Format of hard drive within TS fails with "Disk 0 contains protected path "C:\WINDOWS\ccmcache"

Question

I have a standard imaging task sequence that we normally use on bare-metal systems, but occasionally we also use it to re-image existing systems. For some reason we are unable to use it to re-image as it fails at the disk partition step. The error in the logs is as stated. It seems to be an odd thing to error on as of course the C drive has the SCCM cache on it, but the TS is advertised to download content as needed and it's booted into WinPE so it shouldn't matter. Anyone have any ideas how to get around this?

Answer 1

Hi,

How to Distinguish Between Bare-Metal Systems and Re-Image Existing Systems Using Task Sequence?

When an error pops up in WinPE, press F8 to open the debug mode. Then, use the format /X command to format the partition.

The format /X command in Windows is used to format a disk and force the volume to dismount first if necessary. This means that any open handles to the volume will no longer be valid. Here's a basic example of how to use it:

format c: /X

Answer 2

Hi,

If the machine is booted directly into WindowsPE using either PXE or a USB key, it's considered bare-metal and goes straight to the imaging steps, if it's running in the OS it's considered a re-image and reboots to WinPE before starting the imaging.

I get that I can manually format the drive using the command prompt, but how does that solve the problem? I need to know why the TS is saying the cache has to be protected when I'm running the format step in WinPE.

Thanks

Answer 3

I can manually format the drive using the command prompt

You can add a command line step to run the format /X command before the error step in the task sequence.

I need to know why the TS is saying the cache has to be protected

For detailed information, we need to check the smsts.log file.