How to fix "Windows could not finish configuring the system" error after running Sysprep.
On a Windows 7 Virtual Machine (VM) the following error appears on screen after the first restart during 'sysprep' phase: "Windows could not finish configuring the system. To attempt to resume configuration, restart the computer". When you press 'OK', Windows restart but the same error appears again without any details. After some research on the Internet I found that this error message occurs with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems if the original operating system contains a registry key that is larger than 8 kilobytes (KB). A Hotfix for this problem is available from Microsoft here and must be applied before executing the 'sysprep' command. The hotfix is already included on Windows 7 SP1 systems.
I write this article, because – in my case – I had not applied the available hotfix before "syspreping" the VM machine, but also because I discovered that the "Windows could not finish configuring the system" error can also occur in a clean install of Windows 7 OS.
How to resolve the "Windows could not finish configuring the system" error.
When the "Windows could not finish configuring the system" appears on your screen:
1. Hold down the SHIFT key and press F10 (SHIFT + F10).
2. At command prompt type: cd oobe (& press Enter)
3. Then type: msoobe (& press Enter)
4. At 'Set Up Windows' first screen, choose your Country/ Region, Time and currency & Keyboard layout settings & press Next.
5. Type a Username and a Computer Name & press Next.
6. Type a password (if you want) and press Next.
7. Accept the License Terms & Press Next.
8. Select how you want Windows to protect your computer. (e.g. "Use recommended settings")
9. Set the Time and Date settings & press Next.
10. Now wait until Windows finalizes your settings.
11. Finally Restart your computer. *
* If after pressing Restart nothing happens, then close all open windows or perform a cold Shutdown by pressing the Power key for several seconds.
Now Windows should boot normally.
You 're done!
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Sophia
March 1, 2020 @ 4:49 am
Beautiful! Thank you
Nussaim
January 2, 2019 @ 8:36 pm
Awesome Worked.
Leexo
May 20, 2018 @ 3:33 pm
Thanks guys and really appreciate your instructions and comments
Hello
March 6, 2018 @ 9:13 am
Hello,
This is great I found here a solution to this problem, but does it enable to keep our documents/data ?
Please I dont want to make my computer as new I need to keep my work
Thank you for your help
lakonst
March 6, 2018 @ 9:51 am
@Hello: Your data will be kept. Just sign in with you old user account.
Fabiano Mello
March 3, 2018 @ 3:47 pm
Thanks Bro!!
The best tutorial about this problem!!!
Hug!!
Batsi
February 26, 2018 @ 2:52 pm
Thanks this saved me, was almost looking at formatting and rebuilding my environment
Sukh
November 16, 2019 @ 4:02 am
Not working after msoobe command
Vin
January 16, 2018 @ 9:49 pm
AWSM. Thanks
mustapha
November 24, 2017 @ 7:51 pm
thank's a lot for the information you saved me ^^
Brian
September 6, 2017 @ 10:44 am
Thankyou. Information was of much help
Karen
July 11, 2017 @ 10:36 am
Thank you so much!!!!!! You really saved the day <3!
peter
May 18, 2017 @ 11:00 am
Thanks man it works ?
thomas/Hungary
April 2, 2017 @ 12:13 pm
Thanks a lot!
I appreciate your affort, I donate 10 bucks.
joeyA
March 9, 2017 @ 8:10 pm
another relieved and happy customer right here!
thanks so much for posting the detailed instructions!!
jeremy
February 22, 2017 @ 7:20 pm
I downloaded a Dell system image from their drivers and downloads for a computer, installed, and I was getting this error. Followed the instructions, rebooted, and the system is up and running. Thanks!
bhaskar
February 22, 2017 @ 9:29 am
Thank u very much
Mezta
February 11, 2017 @ 10:55 am
Hi,
I faced the same problem earlier and then I follow your instruction, but I got because all my files in the desktops and even in the download folder are all gone. Is there any possible way to retrieve them?
Thank you,
lakonst
February 11, 2017 @ 2:42 pm
@Mezta: Your files are still there under a different user account. Look under C:\Users folder to find your files.
meisam
February 10, 2017 @ 2:22 pm
Thanks
Azat
February 8, 2017 @ 2:10 pm
Thanks a lot for your post !!
ILLYWoNKa
January 19, 2017 @ 10:40 am
You're a genius!!! Do u know anything about MacBook air unlocks?
JC
January 7, 2017 @ 8:55 pm
BIG thank you; was about to reinstall the OS!
Matt
November 16, 2016 @ 6:49 am
I LOVE YOU THANK YOU
Outlander
October 29, 2016 @ 11:30 am
Holy crap thanks man, been on roller coaster of emotions today, finally upgraded pc and windows wont boot, managed to repair, boots but crashes from time to time, than I found out oobe function and this error happened, and now finally found this article of yours and it seems to finally works like it should!
Tim knowles
October 13, 2016 @ 1:41 pm
Hi…thanks very much – it worked for me. Much appreciated
Uneek
October 2, 2016 @ 10:04 pm
Hi there…I tried this and everything went through But why is it sooooooo slow?
lakonst
October 3, 2016 @ 9:16 am
@Uneek: Ask Microsoft…:)
Andy O
September 6, 2016 @ 10:22 pm
Thanks so much! it helped me in my enterprise environment!
ajith
August 1, 2016 @ 3:11 pm
very nice tnq very much
tun
July 27, 2016 @ 3:50 pm
Thank you very much!
LionL
July 15, 2016 @ 7:12 pm
Hello! I followed the steps. However, after the "windows is finalizing your settings" window disappears, my computer goes back to the command promt.
After I perform a cold shutdown my computer loads the "Setup is starting services" page, and the "Windows could not finish configuring the system." window appears again. Is this problem fixable.
lakonst
July 15, 2016 @ 7:21 pm
@LionL: I guess that a service prevents Windows to complete the setup (e.g. the Antivirus service, etc.) . I don't know if there is a way to resolve this problem.
Abrham Fentabil
July 2, 2016 @ 10:08 pm
I really thanks. It works correctly!
Chris
June 29, 2016 @ 11:05 pm
I've been struggling on this error for couple of days now. I feel so stupid on how i resolved this after going thru and modifying system settings, Window Repair, Shift + F10 etc. After imaging with SCCM it placed the OS and injected the Driver package i've created and then it rebooted the system. I've received the error above ""Windows could not finish configuring the system. To attempt to resume configuration, restart the computer". I used an External Hard drive to place this Standalone Image to my HP system. Remove or unplug your USB hard drive and let it auto fix itself. Reboot it and It seriously corrected it self and then was asking for the USB HD to resume to OSD install. Give it a shot. Hope this helps someone.
sasha
June 27, 2016 @ 9:00 pm
Thank you works well just one question, my display look as if its in safety mood how do i fix this
lakonst
June 28, 2016 @ 9:12 am
@sasha: Check your Resolution or reinstall the VGA drivers.
Tom
June 25, 2016 @ 6:22 pm
This worked just fine! There were some other glitches, and it adjusted the Registry, but after all the bs it finally came back!
Read a lot of posts, this was the only solution that worked.
I was getting a Winclone solution to work and this error came. This fix is the shit!
Notee, I had previously tried the bcdedit trick, that did absolutely nothing for this Win7 64 problem.
Thank you so much! You saved us all a full reinstall plus hours of updates!
Fernando
June 19, 2016 @ 11:08 am
Thank you! Great Solution :)
Tommy
June 17, 2016 @ 1:57 pm
Thanks a lot! Your solution perfectly helps me solve the proplem! Frankly,I losed my heart and almost gave up before searching this page.
laura
May 17, 2016 @ 6:54 pm
Thank you, thought I had ruined the laptop but it's working now. Thank you sooooo much for posting this and it's easy to ubderstand for someone who dosnt know much about computers.
Kevin
May 16, 2016 @ 7:19 pm
HOLY SHIT! You just saved my life dude! I have sooo much setup on my newish PC and I was just following a Tutorial on how to change my user files from the main drive to a secondary drive and screwed up somewhere. Your information has saved me hundreds of hours of setup again. If you had a donation button then I would have sent you a ton of money!
lakonst
May 17, 2016 @ 9:30 am
@Kelvin. I' m glad to assist you. (The Donate button is located at the end of each article).
mr.D
May 12, 2016 @ 8:20 pm
Thank u so much :)
glen
May 11, 2016 @ 9:56 pm
DUDE…!!!! You Rock. This worked like a charm. So I am guessing the same that you stated that it is the AV that is installed and configured. I've completed other images and didn't configure the AV and had no problems. I was just being lazy and didn't want to create a new image.
Thanks again.
beni
May 4, 2016 @ 9:37 am
many thank's to you from belgium! ! ! ! :) :) :)
Sean
March 23, 2016 @ 4:37 am
Good shit man it worked for me thanks for ur brain
İnanç
March 22, 2016 @ 10:06 am
Thanks
Arunkumar S Kammar
March 8, 2016 @ 8:03 am
Thank you.. It was headache. So now i got solution from you.. Thanks lot..
Tu
February 25, 2016 @ 2:52 pm
Thanks
Marek Javůrek
February 23, 2016 @ 12:20 pm
This work for me:
* Pressed Shift + F10 to get the command prompt.
* Run the command: ‘bcdedit /set {default} safeboot minimal’.
* Rebooted.
* When error message about safe mode subsequently came up after reboot, pressed Shift + F10 again.
* Ran the command: ‘bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot’.
* Rebooted.
Jhie
February 10, 2016 @ 12:54 pm
Thnkyou soo much.I'd been looking for this answer for. Few days.
Whit
February 7, 2016 @ 11:40 pm
Ong thank you so much I was getting ready to trash my computer and finally found this!! Thank you so much really thank you
Jordan chew
February 7, 2016 @ 3:59 pm
After doing wat you have say everything was ok but my internet explore is not working, how to fix it?
lakonst
February 8, 2016 @ 4:33 pm
@Jordan chew: (This is strange). Try to uninstall and re-install IE.
Vince
February 2, 2016 @ 3:44 am
I was stuck as well. This did get me going and appreciate that, But on to the next problem. Notes this is a home computer old users were deleted or at least no longer listed. During the process I had to create a new user. I don't recall any one else mentioning this.
The unfortunate outcome is that even thought this user was an administrator I don't have access to old personal files (pictures and personal papers). Window does lead your to a process for getting access as the administrator but it gets to a point where it will not give you access. Also I had to repair drivers to get internet access going but explorer will not work.
FireFox is not longer found. Has any one else fixed the access files????????
lakonst
February 2, 2016 @ 10:17 am
@Vince: 1. SysPrep doesn't remove old users. Try to sign out and Sign in again with your old user. Otherwise…
2. Login to Windows in Safe Mode. You should view the old files from the old profile.
Maria
January 31, 2016 @ 1:58 pm
Thanks!! This saves me :)
sanele mtshali
January 22, 2016 @ 10:30 am
man you're a star for 6 months i've stucked with this
Azi
January 19, 2016 @ 6:19 pm
Hello,
I did everything as you wrote in your tip, but after Im done with the setting it returns to the command line and the error stays there. After restart the whole loop of error starts again. I tried safe mode, restart and normal but that doesnt help either.
Do you have an idea?
lakonst
January 20, 2016 @ 10:13 am
@Azi: Do you have a security suite or antivirus installed? If yes, try to uninstall it. Another reason could be a third app that prevent Windows to start normally. Use "msconfig" to deactivate them.
hasan
January 16, 2016 @ 8:27 pm
how long does it take to finalize your settings?
lakonst
January 17, 2016 @ 1:24 pm
@hasan: Normally not long. Try to shutdown and restart.
Doug
January 14, 2016 @ 5:03 am
Mine gets to the Windows is Finalizing your settings part and seems to be stuck. How long should this take?
lakonst
January 14, 2016 @ 11:09 am
@Doug: Normally not long. Try to shutdown and restart.
Doug
January 15, 2016 @ 5:22 pm
Worked great. Thanks so much!
clint
January 4, 2016 @ 10:25 pm
This worked for me as well! Thanks so much for taking the time to post this!
Saad
January 4, 2016 @ 3:04 pm
It's helpful. Thanks a bunch
Edith
December 26, 2015 @ 11:17 am
I see you really good in this .
I really need your help if you can please ..
I follow your Oder from TOP number 1 to 9
Then when it's turn 10 ( computer bring me back to Administrators black screen again ..
May I know what wrong with my laptop ?;(
lakonst
January 11, 2016 @ 11:35 am
@Edith: Have you installed a security software? Uninstall it before running SYSPREP.
Danny
December 16, 2015 @ 5:56 am
Thanks, this worked for me. So clutch will donate .
Thiago
December 15, 2015 @ 3:44 pm
Thanks man. My error was slghtly different, something like "Windows can´t finish installation an error with the unnattend file prevent windows installation to continue. restart the computer and try to reinstalling the product", but in portuguese so I didn´t take sanpshot. Your tip solve my problem… thanks a lot…
AOliva
December 14, 2015 @ 6:20 am
Thanks friend, I spent several nights wrestling with this problem.
Steven
December 12, 2015 @ 7:50 pm
Hi there,
I went through windows to wipe all the files and start fresh with just my Windows 7 on the drive.
I am experiencing the endless loop of "Windows could not finish configuring the system."
I used your method and after it configured Windows, it displayed the prompt again. I restarted it, and the loop has begun again.
lakonst
December 13, 2015 @ 11:10 am
@Steven: Try this procedure: Press F8 and enter Safe Mode. The error should come again… Restart your machine and let it to boot normally.
Tell us the results…
Hadi
December 11, 2015 @ 12:17 pm
Hey man your post work 100% in my workgroup pc.
Thank a lot.
You're genius????
Morgan Sim
December 3, 2015 @ 9:54 am
Thanks alot man, your clear, step by step instructions saved my day. Why haven't I found the right solution for 1 whole week? Lol
Very grateful with your advice!
Thank you very much
Nigel
December 1, 2015 @ 4:35 am
Thanks… this worked perfectly!
robert
November 25, 2015 @ 7:45 pm
This works great on Windows 7 but I am getting this message in Windows 10. It will just cycle back to the option for express settings and sits at "just a moment….". There is no other options like with Windows 7!
chuck
November 16, 2015 @ 4:28 pm
Awesome. Owe you a beer!!!!!
marcia
November 15, 2015 @ 6:48 pm
Tkanks a lot.Muito obrigadaaa.
Chris
November 14, 2015 @ 11:17 pm
It worked but my old profile was gone and I cant find the rest of the file
anitha
November 14, 2015 @ 1:22 am
thank you sooo much
Katy
November 13, 2015 @ 2:43 pm
Hi. Thanks for the advice! I'm just having one problem. The wifi network driver has vanished. I've managed to connect to the internet through a cable for now but I really need the wifi driver. Can I download it from the acer website and if so do you know where I can find the link for that? Thank you
lakonst
November 14, 2015 @ 8:11 am
@Katy: Hi Katy. What is the model of your notebook?
Katy
November 14, 2015 @ 4:54 pm
Hi. It's an Aspire 5336. I've actually managed to get the wifi driver back on but now my Internet is incredibly slow. The pages aren't loading at all. My anti virus protection has ran out so I wonder if it's related to that.
Sarkodie
November 12, 2015 @ 12:16 am
Many thanks sir. It worked!!
RTSIT
November 10, 2015 @ 10:28 am
Thanks so much for this, spent tons of time on my gold image and then this happens. Really appreciate it!!
Lincoln
November 2, 2015 @ 7:32 am
Thank you so much it worked for me! Your the best.
james_shih
October 16, 2015 @ 4:57 am
OS: windows 2008 r2
Thank you so much. All the best! :)
Ali
September 10, 2015 @ 9:18 am
Thanks!You saved my hours!
SAMOD
September 9, 2015 @ 9:41 pm
Thx =)
Jay
September 7, 2015 @ 4:52 am
Absolutely helping out your advise wonderful great but having one problem for code 28 windows 7 driver download. I can not get internet wifi connection until get on the net please suggest me appropriate direction…Thank you very much!
lakonst
September 7, 2015 @ 9:29 am
@Jay: From another computer download and install the WiFi network driver. Then let Windows to install the rest drivers.
Jay
September 8, 2015 @ 2:01 am
Hi Lakonst , thanks got it!
Veronica
September 6, 2015 @ 3:12 am
Thanks so much….You have given me life;-)
Zeletin
September 5, 2015 @ 4:22 pm
Fantastic! Problem solved.
Thank you so much. All the best!
Celeste
September 3, 2015 @ 4:17 pm
Definitely the best advice from everything that we read so far.!! Thankx so much … your advice ACTUALLY WORKED !!!!
Rush
September 3, 2015 @ 2:43 am
Your the man…thank you so much….cheers…I will be posting your URL on all my social media sites. God bless
Fatboys
August 15, 2015 @ 12:01 am
I have tried this but get stuck at the Shift + F10 I am getting the same dialog box but when it's up I can get a cmd prompt to show, it just does nothing
lakonst
August 15, 2015 @ 11:13 am
@Fatboys: I don't know why this happens.
NISHKAR
August 14, 2015 @ 9:42 am
Hi there. This worked perfectly. However I cannot find any of my documents, videos, music etc. yet the C:Drive is showing the same amount of space remaining before the reboot
Thanks
lakonst
August 15, 2015 @ 11:15 am
@NISHKAR: All your documents and data are on the old user profile. Look under C:\Users folder to fine them.
Karen
August 13, 2015 @ 10:11 pm
THANKS!!!
Joe
August 12, 2015 @ 4:27 pm
Thanks man. You're a genius. This very simple trick works well. Thanks again.
drake
August 7, 2015 @ 7:51 pm
holy sh*t dude you dont know how many times this error has happened and i didnt know how to fix it
Angela Lloyd-Mostyn
August 5, 2015 @ 10:21 am
Thank you so much for posting this fix in plain English! It worked first time!
Rodger
August 4, 2015 @ 8:30 pm
Thank you very much for posting this!!
Alex
August 3, 2015 @ 10:27 pm
Tried a dozen methods in half a dozen forums, none worked. Then by chance I stumbled upon your article. Thank you so much for taking the time to share this, many grey hairs saved. Much appreciated
Yvonne
August 2, 2015 @ 8:32 am
Thank you very much for this information. It helped me a lot! You saved me a bunch of time.
Vas
July 28, 2015 @ 2:19 pm
Very helpful thankyou
Micky
July 24, 2015 @ 11:46 pm
I just want to say thank you big time for this . I almost lost hope after syspreping my hard drive and i almost cried when the warning message appeared , but you saved it thanks again .
Stefan
July 24, 2015 @ 11:02 pm
thank you so much i thought i was screwed when the error message showed up and i thought i was gonna lose all my files. thank you so much i owe you one
Bryce
July 19, 2015 @ 4:37 am
Thank you sir this worked for me!! :)
J. Morgan
July 16, 2015 @ 2:13 pm
You're a lifesaver man…been having a headache because a laptop I was reinstalling got stuck at that annoying screen, God bless you immensely.
Thanks.
Eric P
July 10, 2015 @ 6:20 pm
Just wanted to say thank you so much. I was replacing my motherboard and wanted to use my same HDD, so I did a sysprep. After hours of searching for a solution last night, I gave up and went to bed. Woke up this morning thought I try again. Then I came by your article. I followed the instructions and it worked like a charm. Thank you again.
Minh Nguyen
June 19, 2015 @ 4:41 am
You are wonderful !
Abu
June 7, 2015 @ 3:46 pm
Thanks, but will it erase the data on your hard disk?
lakonst
June 9, 2015 @ 8:48 am
@Abu: Your data will not affected.
Alex
May 26, 2015 @ 11:27 am
Thanks! You save my day! It is working now.
Joe
May 25, 2015 @ 9:17 am
Unreal man I've been looking for hours now and this did it. Thanks so much!
WILDAN
May 23, 2015 @ 8:07 am
Thanks man,,,iam from indonesia,,your posting its work 100%
luis
May 23, 2015 @ 2:44 am
after "windows finalizing your settings, it goes back to the command promt :/ how can i get it to start?
lakonst
May 23, 2015 @ 9:15 am
@luis: I have already said: If after pressing Restart nothing happens, then close all open windows or perform a cold Shutdown by pressing the Power key for several seconds.
Severus Nwar
May 18, 2015 @ 10:31 am
Man, this is so useful !!
So many THANKS !!
Stephen
May 9, 2015 @ 8:10 pm
Thanks man this works!!!!
Raul
May 4, 2015 @ 3:45 am
Hay una forma mas practica y es restaurar el registro. Pues en mi caso el msoobe no funciono.