Having a similar issue. Tried to install 8.1 three times so far, still getting the same 0xC1900101-0x40017 error. Was running the latest beta video drivers from NVidia (331.40). Just tried to uninstall them and upgrade and see if it works now.
Already tried:
Removing AVG Anti-Virus
Re-enabling Windows Defender
Removing all external devices (Logitech WebCam, iPhone dock, Logitech Gamepad, USB 3.0 HDD Dock, Thumb Drives, etc)
Cleaning up the registry by removing broken stuff
Hardware:
ASUS Sabertooth X79 Motherboard
Intel 3930k CPU
64GB of Memory
2 Samsung 830 SSDs in a RAID-0 on the Intel Chipset
10 Seagate 3TB Drives in a RAID-6 on a LSI Raid Controller
1 Seagate 3TB Drive (non-RAIDED) on the Intel Chipset
NVidia 580 Video card
Two Monitors - ASUS something 2560x1600, and Dell 2405FPW 1920x1200
Corsair iH80 CPU Cooler (Didn't install this myself, I believe it has a USB connection, but haven't disabled it yet)