windows partition is that this setup allows the Recovery partition to be recreated with a larger size. The Windows partition is simply shrunk, then the recovery partition is removed and recreated using all the available free space. The end result is a larger recovery partition. However, you may have noticed that I create the recovery partition with plenty of space (2 GB), so even if it was not after the Windows partition, if should be fine since it has plenty of room for growth.

garlin · 2025-04-23T23:22:11-0400

Are these Dell or HP systems? I've read on OSD forums, if you allow them to update your BIOS, some of those files are cached in the EFI partition. The solution is to bump up the EFI size, or write a script to clean outdated versions before doing any upgrades.

Low Space on EFI (System) Partition – Clean up

bradyholt · 2025-04-23T23:32:02-0400

hsehestedt said:
Okay, I was able to do some research quicker than expected. I had to setup a couple of things on the laptop I have with me thanks to having all my software on a thumb drive that goes with me everywhere, and here is what I have for you so far:

I took a look at your answer file, and I don't believe that this is the cause of the problem at all.

I think that the issue is simply that you are out of space in that partition, or to state it more accurately, there is not enough space to perform the upgrade. To be clear, this is the 260MB System Partition that I am talking about.

This was news to me: Apparently some programs such as third-party antivirus programs, will write to this partition causing a lack of space.

Take a look at his article and see if this helps at all:

Note: This article is meant for Windows 10, but this should still apply to Windows 11.

“We couldn’t update system reserved partition” error installing Windows 10 - Microsoft Support

When upgrading to Windows 10, you may encounter the error “We couldn’t update system reserved partition”, error code 0xc1900104, or error code 0x8000f0922.

support.microsoft.com

Please do let me know what happens. I'm extremely curious about the results!

Side Note: I notice in your answer file that you have a line to bypass CPU checks on Windows 11. I have learned from @garlin that this entry does nothing, so you can simply delete it. The only ones you need are:

BypassTPMCheck
BypassSecureBootCheck
BypassRAMCheck

It won't hurt anything to have the CPU check there; this is just information to let you know that you do not need it.

Correct on the error that I posted the screenshot. I have ran into this error many times in the past on windows 7 so I was aware of the fix. The only thing that made me think it might be due to using your answer file is I haven't had that error come up on a machine that was installed the old manual way yet. And I just want to see if I can get your other answer file working, that puts the partitions in order the Microsoft way, just so I can eliminate that potential reason of error.

At this point I am invested in getting this working, in the 8 months I have used your other non Microsoft order of partition file, it has made my life so much less stressful and I am wanting to get the one I sent you working. As you can see it is pretty basic, I use the SetupComplete.cmd script to do more the dynamic and specific things (like drivers for a specific model, or the latest .NET runtime or Manufacturers drive update tool, ect). I am curious if you run into the same error when you try to use it on a machine. Like I said I have tried on different machine types (Intel and Snapdragon) and different sku's of Windows (arm64 Pro, X64 Pro, X64 Enterprise, X64 Enterprise LTSC).

I just took 2 of your different Fully Unattended files and used them as the framework on mine. I haven't taken the time on one of the errored machines to get the log file to see if that points to where the issue is. That will be tomorrow when I am at the office unless you find where I messed it up.

hsehestedt · 2025-04-23T23:36:49-0400

Garlin, that is interesting. But also interesting is that he is doing the same thing that I do - making that partition 260 MB. This is a practice that I adopted to ensure compatibility on all systems since 260 MB is the minimum size for a FAT32 partition on advanced format drives. So, I just use 260 MB to get along with any systems, including the unlikely event that I encounter an advanced format drive.

For a Limited Audience: A Collection of Generic Answer Files, Each with a Different Purpose

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