In this article we are going to show you how to Capture Windows 10 image using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2013 (MDT 2013). Later you can use such image to deploy Windows 10 image on multiple computers in your organization.

By using a fully customized Windows 10 image for deployment on computers, you can achieve a quick installation of the operation system with a set of necessary applications on the users’ workstation.

How to Capture Windows 10 Image with MDT 2013?

We assume, that you are already familiar with article Deploy Windows 10 using MDT 2013 and WDS and have already installed MDT 2013 on Windows Server 2012 R2.

Before you begin to Capture Windows 10 image, you should prepare already deployed Windows 10 PC by installing required drivers, apps, latest Windows security updates and performing necessary system configuration. This computer will be used to capture the Windows image.

Also, to successfully complete the sysprep&capture procedure in Windows 10, you need to remove some Modern App applications from HP and Canon, otherwise the sysprep will fail. This can be done with PowerShell commands:

Get-AppxPackage *hp* -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage

Get-AppxPackage *canon* -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage

You can also delete all Window Store Apps, except those that cannot be deleted and those used by your users. Use the following PowerShell code:

$AppsList = "Microsoft.3DBuilder","microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps","Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub","Microsoft.SkypeApp","Microsoft.Getstarted","Microsoft.ZuneMusic","Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection","Microsoft.ZuneVideo","Microsoft.Office.OneNote","Microsoft.People","Microsoft.XboxApp", "Microsoft.Messaging", "Microsoft.Microsoft3DViewer", "Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub", "Microsoft.GetHelp", "Microsoft.OneConnect"
ForEach ($App in $AppsList)
{
  $PackageFullName = (Get-AppxPackage $App).PackageFullName
  $ProPackageFullName = (Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -online | where {$_.Displayname -eq $App}).PackageName
if ($PackageFullName)
  {
   remove-AppxPackage -package $PackageFullName
  }
if ($ProPackageFullName)
  {
        Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename $ProPackageFullName
  }
  }

Creating Capture Task Sequence on MDT 2013

The first step is to create a new Task Sequence, which will control the image capturing process.

• Run Deployment Workbench console and expand branch Deployment Shares -> MDT Deployment Share
• Right click on Task Sequence and select New Task Sequence in the appeared menu
  
  
• This starts the Task Sequence Wizard. Enter Task Sequence ID (w10Capt) and Task Sequence Name (Capture Windows 10 Image).
  
• From list of predefined task sequence templates select Sysprep and Capture and click Next
  
  
• Choose operating system that matches the version of OS installed on captured PC. In this case it is Windows 10 Pro x64 install.wim (the operating system must be pre-imported into MDT 2013)
  
• Choose Don’t specify a product key at this time and press Next
  
  
• Fill the fields Full Name and Organization and click Next
  
• Select Don’t specify an Administrator password at this time
  
  
• On Summary page click Next -> Next -> Finish
  

Important! Before continuing, check that MDT server configuration allows to capture OS image. To do this, open MDT Deployment Share properties and switch to the Rules tab. SkipCapture option must be set to NO.

Update deployment share to regenerate boot media for WinPE environment.

Capture Windows 10 Reference Image with MDT

Now you are ready to capture already installed Windows 10 image on a client computer. Power on PC and boot Windows 10 as usual. Verify that necessary applications, updates and language packs are installed on Windows, Time Zone is configured and check other Windows settings.

• Open File Explorer and specify the network path to the DeploymentShare on MDT server. In our case, the path looks like this: \\192.168.1.17\deploymentshare$\. You may need to enter credentials to access network share on the server
• Open the folder Script, find and double click on file LiteTouch.vbs
  
  
• Wait until Windows deployment Wizard starts
• From task sequence list select Capture Windows 10 Image (we created it earlier)
  
• Enter current local Administrator password, which will be used to log in to the system after the reboot
  
• Select Capture an image of this reference computer and verify the UNC path to the folder on MDT server, which will be used to store Windows 10 WIM image file (in our case \\192.168.1.17\deploymentshare$\Captures. You should have read/write NTFS permissions on this folder. After that specify desired name for .wim file
  
• On the next screen you need to enter the domain credentials to access shared folder on the MDT server over the network;
• Wait for some time to start Task Sequence;
• After completing the preparations, Sysprep task starts. Then the computer will reboot into WiNPE environment and begin to capture system image (during the process of image creating, the system will switch in the OOBE (Out-Of-Box Experience) sysprep mode, and the Windows 10 image is captured using the DISM utility);
  
• The process of capturing Windows 10 image takes quite a long time and after finished a wim file with Windows 10 image appeared in the Captures folder on the deployment share

Tip. If you want to make changes to the local administrator’s profile before capturing the reference image, you need to use the MDT parameter – CopyProfile. These changes will be transferred to the WIM system image and applied to the user’s profile when you deploy a Windows 10 image on the target computer.

Later you can directly import this WIM file to the System Center Configuration Manager, Windows Deployment Services or MDT and use it to deploy Windows 10 to the workstations. Thus, you save a lot of time on installing drivers and applications on multiple systems.

Capture Image Window not Showing on the Deployment Wizard

In some cases, step 3 (Capture image) with the option to select the start of image capture does not appear on client computers. The Windows Deployment Wizard simply skips the step in which you must select the “Capture an image of this reference computer” option. Instead, the user is prompted to specify computer details.

If this problem appeared after upgrading the MDT version, then most likely it is related to a bug that has been confirmed by Microsoft Premier support. The version of the script ZTIUtility.vbs contains an error. To fix it, you need to manually edit the ZTIUtility.vbs file, find the lines:

If (oTS.SelectSingleNode("//step[@type='BDD_InstallOS']") is nothing) and (oTS.SelectSingleNode("//step[@type='BDD_UpgradeOS']") is nothing) then

And replace with:

If (oTS.SelectSingleNode("//step[@type='BDD_InstallOS' and @disable='false']") is nothing) and (oTS.SelectSingleNode("//step[@type='BDD_UpgradeOS' and @disable='false']") is nothing) then

Open the customsettings.ini file and make sure that the option is selected:

[Default]
...

SkipCapture=NO

In addition, there is information that the capture window doesn’t appear if the parameter is specified:

SkipProductKey=NO. Change it to SkipProductKey=YES, or edit the file DeployWiz_ProductKeyVista.vbs

replace the line of code:

if oProperties("DeploymentType") = "UPGRADE" then

Change to:

if Property("DeploymentType") = "UPGRADE" then

After that, run the Capture task sequence again on the client computer, and make sure that the Capture Screen now appears in the Deployment Wizard.

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