Windows could not finish configuring the system...restart

Not sure what happened, but I keep getting the error:
Windows could not finish configuring the system. To attempt to resume configuration, restart the computer.
I tried to boot in safe mode and it gave me the same error.
Any thoughts on what to try or is this a lost cause?
I can't remember all the stats of the computer since it is a backup one, but it does surpass all the requirements.

Having encountered a myriad of sysprep problems over the past 6 weeks in preparing 10 Windows 7 images, here are my thoughts on the “Windows could not finish configuring the system issue”.
This forum has been the best resource i have seen on the problem. Despite the lack of any input from Microsoft, or even acknowledgement of the problem which has been around since Vista was released.
I don’t have any definitive answer for anybody, only what did or did not work for me. Hope it might help someone.
First of all my platform is Windows 7 Professional 32 bit.
I found the error occurs if you include copyprofile TRUE in the answer file, Microsofts only supported method for the default profile, which doesn’t work.
I also got the error on the last image made which had all the same applications as on other images made without any problem.
After wasting more time trying to work out the cause, and removing installed apps, I went back and made the image again, taking multiple Ghost backups at various stages.
I left network printer drivers off the image, and there were no issues.
However all the previous images had the printer drivers with no problems. I then added the printer drivers, syspreped again, and no problems.
I don't have Kaspersky, Alchohol 120% or Crystal Reports, Citrix XEN App installed on any of my images.
For me the Windows Media Player Network service is also not the issue. It has always been stopped when i checked it. It is Manual startup.
Domain or Workgroup membership doesn’t make any difference.
I never used any 3<sup>rd</sup> party tools to format the drive - created partitions using the installation DVD. Partition 1 100MB windows created, Partition 2 C: Partition 3 D:
It cannot be attributed to the imaging software as the sysprepped machine fails upon restarting.
So it seems completely random to me. The only consistent thread is once you have this problem you have to go back to square 1 and start again.
For what it’s worth to anyone, this was my application install process 2<sup>nd</sup> time around to try and identify the cause;
Adobe CS3
Backup with Ghost
Sysprep – OK
Restore ghost image
Adobe CS3 updates
Flash player
Flash plugin for IE
Shockwave player
Adobe Reader 9.2 and updates
Office 07 Enterprise
Office SP2
Microsoft update
All available windows and office updates but not hardware specific or driver updates
Move Maker 2.6
Silverlight
Photostory 3
Backup again
Sysprep – OK
Restore last backup
Clickview player (inc dotnetfx3.5)
Joined domain
Google Earth 5
Java 6 update 17
Paper Cut client
Backup
Sysprep OK
Restore last backup
Any video converter
Audacity 2.6
Div X
XP codec pack
VLC media player
Ultra VNC 1.0.8
Backup
Sysprep – OK
Restore
Super copier
Sophos Antivirus
Backup
Sysprep ok
Restore
Printer drivers HP, Fuji Xerox, Toshiba
Backup
Sysprep OK
So I was thankfully unable to recreate the issue the second time. The only difference was Microsoft update was NOT installed on the first image which had the problem, and consequently no Office updates were installed.
It would be nice if any of this made any sense!

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Windows could not finish configuring the system error after sysprep /generalize

Hi
I just installed Windows 7 Ultimate RTM off from technet and as always I do make use of WIM images on having them deployed to my home PC's
I was able to have it installed on a clean machine and once the wizard appeared i immediately entered Audit mode (shift+ctrl+f3) and the usual I loaded all of the software i need to pre-install after I was done I Immediately loaded sysprep and had it with the generalized option
now this is where the problem begins....... after it restarts during the "Setup is starting Services" screen it gives me a message box error saying "Windows could not finish configuring the system. To attempt resume configuration, restart the computer" and once I press ok it jsut restarts and gives the same error again.
This does not happen when i dont select the generalize option in sysprep.
Anyone who had the same issues?

I now have the ACTUAL SOLUTION to this problem. This solution will actually tell you exactly what registry key is causing your sysprep to fail, so then you don't have to slowly install
every program until you find the problem -- especially since this didn't work for me because my problem has been intermittent.
This issue is caused by certain registry keys that are either:
a) Larger than 8kb
b) Set with incorrect permissions
c) Corrupt in some way
For me, the problem was intermittent (same registry key would sometimes cause the issue and sometimes not - must be corrupt sometimes) so it was impossible to tell what program was doing it. Luckily, there is a log you can look at that will tell you
exactly what registry key is erroring out. Here are the steps for getting the log you need to see:
When you see the error message, do the following:
1.) Push Shift+F10 to get to a command prompt
2.) Navigate to C:\windows\Panther
3.) Find the Setup.etl file and find a way to copy this file off of the system (I copied it to the D:\ partition and used Ghost to gather that partition and get the file off)
4.) Copy the setup.etl file from the corrupted system to another computer that has Windows 7. Put it on the root of C:\ for easiest access.
5.) Open a Command Prompt on the Windows 7 computer.
6.) Navigate to the root of C:\ (or wherever you saved the file)
7.) Type "tracerpt setup.etl -o logfile.csv"
8.) Close the command prompt and open up logfile.csv in your text editor of choice.
9.) Look through the log file (towards the end probably) for messages that say "Failed to process reg key or one of it's decendants" For me, the exact eror looked like this: "Failed to process reg key or one of its descendants: [\REGISTRY\MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ESET\ESET
Security\CurrentVersion\Plugins\01000200\Profiles\@My profile]" If you search for "reg key" or "failed to process" you should find the failure.
10.) Remove this software from your image, or find out how to get the registry key that is failing to work properly.
After this, you should be able to properly identify any problem keys and remove/workaround them on your image.
I see this post is about a year old at this point, but after searching the internet for weeks, I had high hopes for this solution. It seemed to go well, but the logfile.csv doesn't have the word "fail" in it anywhere...no "reg key", nothing. Did a sysprep
install with an unattend.xml answer file that seems to be working properly, but hangs at "Setup is starting services." forever.
At this point, I'm pretty convinced that the problem is a service or reg key error from one of the apps I installed during audit mode, but I can't tell which app/service is causing the problem.
Are there any other methods for viewing failed services or registry errors that would cause the sysprep install process to hang at "Setup is starting services."?
Willing to post logfile.csv from the "tracerpt setup.etl -o logfile.csv" command, or other log files such as setupact.log, etc. Nothing popped out at me.
For now I think I'll start making multiple .wim files with only certain software installed to try to discover which application is the culprit...just wish there was an easier way.

After restarting i get a message saying that Windows could not connect to the Group policy client service

The message i get is the following:
Windows could not connect to the Group policy client service. This problem prevents limited users from logging on to the system As and administrative user you can review the system event log for details why the service didn't respond.
This happens after restarting my laptop. It takes longer than usual and once it has booted up and loaded Windows Vista, I get the message on the right bottom corner as a window popping up.
I can still use my computer but a lot of my user account settings are not there.
I fixed it temporarily by rebooting using the option: boot up using my last successful configuration. Bu once I restart again the same thing happens.
How can i fix it?
Thanks.

Hi,
Please try the solutions on the following threads:
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en/vistasecurity/thread/bbfe3246-0ceb-4899-bfba-7a98e642c009
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winserverGP/thread/5de9f483-ff69-4fac-ac3f-601a62cc78d1
If the problem continues, please let us know if the computer is in a domain environment.
Regards,
Bruce

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Now when I start up my Mac I am getting a BLACK SCREEN stating "windows could not start because the following is missing or corrupt: <windows root>\system 32-hal.dll Please re-installl a copy of hte above file"
I tried to use the option key and insert the Windows CD but it won't start up.
Also, when I start up I must use the option key and select the Mac OS and it will start up and everything is fine there. Advice appreciated.

Did you ever solve this? I had updated to BC 2.1 (After updating Apple Software Update al on the Windows side) I waited & just tonight tried to install SP-3. It appeared to install & When I was prompted to restart--I also got the black screen. Mine said:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\Windows\inf\biosinfo.inf
You can attempt to repair the file by starting Windows setup using the original setup CD-ROM. Select ‘r’ at the 1st screen to repair.
I just force powered off & booted into Mac.
I think I need to restart my Mac into Windows (using the Option key ) WHILE THE WINDOWS XP CD is in the optical Drive. Then maybe I’ll get a choice to select ‘r’ to repair at the 1st screen?
You may need to do essentially the same thing. I do not know if this problem is a boot camp problem of just a Windows problem.
Sure is annoying,
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Have a read here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314477/en-us
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Hi,
Its been since 2 weeks I am struck with this issue. Any help is appreciated. I want to restore my server (Windows 2008 R2) to the system image I have in my external hard disk. The problem is my image is not getting recognized by the server when I chose the
system repair option while booting with the OS cd.
I placed the files in the folder called WindowsImageBackup in the root folder of the hard disk. The WindowsImageBackup folder has the folder structure like this: WindowsImageBackup\my_pc_name\Backup 2014-03-09 084946\xxxxx.vhd files
I have put the MediaId file inside the "\Backup...." folder. Is it okay? And the MediaId file which I have has .file extension not .bin extension. Is there anything wrong with it?
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What should I do to make my system image recognized?
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Hi,
The trick to restoring system from backup disk is to place the WindowsImageBackup folder at
the root. This will allow the recovery utility to automatically find the folder. (E.g. E:\WindowsImageBackup)
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Hal.dll: Windows could not start because the following file is missing...

Hi there...
did anyone of you guys manage to run WinXP on a Mac running Leopard (Boot camp 2.0)? I couldn't, trying to do whatever i could- repairing boot.ini according to Microsoft's support site, reinstalling Windows again and again, even copying Windows files from an existing Windows-running machine to the Boot camp partition, nothing helped...
Any suggestions what i should do?
thanx in advance

There is a longer thread developing here.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5860087
My last post had some good info, here is a repost:
Emerging Info! Apparently there are files in windows that disable the means which we are supposed to format the disk. Two of these file names found so far are UNATTEND.TXT and WINNT.SIF. Some computers may have one or the other files located in the \I386 directory of you XP cd. Apparently there is a way to fix the problem my recopying your XP disc to a new CD and deleting the file out. There are directions on one of the links which I am currently following but have not finished.
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8300945231/m/511003928831
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071028054744236

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iblastoff wrote:
glad im not the only one with this issue...
i've been able to do one single time machine back up. tried to backup today and i am getting the "time machine could not be configured. the built-in network interface blah blah blah" crap.
Besides this "me, too" complaint with no information, what have you done about it?
Have you tried this: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275#5
What is your backup destination?
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Time Machine could not be configured. The built-in network interface could

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iblastoff wrote:
glad im not the only one with this issue...
i've been able to do one single time machine back up. tried to backup today and i am getting the "time machine could not be configured. the built-in network interface blah blah blah" crap.
Besides this "me, too" complaint with no information, what have you done about it?
Have you tried this: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275#5
What is your backup destination?
What sort of Mac do you have (please update your profile)?

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Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\Windows\inf\biosinfo.inf
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I used the power button to shut down Windows & then booted into Mac OS X normally.
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Message was edited by: growler62000

Windows could not start ..................?

Hi !!!
i got a problem with my Windos Xp professional OS.when iam trying to boot my system there is a critical error
saying that :
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you can attempt to repair this file by starting windowssetup by using the original setupcd-rom.select 'R' at the first screen to start repair."
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can i change Windows activation key ?plz ......clearly explain me.

Hi,
Thank you for your post! Unfortunately there is not a current forum to post the question you are asking so I would recommend that you post you question to one of the microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment newsgroup located here: http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/list/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment&cat=en_us_426c225c-4227-431b-8068-ccad54bb9d7a&lang=en&cr=us
Hope that helps!
Sudarshan shindode Tier 2 Application Support Server and Tools Online Engineering Live Services Team

MDT deployment "windows could not configure one or more system components"

Hi,
I have successfully deployed a standard Windows 7 image using a combination of WDS and MDT.
Now I want to patch the image with the latest security updates and hotfixes. Using DISM command line I mounted the image, added 125 packages and unmounted the image. Then I put this custom image into MDT and deployed using the same task sequence as the standard
image above.
The deployment nearly finished and the computer reboots. I then get a screen showing an animated progress bar and 'Setup is applying system settings'. Then a pop-up error...
"Windows could not configure one or more system components. To install Windows, restart the computer and then restart the installation".
I have tried with and without injecting drivers into the task sequence (just to rule that out).
Can anyone suggest what the problem might be? A standard image deploys fine. The same image with patches applied fails.
Thanks
Mike.

Hi,
I currently encounter the same issue. I found this link: http://iboyd.net/index.php/2013/01/04/applying-kb2506143-to-an-offline-windows-7-sp1-wim-windows-setup-fail/
At the moment I'm rebuilding my install.wim without the mentioned update, so I'm not able to tell if this resolves my issue, but good chance it will.
If you haven't figured it out yourself at this time, most likely an update will cause these troubles.
Hope this helps...
Regards,
Hugo

Windows could not start the Cluster Service on Local computer. For more information, review the System Event Log. If this is a non-Microsoft service, contact the service vendor, and refer to service-specific error code 2.

Dear Technet,
Windows could not start the Cluster Service on Local computer. For more information, review the System Event Log. If this is a non-Microsoft service, contact the service vendor, and refer to service-specific error code 2.
My cluster suddenly went disappear. and tried to restart the cluster service. When trying to restart service this above mention error comes up.
even i tried to remove the cluster through power-shell still couldn't happen because of cluster service not running.
Help me please.. thank you.
Regards
Shamil

Hi,
Could you confirm which account when you start the cluster service? The Cluster service is a service that requires a domain user account.
The server cluster Setup program changes the local security policy for this account by granting a set of user rights to the account. Additionally, this account is made a member
of the local Administrators group.
If one or more of these user rights are missing, the Cluster service may stop immediately during startup or later, depending on when the Cluster service requires the particular
user right.
Hope this helps.
We
are trying to better understand customer views on social support experience, so your participation in this
interview project would be greatly appreciated if you have time.
Thanks for helping make community forums a great place.

Windows could not update the computer's boot configuration. via UEFI installation

I recently performed a clean WIndows 8.1 installation using my new Hard drive. However, under UEFI mode from BIOS, everytime the setup process reaches the "Installing Updates" stage, I kept on receiving an error "Windows could not update the
computer's boot configuration, Installation cancelled.
I was a bit puzzled as everytime I install Windows 8.1 via LEGACY mode from BIOS, setup finishes! I cannot tell whether I need to mod my BIOS or what.
please help.
raymund r

Hi,
Please make sure that Delete all partitions/volumes on the disk # (ex: Disk 0) that you want to install Windows 8.1 as UEFI on until that disk # shows as unallocated space.
Try again to install Windows 8.1 again.
If it still fails, please post back the setuperr.log and setupact.log under C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther\ for our research. You can copy them out in WinPE command mode.
Also, I would like to check if you use bootcamp to install Windows 8.1 on Mac computer. If so, check the solution here:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5491283?tstart=0
Please Note: Since the website is not hosted by Microsoft, the link may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.
Kate Li
TechNet Community Support

Windows could not finish configuring the system...restart

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