0xC0000005 error, how to fix or recover system from ESD/WIM file?

[C37rLySsumUD4qjXQrst]

I tried to update my custom ISO and when I tried to install it, it gave me this 0xC0000005 at 78%.

I make my ISOs by using NTLite to clean the base Windows ISO, installing, adding and configuring everything and then using dism.exe to capture, then just replacing the WIM file in the clean ISO with the finished ESD.

Since I had done that a few times now with the same ISO, I thought that something just broke so I just made a new ISO to avoid problems. But the error came up again.
It only happens after I capture the image with dism.exe, but this has never happened before.

So, is this error known and can I fix it, and can I recover the system that is inside the ESD file so I don't have to do everything yet again?

Not sure if would help, but I can share the ESD file no problem, it's 7.81 GB.

Also, I kind of want to try an older version of NTLite, because since this has never happened before, I'm suspecting it's something to do with an update.
The only attempts that did work was when I directly created an ISO after cleaning with NTLite, and when I created an ISO after further cleaning it with MSMG Toolkit, but I couldn't find downloads for older versions.

 

[garlin]

Several different errors can happen at each install stage, and there's not enough specifics here to understand.

Unfortunately, you'll need to debug this by process of elimination. Back in my technical support days, I call this "confidence building". Start with something you know should work, and then progressively grow the steps by adding a new layer.

1. Start with a clean ISO. Install it the normal way, and DISM capture your image. Don't customize the post-install.

Compress the ESD and install it again. This process is to validate you're not introducing any errors from the sysprep stage.​

2. Repeat step 1, except you will begin with a patched image. Do not customize the install image other than add updates.

Do not add post-install customizations before DISM.​

3. Repeat step 2, except now you will customize a patched image with NTLite. Do not use MSMG, to prevent adding a new variable to the mix.

4. If you made it this far without failing, then use MSMG after NTLite has applied its changes.

5. Finally allow yourself to include the post-install customizations, and test the final capture.

Trying to determine if an existing ESD is recoverable involves too many unknowns. You need to validate each step in the process chain, to understand where it starts being broken. There are Windows install logs on the system drive, but usually they don't make a whole lot of sense.

 

[C37rLySsumUD4qjXQrst]

Before I read your message, I figured it out how to make it work, somehow. TL;DR: something causes the instability, but I believe Ventoy is part of the problem as well.

The way I made the final, completely non-functioning ISO is by using the ISO I made with both NTLite and MSMG as a base (copied the files to a folder), then replacing the WIM with my captured ESD, and using NTLite to create the ISO.

This time, I tried using AnyBurn's "Edit Image File" feature to replace the WIM.

It works, however, using Ventoy's normal mode, sometimes works, sometimes it doesn't.
And although I only tried it once or twice, using Ventoy's wimboot mode has worked everytime.

I remember having this issue sometime in the past too, I remember having a final ISO that only installed in wimboot mode, but then I forgot a change I wanted to make. I made the change then captured it again, and now the ISO worked on normal mode.

So yeah, chances are, this is not a fault of NTLite.

 

[nuhi]

Could be the USB stick is having issues as well, they do go bad eventually.
Sometimes a different port or not using cable extensions may help as well.

Also if copying to FAT32 partition, make sure the install.wim is below 4GB, throwing this just in case due to the percentage of error reminding me of it.