Restart SCCM OSD Task Sequence within Windows PE

If an SCCM OS deployment task sequence stalls or fails partway through while still inside Windows PE, you don’t always need to restart the machine and re-trigger the full PXE boot sequence from scratch.

The Shortcut

Press F8 while still in WinPE (this needs to be enabled on the boot image you’re using, under the boot image’s Windows PE properties > Enable command support) to bring up a command prompt directly inside the WinPE environment. From there, you can inspect X:\Windows\Temp\SMSTSLog\smsts.log to see exactly where and why the task sequence stopped, check network/driver status, or re-launch the task sequence engine (tsmanager.exe restarts automatically in most failure cases, but you can review its state via the log) without powering the machine off.

FAQ

Why would I want to do this instead of just rebooting? Rebooting means going back through PXE, re-downloading the boot image, and re-selecting the task sequence — on a slow network or during a big deployment window, that adds real time. Getting a command prompt inside the existing WinPE session lets you diagnose (and sometimes fix, such as a missing driver or wrong disk selection) without losing that time. Is F8 always available? No — it’s disabled by default in production boot images for security reasons (it exposes a full command prompt with local admin rights). Only enable it on boot images used for troubleshooting, and disable it again for production deployment images.

Still Current in 2026, Plus a Security Note

The F8/command-support technique above remains valid and unchanged in current Configuration Manager (2603-era) — the boot image property and WinPE behaviour work exactly as described. Worth flagging for anyone setting this up today, though: security guidance (including the community-maintained Misconfiguration Manager attack/defence reference) specifically calls out leaving command support enabled in production boot images as a real privilege-escalation risk — anyone with PXE/network access to a machine mid-OSD gets a SYSTEM-level command prompt, which can be used to dump credentials or task sequence variables. Keep this enabled only on a boot image reserved for troubleshooting, disable it and redistribute before that image (or a copy of it) ever reaches production, and restrict PXE boot to a secured network segment.