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. Greg Carmack 24,780 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2019-03-03T23:12:15+00:00

    To boot both UEFI and Legacy installs requires CSM.

    What was the eSATA drive plugged into PORT 5?  This was very likely the problem.

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-03-03T23:41:52+00:00

    I cannot run anything without CSM turned on. I'm unable to boot the usb or the ssd, nor my hdd. With CSM on I can boot the legacy media but it cannot install on the ssd. The uefi media appears to install on the ssd fine. It just won't boot. But I am able to use the ssd for other purposes, and checked the disk with no errors. In legacy I have formatted it as both types, and tried from a blank clean disk. Nothing works with the legacy media. Though my original hdd was installed using legacy if I remember right. It works fine. I still haven't been able to try with uefi on another drive because I cant find a spare so I'm not certain it's the installer. I have tried multiple usb sticks, have created media on 2 different PC's one of which is the rig I'm doing this on, redownloaded the creation tool multiple times and created install media multiple times. All SATA ports are enabled, I physically checked and the drive is plugged into port 1. Still does not work.

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  3. Greg Carmack 24,780 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2019-03-04T00:18:48+00:00

    What do you mean "in Legacy I've formatted it as both types?"  It's either Legacy/CSM which uses MBR file system or UEFI which uses GPT. 

    What did you use to test the SSD?  Disk Check is not drive diagnostics, it only tests the file system.  Use one of the tools here:

    https://merabheja.com/ssd-health-monitor/

    https://mashtips.com/ssd-health-test-and-performance-monitor-tools/

    I'm going back over your screenshots now.

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-03-04T00:46:50+00:00

    Hi,

    You are making things too complicated for yourself...

    You are switching multiple things, but possibly not the correct combinations...

    A UEFI HDD\SSD needs to be a GPT drive... A Legacy HDD\SSD needs to be MBR... Both NTFS...

    This is not interchangeable...

    Same thing with the Flash Drive... A UEFI Installation drive needs to be GPT\FAT32...

    A Legacy Installation drive needs to be MBR\NTFS..

    Both of the above conditions need to be met for a particular installation... There is no mix and match option... You may also need to select a "UEFI Flash" or "Flash" in boot options...

    This type of confusion is one of the primary drawbacks of the introduction of UEFI Bios, and why I try to stick to Legacy... I do use UEFI at times for testing stuff like this, and on my HP Laptop and tablet that came that way, but avoid it on my primary desktop machines..

    If you select your HDD as the boot device, it is Legacy.. Otherwise it would be WindowsBootManager...

    It's hard to say what complications may have happened in one of your 1st attempts with both drives attached, but with the HDD removed you can make the SSD whatever you want...

    Your attempts to put the SSD as a UEFI Boot Device may be failing due to the flash drive...

    It may be that because of conflicting flash drive\bios issues that everything is there except for the boot files on the EFI partition... So no WindowsBootManager...

    I'm thinking that without using RUFUS you might be out of luck fixing this issue...

    One other option for Legacy Bios would be the Windows USB\DVD Tool to create the flash drive...

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=56485

    Your Legacy attempt failed as well... This may also be due to the installation media conflicting with your bios settings... 

    Personally, I actually use two different flash drives for my installations... One specifically for UEFI, and one specifically for Legacy... Both burned with RUFUS... I already mentioned why...

    You should not need CSM enabled to see your SSD if it not required for the HDD... UNLESS the SSD had already been set up as a GPT drive... Having it enabled is not a bad thing... it just not be a requirement to see the SSD...

    You mentioned changing stuff to make "Active"... This suggests to me that you are using 3rd party Disk Management Tools...

    You also mentioned updating your Bios... That could easily cause to work differently now, than they did during your original installation on the HDD...

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  5. Anonymous
    2019-03-04T00:59:33+00:00

    By that I mean I format the disk in cmd using diskpart convert GPT. Now the ssd will come up as a GPT format disk and trying to continue installing gives an error that I cant install windows on it due to it being in GPT format. Deleting the partitions so the drive is all empty space, and then running clean in cmd doesnt work either.Trying to move on now gives me an error that the drive is not compatible with the hardware. Then I go into cmd, and format the disk as MBR, since it wont format the disk itself even blank, and it tells me that it cannot install now because of a MBR partition table. It seems to just not be compatible at all with legacy. At least using the uefi disk windows installer is able to finish, and just doesnt boot after. I did try booting the ssd on another rig with different hardware and I ended up at the same place. It seems to definitely be the program, the usb or the ssd. Everything else was swapped out. I will try those disk diagnostic programs you mentioned and get back to you though. I did only use disk check via the cmd in repair options, so it could still be a bad drive. I'll go test it and let you know the result.

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