Cannot install WIndows 11 24H2 Update

Question

The Windows 11 24H2 Update will not install on my computer and has an error code of 0xc1900101. The update downloads, installs but when it reboots it displays a green error message inaccessible_boot_device (screenshot provided). When rebooted it rolls the update back. I've saw older articles where it has to do with updating drivers, etc. but everything is up-to-date. What is currently running is Windows 11 Home 10.3.22635 and the laptop meets the requirements for the update. I also tried updating using the Microsoft Windows 11 installation assistant like some of the support articles suggested, but it produces the same result.

SysInfo:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 11 Home

Version 10.0.22635 Build 22635

Other OS Description Not Available

OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation

System Name KHALI

System Manufacturer Dell Inc.

System Model Inspiron 7706 2n1

System Type x64-based PC

System SKU 09DF

Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz, 2803 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)

BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. 1.33.1, 11/15/2024

SMBIOS Version 3.2

Embedded Controller Version 255.255

BIOS Mode UEFI

BaseBoard Manufacturer Dell Inc.

BaseBoard Product 0P47D9

BaseBoard Version A00

Platform Role Mobile

Secure Boot State On

PCR7 Configuration Elevation Required to View

Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS

System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32

Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1

Locale United States

Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.22621.2706"

User Name Khali\jonat

Time Zone Eastern Standard Time

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB

Total Physical Memory 15.7 GB

Available Physical Memory 6.39 GB

Total Virtual Memory 18.1 GB

Available Virtual Memory 6.28 GB

Page File Space 2.38 GB

Page File C:\pagefile.sys

Kernel DMA Protection On

Virtualization-based security Running

Virtualization-based security Required Security Properties

Virtualization-based security Available Security Properties Base Virtualization Support, Secure Boot, DMA Protection, UEFI Code Readonly, SMM Security Mitigations 1.0, Mode Based Execution Control, APIC Virtualization

Virtualization-based security Services Configured Hypervisor enforced Code Integrity

Virtualization-based security Services Running Hypervisor enforced Code Integrity

Windows Defender Application Control policy Enforced

Windows Defender Application Control user mode policy Off

Device Encryption Support Elevation Required to View

A hypervisor has been detected. Features required for Hyper-V will not be displayed.

*** Moved from Windows / Windows 11 / Windows update ***

Answer 1

Hi JonathanG NC

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

Based on your description, I understand that you are unable to install the Windows 11 24h2 update with the error code 0xc1900101, and I do understand how you feel!

I see that after you download and install the update, restarting the computer prompts a green “inaccessible_boot_device” error message and then the update is bounced.

You seem to have looked at a lot of articles related to the problem and tried updating drivers and other options, so I commend you on your problem solving skills and thought process!

I have repeatedly analyzed the description of the problem you provided as well as the images, and generally speaking the INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error (stop code: 0xc1900101) has to do with the system not being able to access the boot device at boot time, and can be caused by a number of reasons. Here are some of the possible causes:

1. Some hardware drivers (especially storage controller drivers) may be incompatible with newer versions of Windows, preventing the system from properly accessing the boot device.
2. Incorrect settings of storage controller modes (e.g. AHCI, RAID/RST) in the BIOS may cause the system to fail to recognize the boot device.
3. Corrupted system files or disk errors may cause problems during the update process.
4. Enabled Hyper-V or virtualization security features may interfere with the update process.
5. Storage devices (such as SSDs or HDDs) may have hardware issues that prevent the system from booting properly.

I will give you some suggestions and troubleshooting options to hopefully solve your problem or find out what is causing it! However, this is the first time I've replied to this question, so please understand and provide more information in your reply (pictures would be great!). Thank you very much!

Option 1: I see that you have tried to update the driver, but I don't know how you did it.

From the error message, it does seem that there are some cases where the driver is not fully compatible with the updated system causing the update to be rolled back.

So to avoid this, we need to update, and manually install the driver.

Please note: especially the BIOS, chipset drivers, and storage controller drivers (e.g. Intel Rapid Storage Technology drivers)

This is because the “inaccessible_boot_device” message shown on the green screen is very relevant to your boot device.

1. Update the driver

“WIN + x” to select ‘Device Manager’ -> find your corresponding device -> right click on the device and select ‘Update Driver’ -> ‘Automatically search for updated driver’.

2. Install generic driver

Also in Device Manager -> Right-click on the device and select “Remove Device” (if there is one, please make sure “Remove Driver” is checked) -> After restarting the computer, the system will automatically search for and install the universal driver.

3. Manual driver installation

The driver involves the following situations:

(1) If you are a laptop, you can download the driver for the corresponding laptop model through the brand's official website.

(2) If you have a desktop computer, you can download the driver for the corresponding model through the official website of the motherboard brand.

(3) You can also download the driver for the corresponding model through the hardware manufacturer's website.

Please note: Please try the latest version of the driver as a priority, assuming the problem still exists, we can try some known older and more compatible versions.

Option 2: We also need to check the storage controller settings in the BIOS.

Reboot your computer and go to the BIOS, find the Storage Controller Mode setting and make sure it is set to AHCI (not RAID or RST).

Save the settings and exit the BIOS, then try installing the update again.

Option 3: To avoid the possibility of some system files being corrupted or lost, especially if there are bad sectors or bad spots on the disk!

We try to scan and repair system files and disk errors from the command line.

Click “Windows Logo Key” to open the search bar -> type “cmd” in the search bar and open it with administrator privileges -> please enter the following commands

1. Repair system files command. DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth SFC /Scannow

Please note that the above commands need to be repeated 5~6 times to ensure the integrity of the scan!

2. Scan and repair disk command. chkdsk /f /r

Disclaimer: Running chkdsk can check the file system and file system metadata of a volume for logical and physical errors. To avoid any trouble for you, do not cancel or interrupt chkdsk, and back up important data.

Option 4: We can temporarily disable Hpyer-V and virtualization security features.

Open “Control Panel” -> “Programs” -> “Enable or disable Windows features”.

Uncheck the Hyper-V and VM platform options.

Restart your computer and try to install the update again.

Option 5: Please try to clean boot your computer.

Since clean boot uses only a limited set of files and drivers, it can help us to effectively troubleshoot the possibility of problems caused by third-party applications, driver conflicts, etc.

You can refer to Clean Boot: How to perform a clean boot in Windows - Microsoft Support

After clean boot, please slide down the webpage after opening the link and find “How to determine what is causing the problem after you do a clean boot” This is a dichotomy that can help us pinpoint the service that is causing the problem and disable it.

However, since we are in need of updating our system, we try to hide all Microsoft services and disable them. Then in Task Manager make sure to disable all startup items.

Restart the computer again and retry installing the update.

Disclaimer: A “clean boot” starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It helps to determine whether a background service is interfering with your game or program and to isolate the cause of a problem. These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by step so that it will help you get back on track.

Option 6: Check the TPM and Secure Boot settings, since Windows 11 relies on the TPM chip and Secure Boot, we need to make sure it is enabled in the BIOS again.

Reboot your computer and enter BIOS to make sure TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot are enabled in BIOS.

You can check the TPM status by running “tpm.msc” via “WIN + R”.

Option 7: After performing the above steps, we will try again to upgrade the system to 24h2 by in-place upgrade.

Please try the in-situ upgrade.

The steps are:

(1) First download the ISO image file of Windows 11 via the following link.

The link is: Download Windows 11

(2) After the ISO file is downloaded, double-click it to open and run “setup.exe”.

(3) Under the “Install Windows 11” screen, select “Change how the installer downloads updates”.

(4) Under the “Get Updates, Drivers, and Optional Features” screen, select “Not Now”.

(5) Follow the instructions to continue.

Please note: If you are prompted to enter a key, the downloaded ISO image file does not match the current system version.

(6) Under the “Select what to keep” screen, please make sure to select “Keep personal files and applications” so that the contents of your computer will not be affected or lost.

(7) Start the in-place upgrade.

Disclaimer: Let’s try performing an in-place install or in-place upgrade which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without removing files or applications. That being said, we always recommend that if you have important data, you should back it up before making large system changes. If you want to back up your data first, please do so.

Option 8: We can also try to manually reset the Windows Update component completely and then update again via Windows Update.

1. Let's open the command line.

Click “Windows Logo Key” to open the search bar -> Type “cmd” in the search bar and open it with administrator privileges.

2. Turn off Windows Update related services net stop bits net stop wuauserv net stop cryptsvc
3. Clear the cache Del "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\qmgr*.dat" Ren %Systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore DataStore.bak Ren %Systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution\Download Download.bak Ren %Systemroot%\System32\catroot2 catroot2.bak

4.Restart Windows Update related services.

net start bits

net start wuauserv  

net start cryptsvc

5. After the reset is complete, recheck for updates.

Option 9: If none of the above methods work, as a last resort manually, we need to consider backing up all data and then doing a clean install via Windows 11 installation media.

For a clean install of Windows 11 you can refer to: Windows 11 Clean Installation

Reinstall Windows with the installation media - Microsoft Support

PLEASE NOTE: Please make sure to backup all important data to avoid data loss!

If the problem persists after all the steps have been performed, it may mean that the root cause of the problem is more complex or that there is some deep-seated problem in the system that is difficult to fix through conventional methods. Here are some of the possible reasons and why a clean install is ultimately needed to fix the problem:

1. Although we tried the sfc /scannow and DISM tools to repair the system files, some critical system files may have been severely corrupted and cannot be fully repaired by these tools. In this case, the system is unable to properly load the necessary files during the update process, resulting in boot failure.
2. Even if you have updated the drivers and BIOS, certain hardware components (such as the storage controller or SSD firmware) may have incompatibility issues with Windows 11 24H2. These issues may not be resolved by a simple driver update and may require the hardware vendor to release new firmware or drivers.
3. During the update process, certain third-party software or services may conflict with the Windows update process, causing the update to fail. Despite our attempts at clean boot to troubleshoot these conflicts, certain deep-seated conflicts may still exist.
4. If your storage device (e.g. SSD or HDD) has physical damage or firmware issues, it may cause the system to fail to access the boot device properly. In this case, even software-level fixes will not solve the problem.
5. If you have a complex system configuration (e.g., multiple virtualization features or security features enabled), this may cause unforeseen problems during the update process. Despite our attempts to disable these features, certain configurations may still have an impact on the system.

I sincerely hope that the above information and programs will help you! Please feel free to contact me (Photos related to the question would be great!).

I look forward to hearing back from you. 

Best Regards

Arthur Sheng | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Thanks for the reply. I started out going through the options. There were no updates for the disk drive. I went to the manufacturer's website and tried their utilities as well. I included a screenshot of the utility. I couldn't run the utility because it showed feature cannot run on a RAID volume.

I went into the bios settings. It is set up as RAID. I made the changes you recommended and when it restarted it said there was no boot device. It restarted a couple of times and had the same result. I went back into the bios settings and changed it back to RAID and it was able to boot. I have never dealt with a RAID before so I have no idea what to do. Is there another way of installing the update that would not entail me making system changes and having to do a clean install? I would prefer to keep the system as it came setup from Dell as I would have no idea how to recreate it's current configuration just to install the latest update. I've never had to install windows where I had to load drivers during install so that process doesn't entirely make sense to me.