Windows 10 LTSC Deployment; Start Menu and Cortana not working after Sysprep

Jon Arciaga 96

Hello!

I'm creating a Windows 10 image that we'll be distributing and used for medical devices. I have the two answer files needed for the initial setup of the users, partitions, and other settings. Everything works fine like how it did when we did it for Windows 7, but after Sysprep and shutting down for duplication of the hard drives, on start up right after Sysprep the Start Menu fails to work and so does Cortana. One thing we've noticed too is that over time of use, Windows tries to contact the Windows activation server and causes the OS to slow down dramatically which disables the use of the medical system. It seems like it's trying to use numerous services that aren't present because the package that contains the start menu might contain those services that are needing to be used.

For months we've been trying to resolve this using everything under the sun including trying to use Appx stuff (which fails), scan disk, bunch of other things that has been suggested and none of this works. We've also include, not included and made sure CopyProfile in the answer file to be false. Every scenario seems to not work.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Sean Liming 4,591 Reputation points

2021-08-11T17:22:40.337+00:00

Does the system connect to the Internet? If so the system should be activated prior to shipping to a customer. This could resolve the issue you are seeing.
Are you using a runtime license key that you got from your Microsoft Distributor? If not this can be a problem with the activation.
Are you using a Sysprep unattend answer file when you run sysprep?
When you say start menu doesn't appear, can you be more specific? Does Explorer with desktop background appear?
Are you using UWF, BitLocker, and WDAC for security?
Are you sure you want Cortana running?
Jon Arciaga 96 Reputation points

2021-08-11T19:56:04.993+00:00
Hello Sean,

Does the system connect to the Internet? If so the system should be activated prior to shipping to a customer. This could resolve the issue you are seeing.

The system does connect to the internet during the whole process.

Are you using a runtime license key that you got from your Microsoft Distributor? If not this can be a problem with the activation.

We are using a runtime license that is provided by our distributor.

Are you using a Sysprep unattend answer file when you run sysprep?

We are using a sysprep unattended answer file that is ran after we have the environments for the two users setup.

When you say start menu doesn't appear, can you be more specific? Does Explorer with desktop background appear?

The Start Button is there, but when you try and click it, it doesn't work. You can't use the Windows key either. There also seems to be some other services that are missing. We can't access a lot of things after the Sysprep is completed and the operating system starts up again. Typically all the items when you right click the start menu.

Are you using UWF, BitLocker, and WDAC for security?

We are using UWF.

Are you sure you want Cortana running?

We don't want that, but it seems (I could be wrong) tied to some start menu things.
Jon Arciaga 96 Reputation points

2021-08-11T22:12:01.597+00:00

Sean,

I broke down my answer file more and found that at some point between audit mode and OOBE, the start menu breaks.

-Jon
Jon Arciaga 96 Reputation points

2021-08-12T13:47:42.4+00:00

Also, UWF isn't enabled until after the computer is restarted after OOBE.
Sean Liming 4,591 Reputation points

2021-08-12T15:43:51.62+00:00

Audit Mode?! Are you using Microsoft's Design Guide to build the image? If so please don't use that. Use these instead: Windows 10 IoT Enterprise: Image Development Workflow and Starter Guide for Windows® 10 IoT Enterprise

I am not sure what you mean by "cannot use the Windows Key". The runtime key needs to be placed in the answer files.
Jon Arciaga 96 Reputation points

2021-08-12T17:04:13.207+00:00

Hello!

I only did Audit mode a few times with the same result so I stopped that.

The Windows Key I was referring to is the Windows Key on the keyboard.

I used the guide and made the answer file that is used during sysprep nearly identical to what is in the guide with the same result where the start menu would not function. I looked through the sysprep 'setupact' log after wards and noticed this warning which caught my eye. 122776-errors.txt
Sean Liming 4,591 Reputation points

2021-08-13T01:37:30.707+00:00

The Windows 10 IoT Enterprise Design Guide on Microsoft Learn is not something to follow and could lead to errors. At this point, I have no idea what he issue could be.

Sysprep unattended answer file should only have components and settings for Pass 3, 4, and 7. Passes 1 and 2 are not going to be processed.
Jon Arciaga 96 Reputation points

2021-08-13T14:17:37.887+00:00

I was using your Windows 10 IoT Enterprise: Image Development Workflow when I mentioned "guide". I made the unattended answer file nearly identical to what was in the Windows 10 IoT Enterprise: Image Development Workflow. The only differences was putting the names of the accounts and the computer name.

I already had the components filled for Pass 3 (generalize), 4 (Specialize), and 7 (OOBE). Those were the only things I had filled after seeing the answer file that gets made after the SYSPREP is done and noticed that it says at each pass element that that element was ran.

What seems to be going on is that the ShellHostExperience and the Cortana packages aren't being installed and applied for the user profiles. I tried to install and use AppXPackage but that all would fail and wouldn't succeed.
Sean Liming 4,591 Reputation points

2021-08-13T15:51:34.833+00:00

When you installed the image from the first answer file was everything working okay?
Jon Arciaga 96 Reputation points

2021-08-13T16:25:17.573+00:00

Yup. The installation process with the first answer file works perfectly fine. Everything is functional during that time. We do our setup of the accounts afterwards, and then when we run the sysprep which uses the second answer file, that's when the start button stops working when it starts up again.
Sean Liming 4,591 Reputation points

2021-08-13T18:44:52.603+00:00

Can you send me a note via seanliming.com? I would like to get a list of the account set up and the second answer file.
Jon Arciaga 96 Reputation points

2021-08-13T19:10:15.61+00:00

Just sent you a message on there!

Thank you!

Accepted answer

Jon Arciaga 96 Reputation points

2021-08-24T22:13:51.967+00:00

After further work and taking apart my answer files piece by piece, I discovered that setting the programdata folder to a location other than the C drive was what broke the start menu. I discovered that it's not recommended to do this and that it should only be done for testing purposes.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/customize/desktop/unattend/microsoft-windows-shell-setup-folderlocations-programdata

Thank you for all the help, especially to Sean Liming.
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Windows 10 LTSC Deployment; Start Menu and Cortana not working after Sysprep

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