Supporting Windows

Several thing could be wrong. The /apply will only work if the partition layout on the reference computer and destination computer are the same.

a) the partition number must match
b) the partition type must match (extended, primary, logical)
c) if the partition is active on the reference pc it must be active on the destination pc
d) the drive letter must match
e) if on the reference PC your have another active partition for boot management software you have to capture and apply that to same partition, letter, etc.. as well

Also make sure the disk you captured the image from is not bigger than the other one you are applying the image to, but sounds like that actual apply command works, but the reboot after it does not? How are you formatting the drive you plan to apply the image to? The format and partitioning can be accomplished if you boot from WinPE with the diskpart.exe command located in windows\system32 directory, the process can also be scripted.
Basically the steps would be:

1. boot into WinPE
2. run diskpart.exe
3. Type in the following commands into the prompt after diskpart.exe starts. (This assumes the drive you want wiped is DiskID 0 and you want it all one active partition. The command LIST DISK in diskpart.ext will list all the Disks and their ID# )

SELECT DISK 0
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
ACTIVE
FORMAT FS=NTFS LABEL="your label"
rem For a FAT32 format use FS=FAT32 instead
SELECT VOLUME 1
ASSIGN LETTER=C
EXIT


You can also take those 8 lines and use notepad or similar to make a .txt file Example: myDiskformat.txt Then use the script switch of diskpart.exe to automate it

diskpart.exe /s myDiskformat.txt > diskPartlog.txt


That will start diskpart.exe, automatically run through each line in the myDiskformat.txt file. and write a log file (the log file is optional)


That should allow a boot to the disk correctly once the OS is applied assuming you are matching the disk layouts of the source and destination PC's. Use Sysprep with a /generalize /shutdown switch then capture. Add the /oobe switch to run throught the Welcome screen on first boot as well. The generalize will remove machine-specific information like the security identifier (SID) so it can be redeployed through a workgroup or domain without the possibility of giving user access to files when they should not have it..

How are you formatting the drive you plan to apply the image to? The format and partitioning can be accomplished if you boot from WinPE with

Thanks Amerit99!
I will check it and replay.