Audit Mode (Ctrl + Shift + F3) reboots & don't let me do any changes

Win 10 OS version 19041
I am trying to make changes to a Windows installation. (e. g. Installing updates).

• At the OOBE prompt, I enter audit mode by hitting Ctrl + Shift + F3.
• The Administrator account is signed in.
• The sysprep command executes: "sysprep is working ...". See screenshot below.
• After a while computer reboots and I cannot make any changes to it.

ChristineV,

From the screenshot that you have provided I see that sysprep was running at the time that screenshot was taken. When you press Ctrl + Shift +F3 and the system boots into Audit Mode, you should be getting a "System Preparation Tool" dialog box that. It is important to choose "Cancel" at that time. From the screenshot provided it appears that "OK" was clicked instead.



Also, just to be sure that we are on the same page, you want to press Ctrl + Shift + F3 when you reach this screen:



If I am misunderstanding the situation, please do let me know, but I hope that this helps!

One more thing: I notice that the background image on your screenshot is not the default background. That makes me question what kind of Windows image was being used to install Windows.

Are you booting from a standard Windows Retail Edition image, or is this some other sort of image that has already been customized? Any additional information that you can provide might prove useful.

@hsehestedt & @Paul Black, thank you for your quick answer.

The Windows image is the one I got using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool. So it is supposed to be the original OEM image. I installed it in place of the previous image in the hope that it would solve the problem.

I am never getting the Sysprep dialog box. (No opportunity to cancel). Sysprep seems to start right away in Generalize + Reboot mode.

- - - Updated - - -

I found a solution: Went to task manager and killed Sysprep ...

ChristineV said:

@hsehestedt & @Paul Black, thank you for your quick answer.

The Windows image is the one I got using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool. So it is supposed to be the original OEM image. I installed it in place of the previous image in the hope that it would solve the problem.

I am never getting the Sysprep dialog box. (No opportunity to cancel). Sysprep seems to start right away in Generalize + Reboot mode.

- - - Updated - - -

I found a solution: Went to task manager and killed Sysprep ...

Glad you found a solution. Your results make sense. recovery images are already highly modified images.

Well, that didn't work either.
My Windows installation must be broken. For instance, I could not start Windows Update. (Says "Something went wrong".)
I am re-installing, again with that HP Recovery image. If not working, I will try starting from a standard Windows image.

ChristineV, may I make one suggestion?

If you do get to a point where you are considering a clean reinstall from a standard Windows image. Be aware that there will likely be drivers missing that you will need to install afterward. I have often found that even when I download all the drivers from the manufacturer, there may still be the one or other driver missing and showing an error in Device Manager.

As a result, while you still have a fully functional installation of Windows (hopefully that is the case for you, or you have another machine with identical hardware), you might consider doing the following:

1) Open an elevated command prompt and run these commands:

MD C:\Exported_Drivers
PNPUTIL /Export-Driver * C:\Exported_Drivers

This will export ALL of the drivers used by your system to C:\Exported_Drivers. You can then move this folder to another location for safe keeping.

2) After you reinstall Windows, you can make use of these exported drivers in one of these ways:

A) Install all drivers manually. If anything is missing in the end, select the problem item in Device Manager, right-click it, choose to update the driver, point it to your exported drivers folder, and give it the option to search subfolders. This will allow you to update individual drivers.

B) After installing Windows, open Device Manager, at the top of the device tree, right-click your computer name, select Add drivers, point it to your exported drivers, select the option to include all subfolders. This will install ALL of the drivers. Note that this can take a few minutes and the screen may flash or go blank temporarily while the display driver is being installed,

Thank you @hsehestedt and @Megahertz

The stubborn sysprep process seems to be a leftover of an incomplete setup. (Actually a setup that never completes.)
I started the HP Cloud Recovery all over again and get the same result.

@hsehestedt says:

I have often found that even when I download all the drivers from the manufacturer, there may still be the one or other driver missing and showing an error in Device Manager.

Oh yes, I went down that path several times, chasing those damn PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_nnnn peripherals ...

Following @Megahertz advice, I am going to install a standard Windows image over the one from HP Cloud Recovery.