Winload.exe Missing or Corrupt After ImageX /APPLY

I wanted to move my system from one drive type to another.

I created a bootable Windows PE CD with ImageX.exe on it and booted it.
I then used
IMAGEX /COMPRESS NONE /CAPTURE C: C:\IMAGEING\Server2008.wim "Server2008"
then
WPRUTIL SHUTDOWN

To install the image:

1. In BIOS Setup made the target drive the one to boot from.
2. Booted from the Windows PE CD
3. Verified that the target drive was now the C: drive
4. Used Diskpart to do a quick format of the only partition on the C: drive and made sure the
partition was marked as Active.
5. Found the original system drive on D:
6. Used ImageX to Apply the image to the C: drive:
IMAGEX /APPLY D:\IMAGING\<wim file name> 1 C:\
7. Used wpeutil to shutdown
8. Removed SATA cables from all drives except the target drive.
9. Powered up the system (removed CD)

Got a text screen saying that windows could not start because a file was missing or corrupt:
\Windows\System32\Winload.exe

I booted the Windows PE CD and checked the C:\Windows\System32\ directory and Winload.exe is there.

Hello Stewart,

This is not a supported way of moving the installation to another hardware.
It may work. To make it the MS way create a system state and system drive
backup and restore it to the new harddrive.

See the reply from David Shen:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...e-b552fb5bac9f

Also check this one:
http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/paulb...h-wbadmin.aspx

Best regards

Meinolf Weber
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
no rights.
** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm


> I wanted to move my system from one drive type to another.
>
> I created a bootable Windows PE CD with ImageX.exe on it and booted
> it.
> I then used
> IMAGEX /COMPRESS NONE /CAPTURE C: C:\IMAGEING\Server2008.wim
> "Server2008"
> then
> WPRUTIL SHUTDOWN
> To install the image:
>
> 1. In BIOS Setup made the target drive the one to boot from.
> 2. Booted from the Windows PE CD
> 3. Verified that the target drive was now the C: drive
> 4. Used Diskpart to do a quick format of the only partition on the C:
> drive and made sure the
> partition was marked as Active.
> 5. Found the original system drive on D:
> 6. Used ImageX to Apply the image to the C: drive:
> IMAGEX /APPLY D:\IMAGING\<wim file name> 1 C:\
> 7. Used wpeutil to shutdown
> 8. Removed SATA cables from all drives except the target drive. 9.
> Powered up the system (removed CD)
>
> Got a text screen saying that windows could not start because a file
> was missing or corrupt:
> \Windows\System32\Winload.exe
> I booted the Windows PE CD and checked the C:\Windows\System32\
> directory and Winload.exe is there.
>

Actually, it doesn't work properly even if you restore the image to the same drive if you follow the
examples that Microsoft has and use DiskPart to Clean the drive.

This is from a Microsoft post in a social.technet.microsoft.com forum:

"First off, it is supported to restore a Vista image onto the same physical machine without running
sysprep beforehand. Let me say this again, if and only if you are restoring a non-sysprep'ed Vista
image onto the SAME physical machine, then it is supported. It is NOT supported to deploy a
non-sysprep'ed Vista image onto another physical machine, even if the hardware pieces are all
exactly the same."

"Secondly, in your case (where you deploy the non-sysprep'ed image onto the same physical machine,
but still it fails to boot), you have hit a known issue, and it is by design. In Vista, each
harddisk is given a disk ID. When you run diskpart script to "clean" the disk, the old ID is gone,
and a new one is assigned. When Vista image tries to boot, it will look for the old ID, and it can't
find it. That is the only reason that your scenario breaks."

From another post in the same thread:

The fix is to boot the installation DVD and run:
bootrec /rebuildbcd

The above fix works and the system is booting from the new drive.

The thread is located at:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...1-5df58d846bff

I would probably have been better off using backup and restore.

Meinolf Weber [MVP-DS] <meiweb(nospam)@gmx.de> wrote:

>Hello Stewart,
>
>This is not a supported way of moving the installation to another hardware.
>It may work. To make it the MS way create a system state and system drive
>backup and restore it to the new harddrive.
>
>See the reply from David Shen:
>http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...e-b552fb5bac9f
>
>Also check this one:
>http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/paulb...h-wbadmin.aspx
>
>Best regards
>
>Meinolf Weber
>Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
>no rights.
>** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
>** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
>
>
>> I wanted to move my system from one drive type to another.
>>
>> I created a bootable Windows PE CD with ImageX.exe on it and booted
>> it.
>> I then used
>> IMAGEX /COMPRESS NONE /CAPTURE C: C:\IMAGEING\Server2008.wim
>> "Server2008"
>> then
>> WPRUTIL SHUTDOWN
>> To install the image:
>>
>> 1. In BIOS Setup made the target drive the one to boot from.
>> 2. Booted from the Windows PE CD
>> 3. Verified that the target drive was now the C: drive
>> 4. Used Diskpart to do a quick format of the only partition on the C:
>> drive and made sure the
>> partition was marked as Active.
>> 5. Found the original system drive on D:
>> 6. Used ImageX to Apply the image to the C: drive:
>> IMAGEX /APPLY D:\IMAGING\<wim file name> 1 C:\
>> 7. Used wpeutil to shutdown
>> 8. Removed SATA cables from all drives except the target drive. 9.
>> Powered up the system (removed CD)
>>
>> Got a text screen saying that windows could not start because a file
>> was missing or corrupt:
>> \Windows\System32\Winload.exe
>> I booted the Windows PE CD and checked the C:\Windows\System32\
>> directory and Winload.exe is there.
>>
>

Hello Stewart,

Thanks for posting the solution you found. Hopefully it helps some other
also.

Best regards

Meinolf Weber
Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
no rights.
** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm


> Actually, it doesn't work properly even if you restore the image to
> the same drive if you follow the examples that Microsoft has and use
> DiskPart to Clean the drive.
>
> This is from a Microsoft post in a social.technet.microsoft.com forum:
>
> "First off, it is supported to restore a Vista image onto the same
> physical machine without running sysprep beforehand. Let me say this
> again, if and only if you are restoring a non-sysprep'ed Vista image
> onto the SAME physical machine, then it is supported. It is NOT
> supported to deploy a non-sysprep'ed Vista image onto another physical
> machine, even if the hardware pieces are all exactly the same."
>
> "Secondly, in your case (where you deploy the non-sysprep'ed image
> onto the same physical machine, but still it fails to boot), you have
> hit a known issue, and it is by design. In Vista, each harddisk is
> given a disk ID. When you run diskpart script to "clean" the disk, the
> old ID is gone, and a new one is assigned. When Vista image tries to
> boot, it will look for the old ID, and it can't find it. That is the
> only reason that your scenario breaks."
>
> From another post in the same thread:
>
> The fix is to boot the installation DVD and run:
> bootrec /rebuildbcd
> The above fix works and the system is booting from the new drive.
>
> The thread is located at:
> http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...stadeployment/
> thread/4de675a4-14ae-4469-b881-5df58d846bff
> I would probably have been better off using backup and restore.
>
> Meinolf Weber [MVP-DS] <meiweb(nospam)@gmx.de> wrote:
>
>> Hello Stewart,
>>
>> This is not a supported way of moving the installation to another
>> hardware. It may work. To make it the MS way create a system state
>> and system drive backup and restore it to the new harddrive.
>>
>> See the reply from David Shen:
>> http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...vergen/thread/
>> f61ce6da-0e06-4c7f-a42e-b552fb5bac9f
>> Also check this one:
>> http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/paulb.../02/02/backup-
>> and-recovery-of-a-windows-2008-server-with-wbadmin.aspx
>> Best regards
>>
>> Meinolf Weber
>> Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
>> confers
>> no rights.
>> ** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
>> ** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
>>> I wanted to move my system from one drive type to another.
>>>
>>> I created a bootable Windows PE CD with ImageX.exe on it and booted
>>> it.
>>> I then used
>>> IMAGEX /COMPRESS NONE /CAPTURE C: C:\IMAGEING\Server2008.wim
>>> "Server2008"
>>> then
>>> WPRUTIL SHUTDOWN
>>> To install the image:
>>> 1. In BIOS Setup made the target drive the one to boot from.
>>> 2. Booted from the Windows PE CD
>>> 3. Verified that the target drive was now the C: drive
>>> 4. Used Diskpart to do a quick format of the only partition on the
>>> C:
>>> drive and made sure the
>>> partition was marked as Active.
>>> 5. Found the original system drive on D:
>>> 6. Used ImageX to Apply the image to the C: drive:
>>> IMAGEX /APPLY D:\IMAGING\<wim file name> 1 C:\
>>> 7. Used wpeutil to shutdown
>>> 8. Removed SATA cables from all drives except the target drive. 9.
>>> Powered up the system (removed CD)
>>> Got a text screen saying that windows could not start because a file
>>> was missing or corrupt:
>>> \Windows\System32\Winload.exe
>>> I booted the Windows PE CD and checked the C:\Windows\System32\
>>> directory and Winload.exe is there.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a complete solution. The Hypervisor failed to start.

I finally had to do a server backup and full pc restore to transfer the system.

Meinolf Weber [MVP-DS] <meiweb(nospam)@gmx.de> wrote:

>Hello Stewart,
>
>Thanks for posting the solution you found. Hopefully it helps some other
>also.
>
>Best regards
>
>Meinolf Weber
>Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
>no rights.
>** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
>** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
>
>
>> Actually, it doesn't work properly even if you restore the image to
>> the same drive if you follow the examples that Microsoft has and use
>> DiskPart to Clean the drive.
>>
>> This is from a Microsoft post in a social.technet.microsoft.com forum:
>>
>> "First off, it is supported to restore a Vista image onto the same
>> physical machine without running sysprep beforehand. Let me say this
>> again, if and only if you are restoring a non-sysprep'ed Vista image
>> onto the SAME physical machine, then it is supported. It is NOT
>> supported to deploy a non-sysprep'ed Vista image onto another physical
>> machine, even if the hardware pieces are all exactly the same."
>>
>> "Secondly, in your case (where you deploy the non-sysprep'ed image
>> onto the same physical machine, but still it fails to boot), you have
>> hit a known issue, and it is by design. In Vista, each harddisk is
>> given a disk ID. When you run diskpart script to "clean" the disk, the
>> old ID is gone, and a new one is assigned. When Vista image tries to
>> boot, it will look for the old ID, and it can't find it. That is the
>> only reason that your scenario breaks."
>>
>> From another post in the same thread:
>>
>> The fix is to boot the installation DVD and run:
>> bootrec /rebuildbcd
>> The above fix works and the system is booting from the new drive.
>>
>> The thread is located at:
>> http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...stadeployment/
>> thread/4de675a4-14ae-4469-b881-5df58d846bff
>> I would probably have been better off using backup and restore.
>>
>> Meinolf Weber [MVP-DS] <meiweb(nospam)@gmx.de> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello Stewart,
>>>
>>> This is not a supported way of moving the installation to another
>>> hardware. It may work. To make it the MS way create a system state
>>> and system drive backup and restore it to the new harddrive.
>>>
>>> See the reply from David Shen:
>>> http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...vergen/thread/
>>> f61ce6da-0e06-4c7f-a42e-b552fb5bac9f
>>> Also check this one:
>>> http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/paulb.../02/02/backup-
>>> and-recovery-of-a-windows-2008-server-with-wbadmin.aspx
>>> Best regards
>>>
>>> Meinolf Weber
>>> Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
>>> confers
>>> no rights.
>>> ** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups
>>> ** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
>>>> I wanted to move my system from one drive type to another.
>>>>
>>>> I created a bootable Windows PE CD with ImageX.exe on it and booted
>>>> it.
>>>> I then used
>>>> IMAGEX /COMPRESS NONE /CAPTURE C: C:\IMAGEING\Server2008.wim
>>>> "Server2008"
>>>> then
>>>> WPRUTIL SHUTDOWN
>>>> To install the image:
>>>> 1. In BIOS Setup made the target drive the one to boot from.
>>>> 2. Booted from the Windows PE CD
>>>> 3. Verified that the target drive was now the C: drive
>>>> 4. Used Diskpart to do a quick format of the only partition on the
>>>> C:
>>>> drive and made sure the
>>>> partition was marked as Active.
>>>> 5. Found the original system drive on D:
>>>> 6. Used ImageX to Apply the image to the C: drive:
>>>> IMAGEX /APPLY D:\IMAGING\<wim file name> 1 C:\
>>>> 7. Used wpeutil to shutdown
>>>> 8. Removed SATA cables from all drives except the target drive. 9.
>>>> Powered up the system (removed CD)
>>>> Got a text screen saying that windows could not start because a file
>>>> was missing or corrupt:
>>>> \Windows\System32\Winload.exe
>>>> I booted the Windows PE CD and checked the C:\Windows\System32\
>>>> directory and Winload.exe is there.
>