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Before we start some context, my computer was manufactured in 2008, I don't have UEFI or secure boot on my system. Also my system originally shipped with Vista, I changed the hard drive some years ago and I reinstalled Vista, then upgraded to Windows 7, then to Windows 8, then to Windows 8.1, then to Windows 10 as each operating system came out. With that said, I recently had a power outage during a Windows 10 update and my system became unbootable, I couldn't repair it or anything. I booted into my Fedora 31 drive and used the Gnome Disk utility and formated the Windows drive.
After that, I used my Surface Pro 2 to download the Media Creation Tool and make a USB drive to reinstall Windows. I plugged it in booted to the USB and it gets stuck at the Windows logo without the spinning dots. I left it like this and went to bed thinking it would just take a while when I woke up six hours later it was still in the same state, I powered off the PC, unplugged it from the wall pressed the power button and used my Surface Pro 2 again with a USB DVD burner to burn an ISO of Windows 10 to DVD. I plugged my PC back in, booted it up and while it was in post I put in the DVD and selected to boot from the DVD. Unfortunately, the DVD did the same thing as the USB, it booted to the Windows logo but didn't do anything else.
Since then I've unplugged everything, and tried to boot with different configurations of hardware leaving my Linux Hard Drive unplugged so it couldn't be overwritten or anything.
At this point, I'm at a loss for what to do.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
I have been battling the issue of having a blue logo at the initial boot of install from a usb drive. After trying different install usb, ssd drive, ram tests, etc, The trick was to disable any hyper-threading in the bios. Installer came right up! I will re-enable after the install and hopefully it will be happy :) The install is in a Asus P6T deluxe ver. 2 board with a 6 core xeon chip with 24 gigs of ram. Hope this might help :)
Alan Frost
Gateway never released an official BIOS update for my motherboard. All the drivers were installed fresh from the manufacturers website.
I have no idea if its expected to stop working as the upgrade assistant gives everything a green tick.
Specs:
2008 AMI BIOS (No UEFI)
Motherboard TBGM01
Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz Quadcore
13GB DDR3 RAM
AMD R7 260X GPU
2x 1TB HDD (One for Fedora in SATA 0 and one for Windows in SATA 4)
2x Sony DVD+RW Drives (SATA 2&3)
Try booting the media in another PC to confirm if it's good.
Try a flash stick of 8gb or more.
The SMART Data and Self-Tests come back fine, mostly just complaining about how old the drive is and how it got too hot at one point. I've tried creating new media already. I've burned two more fresh DVDs and none of them boot far enough to get a Command Prompt up to do any of the more advanced steps. But my Fedora 31 install DVD works just fine and reads the drive and is even ready to install.
HI Bryant. I'm Greg, an installation specialist, 10 year Windows MVP, and Volunteer Moderator here to help you.
Can you test the hard drive with your Linux disk? If not Test the hard drive or SSD with diagnostics:
https://www.lifewire.com/free-hard-drive-testin...
https://mashtips.com/ssd-health-test-and-perfor...
HP and Dell have hardware diagnostics triggered by tapping the ESC or F12 keys respectively as you power on.
Best is to use the HDD/SSD manufacturer's own if there is one, otherwise use Seatools bootable long test: http://blog.nowherelan.com/2013/04/04/boot-seat...
Follow this up with a full Disk Check from the Command Prompt in Repair Mode or from bootable media: https://www.groovypost.com/howto/check-hard-dri... if necessary from the Command Prompt at boot: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2294-advanc...
If the disk fails replace it, if not proceed. I will give you all possible steps to troubleshoot installation failure which work in about 90% of cases. If not we'll go from there:
Follow the illustrated Clean Install steps in this tutorial which compiles the best possible install that will stay that way as long as you stick with the tools and methods given: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...
Make sure all other drives and peripherals are unplugged. Update the BIOS firmware to latest, or reset to Defaults: https://www.mydigitallife.net/comprehensive-lis...
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/reset-pc-bios-...
Create the latest new Windows 10 Installation Media by installing Media Creation Tool and following the directions here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/m.... If you're using another PC to do this then uncheck the box for Recommended Settings to choose the exact version and bit rate for the target PC only.
Insert media, boot it by powering up PC while pressing the BIOS Boot Menu Key: https://www.sysnative.com/forums/hardware-tutor...
If the media won't boot you may need to enter BIOS Setup (pressing key given in chart in link above) to turn off Fast Boot or Fast Startup first.
Choose the boot device, on first screen press Shift + F10 to open a Command Prompt, type the following commands, each followed by Enter key:
DISKPART
LIST DISK
SEL DIS # (replace # with the disk # of the Windows disk from list in previous command)
CLEAN
EXIT
Close Command Box, on second screen choose Install Now, then Custom Install, then at the drive selection screen choose Unallocated Space, click Next to let it create needed partitions and start install - this makes it foolproof.
Make sure to follow the setup steps in the first link tutorial to complete your install. Drivers are important enough that those steps are printed in red.
You will get and keep the best possible install to the exact extent you stick with the steps, tools and methods in the first linked tutorial. It's a better install than any amount of money could buy and a great learning experience that will make you the master of your PC.
If all else fails you can move the hard drive to another PC to do the install with it plugged in alone. Windows 10 is remarkably adaptive to new hardware without needing adaptive restore. If it will start it will swap out all drivers requiring several restarts. You can also try applying a same-version System Image to the intact SSD/hard drive.
I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let us know how it goes. I will keep working with you until it's resolved.
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