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When SYSPREPing a PC that has been partitioned for use with Windows BitLocker, you may receive the following error after the system restarts:

The system registry contains invalid file paths.  Installation cannot proceed.  This system image was applied without guaranteeing that drive-letter assignments would match across computers.

The issue has to do with the order in which the drive letters are assigned to the partitions after SYSPREP is ran.  The drive letters do not match the way they were assigned when the system was first built.

To correct the problem, you will need to rebuild the PC again and complete the following to SYSPREP the system:

• Before you SYSPREP, open RegEdit and export the Mounted Devices key (HKLMSYSTEMMountedDevices).  Do not close RegEdit.
• Open a command prompt and run the following command:

c:\windows\system32\sysprep>sysprep -oobe -generalize -quit

• Go back to the RegEdit window and import the Mounted Devices key that you exported earlier.
• Restart the PC and boot into WinPE and use your image capture software (i.e. Ghost)

Note:  It is important that you leave the RegEdit window open while you run SYSPREP.  If you do not , you will not be able to reopen RegEdit.

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My Dell XPS M1330 finally arrived yesterday.  I was pleasantly surprised that it showed up after some confusion over its DHL tracking status.

As I have posted about previously, the first thing I always do when getting a new computer is to install a fresh copy of Windows without all the “crap” software installed.  In this case, I also wanted to change the version of Windows from Vista Home Premium to Vista Ultimate basically for the benefit of the BitLocker feature.

Here’s the problem.  You knew it was coming.  When loading a non-OEM version of Vista that has not been modified by Dell to include the correct drivers the installation will fail with a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).  Then when booting into safe mode to troubleshoot the problem the system hangs while trying to load the crcdisk.sys driver.  It turns out that “safe mode with command prompt” will not even allow the system to boot.

So, I opened up a chat session with Dell support.  After describing the problem Dell’s official response is “that the warranty does not cover installing a non OEM operating system (which means we only support installing the OS that came with the computer).”   Dell Customer Care and I agreed that the problem most likely is with the SATA drivers.  An option is to try to load the updated SATA drivers during the installation process.  The only problem is there is a list of 10 or so SATA controllers contained in the driver that can be downloaded from Dell.com.  My first attempt at trying a random controller from the list didn’t work.  Dell could not confirm which SATA controller is in the XPS M1330.  I requested that Dell Customer Care find the answer to this problem and they agreed to get back to me via email.

In the mean time I re-installed the OEM version of Vista Home Premium and got my laptop back up and running.

Updated 8/28/07 – Dell Customer Care has still not responded via email with the information on the SATA controller drivers that they agreed to follow up on.

Updated 1/13/08 – I’m still running Vista Home Premium that came with the laptop.  I haven’t had any problems with it and have been afraid to try to get Vista Ultimate installed because I don’t know how many times the OEM version of Vista Home Premium that came with the system will activate.   I’m satisfied to leave it as is for now.

The Dell Optiplex GX620 comes standard with an ST Microelectronics Trusted Platform Module (TPM) v1.2.  The TPM is disabled by default and must be enabled in the BIOS.  However, even after enabling the TPM and properly partitioning the hard drive for BitLocker, Vista reports (from the tpm.msc) that a “TPM cannot be found on this computer”.

As of 2/2/07, Dell Support was less than helpful on the issue and said that Vista is not currently certified on the GX620 even though they are selling the systems as “Windows Vista capable”.  A TPM driver may be needed for Vista, but has not been released.  Dell Support said to check driver downloads and/or call back at a later date.

Here are the steps that I’ve completed so far…

Step 1: Turned on the TPM in the BIOS:

• Reboot the computer and enter the system Setup program by pressing the [F2] key during the Power On Self Test.
• In the Setup program, open the “Security” settings category and select the “TPM Security” menu option.
• Set the TPM Security state to “On.”
• From the “Security” settings category, select the “TPM Activation” menu option.
• Set the TPM Activation state to “Activate“.
• Press “OK” when prompted for “TPM Acknowledgement“. (Changes to this field take effect immediately.)
• Exit from the Setup program by pressing the [Esc] key, when prompted make sure to choose the “Save / Exit” option in order to keep the changes.

Step 2: Installed Windows Vista Enterprise following the Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption Step-by-Step Guide to ensure the hard drive was properly partitioned to support BitLocker.

Step 3: Upgraded the BIOS to A11 dated 12/5/2006.

Step 4: Installed the updated Intel Chipset v.8.1.1.1010 dated 11/30/2006.

Result: The BitLocker Drive Encryption control panel reports, “A TPM was not found. A TPM is required to turn on BitLocker.  If your computer has a TPM, then contact the computer manufacture for BitLocker-compatible BIOS.”

I started playing around with a new feature in Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate versions called BitLocker that allows the Windows partition to be encrypted. Of course, I tried to enable Bitlocker without first reading the documentation.  That was a mistake, because the first thing you have to do before installing Vista is to properly partition the hard drive with a 1.5GB “System Volume” and the rest of the hard drive for the “Operating System Volume”.  See Scenario 1 in the for instructions on how to properly create the partitions.  These instructions using the DISKPART command have to be followed before you install Vista.  I tried to do it after Vista was installed though the GUI and this method would not work.

Based on my experience, the first thing to do before installing Vista is to understand BitLocker and if it is supported by your hardware (i.e. “TPM”).  Take a look at these documents:

BitLocker Drive Encryption: Technical Overview
Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption Step-by-Step Guide
BitLocker Drive Encryption Frequently Asked Questions

I thought it would be good to mention a couple misconceptions that I had about BitLocker.  First of all, I thought BitLocker encrypted the entire hard drive.  That is not the case; it only encrypts the Windows partition, which is typically the C: drive.   Second, I thought BitLocker required a TPM chip in the laptop in order to function.  This is also not correct; BitLocker can be used with a Flash Drive alone or in combination with a Flash Drive and TPM chip.

On a performance note, afer the BitLocker Wizard completed, the system rebooted and the encryption process started.  It took approximately 70 minutes for my laptop (2.6Ghz P4, 1GB RAM, 8GB of data) to complete the inital encryption of the C: drive.  I noticed that the process utilized most of the free space on the C: drive, but the free space returned to a normal level shortly after the process completed.