How do I fix Windows Installation error?

Question

I tried installing a clean version of windows 11 onto my surface laptop, but halfway through it had died and now im stuck in a loop of The rcomputer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed. To install Windows, click "OK" to restart the computer, and then restart the installation.

Answer 1

Hi RyanLin5766,

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community. I'm sorry to hear about the issue that you are having on your Surface Laptop in trying to reinstall Windows.

Regarding with the clean installation, do you mean reinstalling Windows by USB Recovery or was it just a reset within Windows?

If it was using USB Recovery, may I know if you used the Surface Recovery Image or the Windows ISO?

When it comes to Surface device, we recommend using the Surface Recovery Image in doing a clean installation of Windows on the device through USB Recovery. This option will reimage the entire device and reload Windows including the drivers and firmware. It is the most complete form of Reset and it will wipe out everything on the device. You will need also a 16GB/32GB of flash drive that must be formatted into FAT32 prior to downloading the Recovery Image. Please make sure that these steps below were followed in doing USB Recovery using the Surface Recovery Image:

How to Download, Create and Use a USB recovery drive

To download the Recovery Image:

• You'll need another working device running on Windows.

1. Go to: Download the recovery image for your Surface
2. Sign in with your Microsoft Account
3. From the list of Surface devices available, select the device that you need a recovery image for
   Please note that while you will only be presented with devices that are currently registered on your account, you will also be presented with the option to get an image for a different type of device. If you try to use this option, you will be prompted to enter the serial number for that device
4. Download the recovery image using the button on the page
5. When the download bar pops up at the bottom of your screen, save the file in a location you will be able to find it.

 Format USB Drive:

• Note: Formatting a recovery drive will erase anything that is already stored on your USB drive. Make sure to transfer any important data from your USB drive to another storage device before using it to create a Surface USB recovery drive.

1. Insert your USB drive into the USB port of your PC.
2. From the desktop, open File Explorer
3. Tap and hold or right-click on the USB drive and choose Format
4. Select FAT32 as the file system and enter a Volume label to name the USB drive, such as RECOVERY, and then tap or click Start
5. Tap or click OK to erase the contents of the USB drive
6. Tap or click OK when the format is complete

Create a recovery drive:

1. On your Surface or PC, open recovery image that you downloaded by double-clicking it or right click then select Extract and then Extract all.
2. Select the USB drive you formatted earlier for the location and click Extract.

Use a USB recovery drive to reset your Surface:

1. Shutdown the Surface
2. Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port
3. Press and hold the volume-down (-) key
4. Press and release the power button
5. When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down (-) key
6. Surface will start the recovery software on the USB recovery drive
7. When prompted, choose your language options and keyboard layout
8. Select Troubleshoot
9. Select Recover from a Drive. Choose Remove Everything and Fully Clean the Drive. Recovering this PC.
10. If prompted, select Repartition the drives
11. If prompted for BitLocker Key, tap Skip this Drive

If those steps above were followed and the issue persists, I suggest that you run the Surface Data Eraser Tool first on the device then proceed again with the USB Recovery. Please see this page for the steps and guide in using the Surface Data Eraser Tool: Microsoft Surface Data Eraser (Surface) - Surface | Microsoft Learn

Hope this helps and let me know how it goes.

Kind regards,

Marrion

Answer 2

Hi RyanLin5766,

We haven't heard from you, so we assume that your issue has already been addressed. We will not be monitoring this thread moving forward so, if you need further assistance, please create a new thread to discuss these concerns by clicking this link: Create a new question or start a discussion (microsoft.com)

Thank you for understanding. 

Kind regards,
Marrion