There are a few things that can cause this issue:
Scenario 1: If the post-install tasks are completing on the target system, the task engine is unable to report the status to the SDA
- a missing network driver
- Make sure drivers are being deployed correctly (reference this KB)
- interference from antivirus/security software
- whitelist the KACE directory on the system drive
- don't include antivirus in the image itself, install it via postinstall task or using the SMA (reference our best practices KB)
- place the antivirus/security software installation task at the end of the deployment and disable the antivirus until next boot
Scenario 2: If some or all of the post-installation tasks are not completing on the target system, but it is sitting at the login screen
- an unattend file was not used at all
- the image will have to be sysprepped with an unattend file and the unattend parameter, making sure to include the autologon configuration. This can be done either manually or by leveraging the Sysprep Creator utility
- autologons are not configured in the unattend file
- add in the section manually to your existing unattend file or use Sysprep Creator to create a new unattend file
- sysprep the image using the new or modified unattend
- the autologon count is not high enough to complete the entire deployment
- change it on the fly with this KB or
- follow the steps for Scenario 2B
Scenario 3: If none of the post-installation tasks are completing but the system is sitting at the desktop
- The task engine is not running because an OEM license was detected
- Leverage a volume license instead (reference this KB)
- Interference from antivirus/security software
- Follow the steps for Scenario 1B
- Powershell might be blocked, removed or disabled in the image.
- Since version 9.3 Powershell is needed for the deployment of images, this can be disabled later via an additional script or other tools like the KACE System Management Appliance (KSMA).
Scenario 4: The system is not booting into Windows, due to any combination of the below:
- missing boot files (e.g. the boot partition was not captured or deployed)
- if UEFI, recapture the image with both partitions (C: and S:)
- if Legacy/BIOS, create a single partition image per our best practices KB. Alternatively, capture both partitions and deploy them as explained in this KB
- required drivers are not injected during the deployment
- Make sure drivers are being deployed correctly (reference this KB)
- conflicting drivers exist in the image
- Install as few drivers as possible on the image master (preferably a virtual machine) per our best practices KB
