HP EliteBook 800 Series immediately exits audit mode

Question

Imagine a cell A1 has date 22-06-2022 In cell B1 I am entering this =""""&A1&"""" I get the result as "44735" not "22-06-2022"

Solution

You can only Sysprep an image 3 times.

HP would have used 2 or 3 of those making the original image put on the notebook, and then to put it into OOBE mode before delivering.

So if you're trying to make an image from the original OEM image that came installed on the notebook, then you may be out of re-arms.

More info from MS' Sysprep, SkipRearm, and Image Build Best Practices:

With Windows Vista and later you can only run sysprep 3 times on an image. This comes from a limitation with how many times you can reset activation on Windows. This includes running sysprep or slmgr.vbs /rearm. The reason is that if we allowed sysprep or slmgr.vbs to be able to reset activation with no limits you could run Windows forever without activating it. Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 did not have this limitation.

Additionally, maybe check out this related MS KB article: An error message occurs when you run "Sysprep /generalize" in Windows Vista or Windows 7: "A fatal error occurred while trying to Sysprep the machine"

Comments

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

You can only Sysprep an image 3 times. As HP would have used 2 or 3 of those making the original image put on the notebook, then if you're trying to make an image from the original image that came installed on the notebook, then you may be out of re-arms. Is that what you did, or did you wipe and install fresh from a Windows disk before starting to Sysprep?

[cday]

I am using the original image installed on the system by the OEM, so it may indeed be that I'm out of re-arms. I didn't account for the possibility that HP may have used them up.