Cleanup

The WinPE UI application "Cleanup" provides the ability to easily wipe the primary hard disk before a Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) based Lite Touch installation begins, i.e. before the LTI Wizard starts.

Cleanup is a Win32 application created in (Microsoft) C and Visual Studio 2010. Of course, you can also compile the project using a newer version of Visual Studio, such as 2019, or you can use an already compiled release version.

Cleanup can be used for offline installations, such as deployment without using services like WDS (Windows Deployment Services), as well as for PXE-based installations (WDS-based). This versatility allows it to integrate seamlessly into different deployment scenarios and ensures that disk cleanup tasks can be performed efficiently regardless of the deployment method used.

The origin of my problem

I noticed in an MDT project to deploy an offline based Windows 10 installation that it sometimes interrupted with an error. This happened somewhere in the task sequence after the step: "Format and Partition Disk (BIOS) / ... (UEFI)", i.e. relatively early, at the beginning of the installation process.

I was able to trace this back to a hard disk that had not been cleaned (I also found some posts on the Internet that pointed to the problem).

The solution to the problem was also relatively simple: I had to do nothing other than run the Diskpart tool in a CMD shell before starting the actual installation:

C:\>diskpart.exe
sel dis 0
clean
create partition primary
active
format fs=ntfs label="cleaned" quick
assign
exit

(The label="cleaned" parameter is of course not needed for manual cleaning. The above example corresponds to the solution used by Cleanup.)

An alternative to a pure script-based solution

In the long run, however, I did not like the manual solution and so an additional step in the task sequence was supposed to solve the problem for me. However, it quickly turns out that this was not so easy in the MDT because I needed to reboot the system after cleaning up the hard disk and so the task sequence would run over and over again (there may be a solution for this too - but I don't know it).

I found out that you can run a simple Visual Basic script with this task before running the actual installation. That was the solution!

However, since I wanted to make the script a little more pleasant (nicer 😊), I had to come up with a GUI-based solution: Cleanup.

Components of the solution

The solution consists of the following three components:

• cleanup.exe: the GUI-based application
• action.bat: batch script, which is responsible for running Diskpart
• diskpart.txt: parameter file with instructions for Diskpart

Rough flowchart

Implement Cleanup in own LTI-Deployment (step by step instructions)

1. Download a current release version of Cleanup (or compile your own customised version).
2. Place the three files (cleanup.exe, action.bat, diskpart.txt) in a new directory - for example, in an offline deployment share, e.g. under C:\DeploymentShare Extra\Cleanup.
3. Modify the following template C:\Program Files\Microsoft Deployment Toolkit\Templates\Unattend_PE_x64.xml as shown below. This will cause Cleanup to run immediately before Lite Touch PE starts and thus the Installation Wizard. Look for the first occurrence of the <RunSynchronousCommand> tag in the text and duplicate it. Do not forget to set the Order tag for the Lite Touch PE to 2 if you have duplicated the code region.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="21cf1116nd936e98" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State">
            <Display>
                <ColorDepth>32</ColorDepth>
                <HorizontalResolution>1024</HorizontalResolution>
                <RefreshRate>60</RefreshRate>
                <VerticalResolution>768</VerticalResolution>
            </Display>
            <RunSynchronous>
                <!-- BEGIN CLEANUP -->
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Description>Prepare hard drive (Cleanup)</Description>
                    <Order>1</Order>
                    <Path>x:\cleanup.exe</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
                <!-- END CLEANUP -->
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Description>Lite Touch PE</Description>
                    <Order>2</Order>
                    <Path>wscript.exe X:\Deploy\Scripts\LiteTouch.wsf</Path>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
            </RunSynchronous>
        </component>
    </settings>
</unattend>

4. Change the properties of DeploymentShare as shown below. Alternative: If you are using an offline media instead, do it there (MDT Deployment Share \ Advanced Configuration \ Media \ (e.g. MEDIA001).

5. Create a new medium and boot from it.

6. The result in action: After integrating Cleanup into your own MDT solution, the result should look like the animation shown below. Have fun and success with it. 😉

FAQ

❓ What makes Cleanup better than just using Diskpart, besides a graphical user interface?

Clenaup was developed because in an MDT-based project that ran over a long period of time with many offline installations, I observed that the respective installation administrators (with varying levels of knowledge) kept running into installation problems. The installations crashed here and there, and the solution was to clean up the disk with Diskpart. But the real problem is that the administrators involved have less and less time and a quick and pragmatic solution is needed. So it's best if the hard disk problem doesn't occur in the first place.

So what makes it better than Diskpart, apart from a graphical user interface? In this case - it is more efficient.

❓ How much time should I expect to spend trying out the solution in my environment?

It is very difficult to give a general answer. But if you can already create ISO images with your installation, then this should not take more than 5-10 minutes.

❓ How to get Cleanup in my local language (National Language Support)?

You have to change the resource file cleanup.rc and recompile the project. You can find the corresponding resource entries for your language in the String Table. These all contain the suffix _NLS in their identifier, e.g. IDS_RUN_ACTION_FAILED_NLS. Just revise all the strings you want and then create a new build. Finally, you can find your language version under x64/Release_NLS.

If you are not able to create your own NLS version, please contact me and tell me your translations in the process. I will then create an appropriate version for you and make it available for download under Releases.

❓ Can Cleanup determine if drive 0 is the expected target drive and not the USB drive that was booted from?

No, at the moment (October 2022) that is not the case. However, tests with many installations on various fairly current hardware models (Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard and Dell) have so far shown that the respective and different UEFI BIOS always recognized the internally installed hard drive as disk 0.

This was also the case when using a modern boot flash drive (Corsair GTX (128 GB)), which was recognized by the wmic as external hard disk medium. It is quite relevant to mention at this point that a "classic" USB flash drive is recognized by the wmic as removable media.

I currently assume that the BIOS uses both the size of the disk and its connection (USB controller, etc.) to (correctly) determine disk 0.

However, it is also important to note that the SATA controller mode in the device BIOS must be set to AHCI. When using RAID, problems are bound to occur and Cleanup will not work.

❓ I have included Cleanup in my LTI solution, but I would like to remove it now. How can I do that?

You need to undo the following adjustments:

1. Remove the entry in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Deployment Toolkit\Templates\Unattend_PE_x64.xml.
2. Remove the property in DeploymentShare Extra directory to add, then delete the directory containing the release files (e.g. C:\DeploymentShare Extra\Cleanup).
3. Finally, and most importantly, delete the content directory in the DeploymentMedia folder and update the Deployment Share (this will completely recreate this folder). If you omit this step, the files cleanup.exe, diskpart.txt and action.bat will remain in your WinPE (ISO file). Before deleting this directory, make sure to create a backup copy of it. Important: Especially when dealing with specific customizations, such as creating your own wizard dialogs, there is a possibility that deleting and recreating the directory may reset modifications that will later need to be painstakingly restored.

Stargazers, Forkers & other users

Thanks to all for using Cleanup.

Stargazers

Forkers

Code of Conduct

Please refer to the Code of Conduct for this repository.

Disclaimer

This program code is provided "as is", without warranty or guarantee as to its usability or effects on systems. It may be used, distributed and modified in any manner, provided that the parties agree and acknowledge that the author(s) assume(s) no responsibility or liability for the results obtained by the use of this code.

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