I saw this email the other day on the Windows - Higher Ed mailing list:
I have run into a strange issue that I have not encountered before. I am trying to image a new Dell Precision T1700 desktop with Windows 8.1 using SCCM. I have imported all the drivers from the Dell CAB into CM. The machine images fine, loads software, joins the domain, etc. When I login, it fails to have the CM client fully installed, doesn't see our KMS server for activation, and oddly enough, is missing all the event logs that are normally found under “Applications and Services”.
The exact same thing had happened to me the day before imaging a Dell OptiPlex 9020. The cause was a recent Microsoft security update that required two restarts. These updates sometimes will completely kill your task sequence, but sometimes will allow the image process to complete, only to find oddities like the emailer mentions above.
An easy workaround is to inject the problem updates directly into your WIM and update the distribution point in ConfigMgr. This way they won't cause any reboots during the task sequence. You can also just inject all updates if you choose (I do, as it makes the imaging process go a bit faster), but I've heard some users say they've had issues with this.
There are a couple ways to do this, one is using the DISM tool, which works great, but is done via command line. The other is to use the built-in ConfigMgr feature, Schedule Updates, which uses a GUI and is really easy. I prefer easy.
This should resolve this issue. Let's hope Microsoft doesn't release any more of these double restarters, but I'm sure they will. You can keep track of the known troublemakers here.
H/T to ConfigMgrBlog (although this is not just a Windows 7 issue)
