kobeckman

Yeah... that would be two huge red flags: leaving it for hours and being on your laptop away from the DC's. YMMV, but here's the setup I like to use: I have a dedicated desktop computer with two SSD's that is only used for reference images and testing things in Hyper-V. It happens to be running Server 2012 R2, but Windows 8.1 would work too. I have MDT installed directly on the computer and the deployment share is on one of the SSD's. I run the Task Sequence in a VM on that system. Having everything on an SSD makes the process pretty quick. The only lag is the WSUS server since it uses too much disk space to sit on an SSD. I've used both domain joined and non-domain joined systems for building reference images. Personally, I would stick to local accounts to avoid the AD infrastructure; it just introduces extra complexity into the process that you really don't need.

(Author of previously mentioned blog post here!) I've seen MDT hang up after a suspend/pause was used in a Task Sequence for a few reasons. First, you could have installed something or made a configuration that needs a reboot. I usually recommend rebooting just to clear that out if you've got a hard pause. Second, you could have problems connecting back into the deployment share. If you sit there long enough, you'll get an error. Third, other random weirdness. All I can recommend for that it to check the logs. As a general rule, checking the logs is always going to be one of the first troubleshooting steps.