I would like to request this feature in Nerdio, If Microsoft is not able to provide the in-place upgrade for multi-session images Nerdio has a good opportunity to work with Microsoft and provide this feature exclusively in Nerdio only.
In-place Upgrade Windows 22H2 Multi-session Image to 24H2
Next steps:
• We will review your request and update its status as it progresses through our evaluation process.
• If any clarification is needed, we'll follow up with you directly in the comments.
We also encourage the community to influence our decision through comments, votes, and feedback.
I am also interested in this currently i have to deploy a brand new image and migrate the changes to it to move from 21h2 to 24h2.
How to Upgrade an AVD Image to 24H2/25H2 (Unsupported but Works)
Microsoft does NOT support in‑place upgrades for AVD images.
They want you to deploy a fresh Marketplace image instead.
If you still want to upgrade your existing image, this method works, but make a backup first.
Before You Start
Create one of the following:
- Snapshot
- Azure Backup
- Shared Image Gallery version
Do NOT skip this!
1. Set Windows Update to Target 25H2
Open gpedit.msc:
Computer Configuration
→ Administrative Templates
→ Windows Components
→ Windows Update
→ Manage updates offered from Windows UpdateEnable:
-
Select the target Feature Update version
- Windows product version: Windows 11
- Target version: 25H2
Run:
gpupdate /forceThen check for updates and let Windows upgrade.
2. Disable WinRE (Recovery Partition)
Azure / AVD doesn’t use it and it often breaks during upgrades.
reagentc /disableYou can delete the recovery partition afterward if you want.
DiskPart Steps to Delete the Recovery Partition
Open an elevated command prompt and run:
diskpartList the disks:
list disk select disk 0(Your OS disk is almost always Disk 0 in an AVD image.)
List partitions:
list partitionLook for the Recovery partition. It usually shows as:
- Type: Recovery
- Size: 750 MB
- Often the last partition on the disk
Select it:
select partition <#>Delete it:
delete partition overrideExit:
exitOptional: Expand the OS partition to reclaim the space
If the Recovery partition was at the end of the disk:
diskpart
select disk 0
select partition 4 ← your OS partition
extend
exit3. Clean Up Old OS Files (Optional)
Run:
cleanmgr.exeSelect:
- Previous Windows installations
- Windows Upgrade Logs
4. IMPORTANT: Stop BitLocker From Breaking Sysprep Image
Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 automatically enable BitLocker during Sysprep, even if you never turned it on.
If you don’t disable it, your captured image will boot with:
0xc000000f
winload.efi missing or corruptDo this BEFORE running Sysprep or creating Gallery Image:
Verify BitLocker is OFF:
manage-bde -status c:If enabled:
manage-bde c: -off
Disable the BitLocker service:
sc.exe config bdesvc start= disabled
sc.exe stop bdesvcBlock device encryption (service should do this but just in case):
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BitLocker /v PreventDeviceEncryption /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
Then capture your image as usual.
5. Deploy to AVD
Your hosts should now provision normally without BitLocker corruption or winload.efi errors.
Credit
Original BitLocker discovery:http://blog.itprocloud.de/Rollout-Image-BlueScreen-0xc000000f-24h2/
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