How to Identify a Failed Application During Windows Pre-Provisioning

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When deploying devices via Windows Autopilot, you may encounter an issue where the Enrollment Status Page (ESP) hangs during application installation. This is usually caused by a problem with one of the apps being installed during the pre-provisioning phase. Fortunately, identifying the problematic app is straightforward.

Identifying the Problematic App

To determine which application is causing the ESP to hang, follow these steps:

  1. Open a Command Prompt
    • During the Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE), press Shift + F10 to launch a command prompt.
  2. Open the Registry Editor
    • In the command prompt, type regedit and press Enter.
  3. Navigate to the ESP Tracking Information
    • Go to the following registry path:HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Autopilot\EnrollmentStatusTracking\ESPTrackingInfo\Diagnostics\Sidecar
  4. Analyze the Entries
    • Under this key, you’ll see multiple subkeys representing the apps being deployed.
    • Each key will contain several properties structured as:./Device/Vendor/.../{GUID}
    • The data value for each property indicates the installation status:
      • 3 → Installation was successful
      • 4 → Installation failed

By identifying which app has a status value of 4, you can pinpoint the application causing the issue. From there, you can troubleshoot the installation failure, adjust your deployment configuration, or exclude the app from ESP until the issue is resolved. This method ensures a smoother Autopilot deployment process and minimizes delays in provisioning new devices.