How to Resolve SCCM OSD USB Media Error the parameter is incorrect

How to Resolve SCCM OSD USB Media Error the parameter is incorrect? Creating OSD USB deployment media in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 fails with “The parameter is incorrect” Hotfix available for download here – http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3BEN-US%3B2471018

Updated Post ConfigMgr Standalone Media Creation Guide| Fully Offline | SCCM HTMD Blog (anoopcnair.com)

Symptoms
When trying to create Stand-alone media, Bootable media, or Capture media on a USB Flash drive via the Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (ConfigMgr 2007) console, the Task Sequence Media Wizard fails with the following message:
Error creating media. The error message is: The parameter is incorrect. Please refer to CreateTSMedia.log to get details.
Inspecting the CreateTsMedia.log shows the following errors:
Beginning media generation CreateTsMedia
Failed to create media (0x80070057) CreateTsMedia
CreateTsMedia failed with error 0x80070057, details=”” CreateTsMedia

Creating the USB media in a ConfigMgr 2007 console running on other PCs may be successful and may not reproduce the problem.CAUSE
The problem is a known issue with ConfigMgr 2007 SP2 and older, including R2 and R3, when the following conditions exist on the PC running the ConfigMgr 2007 console:

  1. A mapped network drive exists on the PC
  2. The PC’s hard drive has a partition with no drive letter attached to it

Condition #2 above is very common in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 since the default installation of Windows 7 creates the boot partition as a “hidden” system partition with no drive letter attached to it. It is also a common configuration on PCs that have been encrypted with BitLocker. For this reason, the issue is seen most often on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and PCs that have drives encrypted with BitLocker.

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RESOLUTION
To work around the problem, take one of the following two actions before trying to create the USB media via the ConfigMgr 2007 console:
1. Temporarily disconnect mapped network drives.
or
2. Via the Computer Management console, temporarily assign a drive letter to the “hidden” partition.
Only one of the above two actions needs to be taken. Both do not need to be taken.
Once the USB media has been created, mapped network drives can be reconnected, and the assigned drive letter can be removed from the previously hidden partition.

Anoop is Microsoft MVP! He is a Solution Architect in enterprise client management with more than 20 years of experience (calculation done in 2021) in IT. He is a blogger, Speaker, and Local User Group HTMD Community leader. His main focus is on Device Management technologies like SCCM 2012, Current Branch, and Intune. E writes about ConfigMgr, Windows 11, Windows 10, Azure AD, Microsoft Intune, Windows 365, AVD, etc…

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