So it all begins with me finally imaging up my Windows 7 SOE image will all my bells and whistles, in KACE repository ready to go.

I PXE boot into the KACE menu, select my image and start the process, however I get “Image Failed: Internal Error 8″ and just before home time on a Friday; dammit!

So long story short this is what we did.

What we were using:

• KACE
• Dell Optiplex 960
• Windows 7 Professional
• Partitions: “C” (100Gb) & “D” (0.10GB) System Reserve

Deploy a Windows 7 Image Containing the 100 MB System Partition Link

Here is how to capture and deploy a Windows 7 image with the 100 MB system partition in tact. There are a few things you should know about Windows 7 first.

When you install Windows 7 from from DVD on a clean drive with no format or partition information, Windows automatically install the system partition and marks the volume as “System Reserved”. This partition is not viewable to the user in Explorer but is visible in Disk Manager.

If, on the other hand, the hard drive already has a single partition then this partition is not created.

Below instruction assume that the Windows 7 image is configured, includes the system partition, is prepared using sysprep if desired, and is ready for capture.

Capture the Image:

• Boot the computer to the KACE boot environment. Once booted to the Main Menu, enter the Recovery page, and the Command Prompt.

• At the command prompt enter “diskpart”. A diskart prompt should appear. Enter the following commands to change the drive letter of C and D.

select volume C
assign letter=”W”
select volume D
assign letter=”C”
select volume W
assign letter=”D”
exit

Once complete, go Back to the main menu, and select Imaging, then Capture this image to the KBOX. Name the image, select both drives from the windows, and start the capture.

http://etherboot.org/wiki/start

Also a youtube video I stumbled across.

PXE is asking for a password for the eXpress folder

Problem

PXE is displaying the error…

“Initializing TCP/IP MS DOS TCP/IP 1.0a
The command completed successfully
The password is invalid for \serverexpress
Type the password for \serverexpress”

Cause
Windows Server 2003, when promoted to a domain controller, will require SMB signing, which requires the client to connect using this mechanism. Because DOS does not support SMB signing, the client will fail to connect in a Windows Domain. An “Access Denied” message appears after being prompted for the password when mapping the drive.

Resolution
The only way to have the eXpress share on a Windows 2003 DC from DOS is to not require the Security of SMB signing. However, this can open up the computer to “man in the middle” attacks. Because there is no other way to resolve this, do not install the Client Access Point on a Windows 2003 Server Domain Controller.

Change the setting in the registry by going to “HKLM_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesLanManServerParametersEnableSecuritySignature” and setting the value to 0.

This will disable SMB signing requirement. If the client uses SMB signing and the server is enabled, then it will use it. This setting just doesn’t require it, thus allowing non-SMB signed clients to connect (e.g., Microsoft Windows 95, 98, and NT4 pre-SP3).

Then in regedit set the permissions of the Perameters key for “SYSTEM” so that in the special permissions it cannot Change Value. If this is not done Windows 2003 server will set the value to 1 on reboot, and the problem will occur again.