"Couldn't update to Windows 8.1 - 0xC1900101 - 0x40017"

I think you haven't undertood the problem, most of the people having this problem, me included, are having this issue on new hardware and free of any software and driver that could give problem...snip       

I do understand. Most of the time when I see these problems, it is on new machines that people built. Did you check all the hardware against the MS 8.0 compatibility list? Did all the hardware and drivers have the holographic tag certifying that it has passed the MS certification? Did you check the partitioning of the new drives to see if they were NTFS compliant, or, were they preformatted at the factory on a Linux based mass formatting production rig? (I can't tell you how many times I've been bitten by that.)

.

The issue is not WHAT third party software you installed. It is WHAT that software DID to the OS.

Third parry programs that modify the OS, like ones that replace the start menu, add AERO, remove the charms, removed Metro, or replace the built in security with old antivirus programs designed for other operating systems, then the resulting OS becomes a mishmash.

You are no longer running Microsoft Windows, instead, you are running Mishmash Windows.

I bought a 7" Toshiba tablet through the MS store. They sell the exact same hardware at the exact same price as the identical model from Toshiba. Microsoft calls it a Signature Edition, Which means it comes without all the shovelware that Toshiba put on the same identical tablet. I upgraded it to 8.1, the upgrade went without a hitch and was done about 3 hours after taking it out of the box.

I got the MS Signature Edition because I had purchased the exact same tablet from Toshiba two weeks earlier and spent nealy all my time with tech support trying to get it to upgrade. The first problem we found was that the shovelware antivirus had to be removed,  it prevented the Store from modifying the windows system. That got us farther into the upgrade. Then there was a helper app for the USB, a WiFi driver and a couple other things that were crashing the install, all a result of the shovelware that Toshiba installed. I didn't get the tablet from Toshiba working until a week after I had the Signature edition from MS upgraded. I did it by making a USB 8.0 install drive, doing a clean install of 8.0 from MS and then upgrading to 8.1. After all that, the upgrade went just like the Toshiba Signature Edition from the MS store.

Francesco, You are right when you say; "a big update like this should work independently of the software I've installed". That is true. However, If you have some rogue third party programs that modify the OS via registry hacks and such, or change the underlying drivers or even the disk structure, then you have a Frankenstein Zombie Alien OS,  (FZAos) and a update will not know what to do with it. The 8.1 update expects Windows 8.0, not OSX, PS3 or FZAos. Even then, only some updates will keep your existing programs, other times, you will need a transfer utility, then, you might have some programs that will need to be upgraded or are not supported.

Frankly, I am impressed that the upgrade successfully returns your system back to it's original 8.0 OS once it finds that your 8.0 copy has been zombiefied. It successfully presents you with the error message, "Can't be upgraded" and "Your OS has been restored to 8.0" but to expect it to know how your system got zombiefied is expecting the impossible. Frankly, I would not want the upgrade to be a 9 TB of download to handle every possible piece of **** the hardware vendors put on PC's . "Can't be upgraded" and "Your OS has been restored to 8.0" is pretty good compared to what most other OS's do.

Bye the way ,Francesco, I'm impressed that you managed to build a PC with all the latest stuff. I've built more than a thousand PC's for engineering firms, power plants, paper mills and othe businesses. For the most part I used tried and trusted components. If I changed to a new board, I often put it in several PC's and threw everything I could at it before I added it to my stable of components. Sometimes I spent weeks selecting something as simple as a disk controller. To build a new PC from all new versions of components takes some real skill, not to mention chutzpah.

Sorry to tell you, but Windows is actually a mishmash OS, it supports all kinds of hardware, and it's made this way, its success is based on this. Of course is not well optimized like MacOs, it couldn't be like this, but with the latest versions, 7 an 8, they made a great advance in automatic hardware and driver download, I installed windows on every kind of new and old pcs or notebooks, always working flawlessly. I'm happy that you're impressed by my skill in pc assembling, but it's not that difficult, now it's really easy with all the standardized component that work right outside of the box, and I pay them to be tested by the manufacturer, I don't have to do it, if there is a problem I get a new one under warranty, I don't understand what you mean by "trusted" and "stable", to me they doesn't make any sense. And by the way this is a simple pc I use in my tv room hooked up to the television, I don't have to use to run nuclear power plant or other similar

i have this problem too . 

but i cannot have any ideea for resolve that . 

can you help me ?

i have this problem too . 

but i cannot have any ideea for resolve that . 

can you help me ? 

I don't know if this will help or not, but it's what finally worked for me.

First, I went to the Dell site and ran their diagnostics.

Everything runs perfectly.

Updated all Dell drivers.

Uninstalled virus software.

Ran disk clean up including windows.

Ran two "cleaner' programs to delete junk.

THIS STILL DID NOT WORK!

MS gave me that annoying msg that the upgrade failed, without telling me why.

Then installed and ran free version of CC cleaner.

In the tools menu, I disabled everything not provided by microsoft or intel.

Rebooted, and the 8.1 download finally installed....!

I can only assume something that booted automatically caused the problem, but I have no idea which one.

I wish i had the same luck. This managed to get me to the startup screen for windows 8.1 just to fail again. This time i had a little scare when literally everything had dissapeared. Even the system controls. Luckily everytbing reverted back once i restarted. Ivr worked on this for months. I've been at it now for over 24 hours with updates and pc resets. Im just leaving this alone. If i have to buy a new laptop it will be a macbook for sure. Im a producer and this is affectong my programs i need to update. Microsoft is horrible.

i have this problem too . 

but i cannot have any ideea for resolve that . 

can you help me ? 

I don't know if this will help or not, but it's what finally worked for me.

First, I went to the Dell site and ran their diagnostics.

Everything runs perfectly.

Updated all Dell drivers.

Uninstalled virus software.

Ran disk clean up including windows.

Ran two "cleaner' programs to delete junk.

THIS STILL DID NOT WORK!

MS gave me that annoying msg that the upgrade failed, without telling me why.

Then installed and ran free version of CC cleaner.

In the tools menu, I disabled everything not provided by microsoft or intel.

Rebooted, and the 8.1 download finally installed....!

I can only assume something that booted automatically caused the problem, but I have no idea which one.

For the people who are still facing the issue. I have a suggestion. You can try doing a Win 8.1 clean install

(without upgrade), you will lose any program and files in the windows drive though, so please back up before trying. 

details and downloads for the Win 8.1 installater are are in the following link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

You should be able to do so even if you have  have an OEM PC with Windows 8 but don't have a product key or Win 8.1 install DVD.

The tool will create the install media for you for 8.1, just make use you select the same "edition" and processor architecture as your current Windows. 

e.g. People having Win 8 Pro - 64 bit should download the same corresponding Win 8.1 edition

I have not tried this personally but this should work in my opinion