Media Creation Tool Error 0x80042405 0xA001B

After formatting the USB drive and watching it's contents, no autorun.inf file gets created. I also use Windows Defender and nothing else. Looking over the links you posted very briefly, I don't see any relation to this issue. The MCT just doesn't seem to reliably be able to get access to the clean USB drive reliably. I have no issues copying the files myself after the error pops. Should be an easy fix for someone at Microsoft. Yet, here we are years later. This issue isn't new with 1903. I've been making USB install drives for myself and clients for about 2 years. It's really very sad and pathetic that this is still going on but not surprising.  

Roy Beaulieu, 

The autorun.inf is not created when you format the USB, but it is copied from the downloaded files.

I see autorun.inf in the one I create, to see it you need to change the view to see hidden files.

Would be nice to know what is the difference bewtween your setting that fails and mine that never fails. What is the root cause ?

I have 5 different machines and created USB windows install media all the time for years, I never see the problem described in this thread. 

Autorun.inf   on the media with both 32 and 64 bits:

[Autorun]

open=setup.exe

icon=setup.exe,0

After formatting the USB drive and watching it's contents, no autorun.inf file gets created. I also use Windows Defender and nothing else. Looking over the links you posted very briefly, I don't see any relation to this issue. The MCT just doesn't seem to reliably be able to get access to the clean USB drive reliably. I have no issues copying the files myself after the error pops. Should be an easy fix for someone at Microsoft. Yet, here we are years later. This issue isn't new with 1903. I've been making USB install drives for myself and clients for about 2 years. It's really very sad and pathetic that this is still going on but not surprising.

Many online reports are talking about autorun.inf file access denied being the cause of the problems.

Looks like some antivirus programs may be causing the issue ?

I just use windows defender, perhaps that is why I've never seen this Error 0x80042405 0xA001B.

I used MCT several times to make the USB installation media and always worked fine for me.

https://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/154065-access-denied-autorun-inf.html

http://itbloggertips.com/2013/09/issue-solved-access-denied-copying-autorun-inf-file/

I must be doing something wrong because I always have the update fail with some BS error like this. What are the proper steps to run this tool?

I download the tool to the desktop. I'm on an Admin account. I insert a 16GB thumb drive. I format it. I start the tool. I point it to the thumb drive. During the phase where the files are copied to the USB, I get some stupid error like this:

Why are my steps not good enough? Where is the hole in my logic? Or is this tool just written poorly. I'd like to use stronger language here as I used to have to start it all over again and burn bandwidth trying this failed endeavor over and over.

I've heard people make it work by running the tool FROM the USB. Why would that matter? I've tried to write files to the thumb drive just after the format and before running the tool to make sure I have successful writes. Doesn't help. 

As a workaround today, I left the error up for a bit. Tried to access the thumb drive and it said it needed to be formatted AGAIN! So I did. Then I just opened the C:$Windows.~WS\Sources\Windows and copied the files to the drive by hand. Made the dang thing myself! WHO WRITES THIS STUFF??