I recently ran into this error when I was trying to customize a Windows 7 64bit image that had been created by someone else. After spending a few hours on Technet below is what has fixed the problem for me every time I’ve encountered it.
1. Start -> Run : msdtc -uninstall (wait few seconds)
2. Start -> Run : msdtc -install (wait few seconds)
3. Restart the machine
4. Check the registry for the right registry keys values
Setting HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\Status\SysprepStatus\GeneralizationState to 7 / CleanupState to 2
and
Setting HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform\SkipRearm to 1
5. Rename or delete C:\Windows\System32\sysprep\Panther
6. Run sysprep (sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown)
*** Make sure to do all steps each time you attempt a sysprep.