If you get the message Task Sequence has failed with the error code 0x800700A1 during SCCM OSD you might need to use DiskPart commands.
Hard disk layout
It is important to have the correct hard disk layout otherwise error messages may occur during the deployment of a task sequence.
- Bios legacy
- NTFS file system
- Bios UEFI
- FAT32 file system
HardDisk
Use Diskpart to clean and partition the hard drive. This is possibly possible via a boot stick.
Enter the bold text in the command prompt and then press Enter
BIOS/Legacy boot:
- When WinPE is started, press F8 to launch the command prompt
- disk part
- list disk and find the disk where the Windows installation should take place (usually Disk 0)
- select disk 0 (or whatever other disk was chosen in step 3)
- clean
- create partition primary
- format fs=ntfs quick
- assign
- active
- exit
- exit, restart the computer with the USB boot stick inserted and restart the Task Sequence.
• UEFI boot:
- When WinPE is started, press F8 to launch the command prompt
- disk part
- list disk and find the disk where the Windows installation should take place (usually Disk 0)
- select disk 0 (or whatever other disk was chosen in step 3)
- clean
- convert gpt
- create partition efi size=200
- format fs=fat32 quick
- assign letter=g (or any other letter except C)
- create partition msr size=128
- create partition primary
- format fs=ntfs quick
- assign letter=c
- exit
- exit, restart the computer with the USB boot stick inserted and restart the Task Sequence.
USB stick
The USB boot stick must have the correct file system, otherwise problems may arise with recognition of the USB sticks in the BIOS. Or after the USB stick is selected in the boot menu and then jumps back to the boot menu.
Boot stick
If you do not have the latest version, the new version will be downloaded during the start of the task sequence and the computer will then be booted.
After the message Remove USB stick and press Enter to continue, the computer will be restarted and you will have to select the correct task sequence again. An older version will not work if the network drivers for that type of hardware are missing from the boot image. It is therefore advisable to always use the latest version. This does require an additional manual action.
So make sure that the boot stick always has the latest version.