You can determine what state Windows Setup is in from the command prompt by typing the following:
reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\State /v ImageState
The result will be one of the following values:
- IMAGE_STATE_COMPLETE – Vista was successfully installed
- IMAGE_STATE _UNDEPLOYABLE – The current phase of Setup is not yet finished
- IMAGE_STATE_GENERALIZE_RESEAL_TO_OOBE – generalize pass finished and will go into Windows Welcome next
- IMAGE_STATE_GENERALIZE_RESEAL_TO_AUDIT – generalize pass finished and will go into audit mode next
- IMAGE_STATE_SPECIALIZE_RESEAL_TO_OOBE – specialize pass finished and will go into Windows Welcome next
- IMAGE_STATE_SPECIALIZE_RESEAL_TO_AUDIT – specialize pass finished and will go into audit mode next
Note that you can also determine the same information another way by typing the following command:
type %windir%\Setup\State\State.ini
For more information on deploying Vista, see my series of articles on WindowsNetworking.com starting with http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Deploying-Vista-Understanding-Windows-AIK.html.
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Mitch Tulloch was lead author for the Windows Vista Resource Kit from Microsoft Press, which is the book for IT pros who want to deploy, maintain and support Windows Vista in mid- and large-sized network environments. Mitch was also the author of Introducing Windows Server 2008 and technical project lead for the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Resource Kit, both books also from Microsoft Press. For more information on these and other books by Mitch, see www.mtit.com.
