The image has been damaged by an offline servicing failure (W10 21H1)

Hi folks, sorry for not getting back to you all sooner..
I have had a right PITA trying to integrate Windows 10 updates, so we had no choice but to go the old fashioned way, untouched Windows 10 IS and Sysprep when it was all installed.

I firmly believe that there is some sort of problem with NTLite, as for testing purposes I ran the untouched image through NTLite, only selecting the few updates that dont error out..

Tested this in a new VM, and the install goes well, but upon running Windows Updates, in red under Updates Available in red it states that my device is missing important security and quality updates, then below that it takes ages to install the KB5025221 update, it then tells me it needs a restart, but once that update wont install, it stays onscreen for over an hour and then it reboots and does the undoing of the update, and i just get stuck in a loop.


I can guarentee there is nothing wrong with my PC OR the installation, its only just over a week old, I built it up from scratch brand spanking new and its no slouch!

I performed an experiment where i took that untouched Windows 10 ISO I downloaded from Media Creation tool and run it through a virtual PC and guess what... yup every update installed as it should do!

This tells me there is a bug in the software somewhere, how do i go about reporting this issue as I paid for the second tier licence key and thus far the software hasnt done a huge part of what I needed it to do, ie a waste of money at present..
 
Did you answer my question, does it work when you disable Norton? Otherwise I'm done.

Every day, I spend a few hours recreating user setups, as they're described by posted threads. I have yet to encounter an "image has been damaged" error in 2.5 years of using NTLite. And that's because I don't have 3rd-party AV solutions.
 
I tried to replicate this one more time, and below is the conclusion of that:

For this attempt, I went and followed the steps *exactly* as given in this reply (link) since my first attempt (link) was slightly different, but I still ended up with the same outcome as before. There were no servicing errors, and I don't actually have KB5023696 or KB5023773 as an option for me to download like OP did (which would be helpful to know why since that is probably relevant). I still get the same KB5022502 issue as before, but all the evidence points at that being a Microsoft bug which I discuss in my first attempt.

NOTES AND FINDINGS
I did notice some differences along the way, that are worth pointing out. OP stated that this is a fresh install of NTLite and all settings are default, but "Standard" extraction is not the default, the middle "Parallel" option is. I switched over to "Standard" for this latest test though.

The other things that were different is that OP is using the en-GB ISO while I'm using en-US. Also, I am using Home edition on my host machine to edit a Home target, while OP is using Pro to edit Home. Lastly, in the time since this thread was first started, NTLite had an update, so I am using 2023.4.9196 currently, but at the time of my previous test I was on the 9191 version (same as OP).

At this point, I conclude something similar to what Garlin is saying, and these are my theories:

1) The source image and/or updates loaded into NTLite are corrupt.
2) The host computer running NTLite has problems and a clean install of an unmodified Windows will fix that.
3) The settings of NTLite were modified in a way that is causing problems (Standard/Parallel for example).
4) There's information we aren't aware of--this happens often because people assume something doesn't matter, when it does.

RELATED THREADS
Could there be some other bug in Windows or NTLite at play? Yes, because these threads have been frequent lately. I have watched all the recent NET Framework threads carefully, as I know Garlin has too, and I've tried to find similarities in the variables. I found that at least one or more of the following items repeat in every single thread, so if there is a bug or common theme it's some combination of these culprits:

A) ISO language (en-GB and es-ES versus en-US).
B) Adding additional keyboards.
C) Adding language packs.
D) Enabling the NET 3.5 Framework.
E) Heavily modified host machines with bad tweaks.
F) Operator-error by using oddball methods to build images.

This other thread (link) hasn't received much response, but I think it's got validity to it because 2 people reported the same issue, and investigating that might reveal a bug that is potentially affecting the various Framework threads. Another thread over here (link) also never reached a conclusion, though that one is clearly a case of a heavily modified host machine with *countless* bad tweaks, and that's 99% of the problem, but there may still be some validity in the thread which was revealed in replies from helpers after some of the operator-error layers were peeled away.
 
Last edited:
garlin said:
Did you answer my question, does it work when you disable Norton? Otherwise I'm done.

Every day, I spend a few hours recreating user setups, as they're described by posted threads. I have yet to encounter an "image has been damaged" error in 2.5 years of using NTLite. And that's because I don't have 3rd-party AV solutions.
Click to expand...
WTF... How the frack..... after almost 1 week of trying different things, staying up until 3am some mornings this has sorted it out!!!

I used the untouched Windows 10 22H2 ISO and installed it into a virtual PC, did a fresh download of NTLite, only allowing internet access until the updates had installed, then I left it while it did its thing, and I woke up to a successfully completed build!! :D

Thats well weird that Norton is screwing things up, it has never occurred to me that could be the problem! Ive used N/NTLite since XP SP2 days and have never had a successful stable build of my Windows OS.. now I know why!

I dont suppose there is any clue which setting of Norton will stop screwing up my NTLite builds? I shall have to do some experimenting to see which setting(s) to change!
A HUGE BIG thank you to you Garlin, its thanks to your perseverance and help, we got this sorted now :D
:D
 
Third-party AV real-time scanners get aggressive because NTLite is writing thousands of image files, marked with system-level privileges.
This looks like obviously suspicious behavior, and they will silently block them instead of issuing a pop-up warning.

The best workaround is to add NTLite's temp folder to the file exclusion list, and NTLite to the real-time process list. If not, disable Norton while you're processing, and enable it when done.
 
WWE_Fan69 said:
Thats well weird that Norton is screwing things up, it has never occurred to me that could be the problem! Ive used N/NTLite since XP SP2 days and have never had a successful stable build of my Windows OS.. now I know why!
Click to expand...
It's not really Norton that's the problem, but rather all antivirus and firewalls have the potential to cause problems of this nature, which is why gamers in particular are the major group that typically runs without one or both because they can create more headaches than they're worth, since security can be handled just as effectively in other ways.

There's a lot of Windows quirks that can do the same thing, and cause various problems. It just takes a lot of research, troubleshooting, and experimenting to learn where all the typical issues can come from and how to workaround them. The guides below will steer people clear of the vast majority of obstacles for both building an image with NTLite, as well as configuring Windows during and after it's installed:

1) Guide: Quality Control
2) Guide: NTLite for Beginners
3) Guide: Installing Windows
 
Last edited:
When push Apply - NTL open Windows Security per default to turn if off.
It should be a wink with a cart rod for most users even they use other AV than Defender, which don't get uninstalled using another AV - just replace it.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top