Image creation process (sysprep after upgrade not supported)

In short, you cannot in-place upgrade your golden image and then do a sysprep. The process will detect it and present you with an error message: Sysprep will not run on a upgraded OS. The long version is that it is recommended you always build your golden image from scratch with a base ISO of the new Windows version. As your running systems will be able to upgrade in place, you will need your golden image in the future only for break fixes and installation of new hardware. And in the case of new hardware, the new process of making provisioning packages will be replaced in some years. Don't try any dirty hacks to remove certain regkeys used by sysprep to detect such an upgrade. You do not want to install an unsupported solution to thousands of clients. Invest the time to create a new golden image.