Windows installer doesn't work?

Anonymous
2019-03-03T03:18:06+00:00

So I'm having a bit of a weird issue. I've installed windows 10 on a few computers before and have never run into this until now. I recently bought an ssd to boot my OS from, but running the install media usb doesn't seem to work right. I only used windows 10's install media tool. I should also mention I only have a keyboard, mouse, monitor and the install usb plugged in.

I created the usb (twice now), then shut my pc off, removed the existing hdd, then plugged in the ssd and the usb with the install tool on it. I boot into setup, make sure the drive is all unallocated space, and then hit new. I let it create the necessary partitions and then click next. I've also tried just clicking next with a totally blank ssd.

The setup tool runs normally, prompts a restart which is when I remove the install usb, if I don't remove the usb then it loops back to the installer again. When I remove the usb and then restart though, my pc prompts me to insert boot media into the drive and press any key. It doesnt seem to actually install the necessary files to download and install windows 10. No matter what I do, after the install media tool finishes and causes a restart I cannot continue with the installation. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know it isn't a problem with another component because plugging in the original hard drive works fine. I've also plugged both drives in and scanned for errors on the ssd to no avail. I checked and there are files being installed on the ssd. It seems to work normally otherwise so I dont think it's a bad drive either.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Install and upgrade

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-03-03T18:59:08+00:00

    Hi,

    We were both typing at the same time...

    From what you just posted I can see a problem with how you selected the SSD as the boot device...

    WindowsBootManager will not appear until after the restart that is failing, so when the restart fails is when you need to go back in and find the WindowsBootManager"..

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-03-03T18:48:12+00:00

    Hi,

    If "WindowsBootManager" is not available, either your bios is set wrong, or the install was not correct somehow...

    If your original HDD is not showing a "WindowsBootManager" when you look in your boot options, and you boot to it by selecting the drive instead, it is not set up for UEFI either...

    Is it possible you are attempting to use UEFI Installation media on a "Legacy" machine ?

    Do you by chance have a additional HDD that could have some boot files on it...

    That happens some times... If so, unhook ALL drives except for your SSD and flash drive...

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-03-03T18:32:36+00:00

    I'm really sorry. I must have missed that the first time. I must look quite dumb lol. Wiping the drive and installing windows over and over is getting frustrating but I appreciate your patience. In all the time I've spent with computers, I've never had the hard drive say it isn't bootable after installing windows on it. This is really stressing me out and it's hard to focus properly. I went back and reread your instructions, but the same thing happened. Let me make sure I understood correctly. I hope I'm not missing another step somewhere.

    1. I plug in the ssd, the usb drive, and the minimal amount of hardware needed (mouse and monitor).
    2. I start the pc and press f2 which triggers uefi. I go in to the boot priority order, and set the ssd (because I do not see windows boot manager) to boot first. I save and reset.
    3. I go back to uefi, I then press f8 and choose to force boot the uefi usb. The asus logo appears again and I am taken to windows setup.
    4. I select my options, click install now, skip the product key, select win10 home, accept the terms, then click custom. I am taken to a list of 4 partitions on the drive. The ssd is labelled as drive 2 even though I only have one drive plugged in. I delete them all so it is totally unallocated space and press new, then it recreates the partitions. These are a 500mb recovery partition, a 300mb system partition, a 16mb MSR one, and the primary which is the remainder of the space, 474gb. I then press next.
    5. I let the setup copy the necessary files and updates. It gets them ready for installation. Once it is finished I am prompted with a restart. I wait 10 seconds and the pc reboots. I should now see windows continue installing and be prompted to create an account now, yes?

    But, after restarting it goes to a black screen that says "reboot and select proper boot device". I can also go back into uefi (f2) and force boot the uefi usb drive again just fine. I can repeat these steps, install windows again and let the pc restart but I still have the same issue. I am told that the ssd is not a proper boot device.

    I remove the usb or force boot the ssd the pc still acts as if there is no bootable drives installed. I shouldn't even need to force it to boot the ssd as it is set before the uefi drive. The ssd is also labelled drive D and not C, as that was my original hdd. Could that be the issue?

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-03-03T17:16:54+00:00

    Again, if Windows boot manager is not yet available in the boot priority order then set the target SSD first and Trigger the media using only the BIOS boot menu key, as a UEFI device. This prevents The Flash media from restarting the install or playing other tricks.

    Windows boot manager should be invoked during the actual install. This is why it's important to have the latest firmware.

    Since this one step has not gotten through yet, I am concerned about the other troubleshooting steps which I wrote out which maybe necessary but have also been ignored. That list compiles everything that might need to be done to get past installation failure.

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  5. Anonymous
    2019-03-03T17:10:42+00:00

    The reason I am confused is I cant find any way to access anything called windows boot manager from uefi. My only options are the ssd or the installation media. Would it be placed on the ssd? So then would I need to set the drive I'm installing on as the first in order, and then force-boot the uefi device? And after installing and restarting it should continue into the rest of the installation process?

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