Windows 10 install issue (Windows could not complete the installation)

[joepanger88]

Hello,

Recently I created a recovery drive for Windows 10 from my laptop's SSD to install onto a new hard drive I purchased for my other broken laptop. The laptop seems to have a bad hard drive so I bought a new replacement. The hard drive model is ST750LM022.

Upon installing, the laptop gave me the 'Windows could not complete the installation. Please restart the installation.' boot loop.

Here's a list of what I have tried to do:

1. Enter automatic repair: I could not enter automatic repair mode no matter how many times I restarted the laptop. This option doesn't seem viable.

2. Shift + F10 and enter msoobe. Again this method doesn't work for me. Nothing pops up after I entered msoobe to create a local account.

3. Run diskcheck for all drives. I was able to get it to run and check the drives, but after I restarted the computer it still had the error message.

4. Restart the laptop with wifi card removed. I saw this as one of the solutions but it did not work.

5. Restart the laptop with one stick of RAM in. Didn't work.

There are more methods that I've been trying, but the main thing stopping me is a lack of a mouse cursor. I can't see my mouse even when a physical mouse is plugged in. However, when I switched to my old hard drive the mouse appears.

What is going on? Did I get a bad version of Windows on the recovery drive? Am I not able to transfer Windows 10 from an SSD to an HDD? Did I get a bad hard drive?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[USAFRet]

Are the two laptops identical?
What did you use to create this "recovery drive"?

 

[USAFRet]

You can create a generic Windows 10 install, here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Instead of using the recovery thing from the other laptop.

 

[why_wolf]

Unless the laptops are the same model the recovery disc likely will not work on any other hardware. Follow USAFRet link and just make a generic USB installer instead. Added bonus to this method is it will be a clean copy of Windows with no bloatware that the OEMs always cram in.

 

[joepanger88]

Are the two laptops identical?
What did you use to create this "recovery drive"?

Hi USAFRet,

Thanks for the quick response. I used the "create a recovery drive" option in Windows 10. The two laptops are NOT identical, one is a Dell (I don't know the model), the one I'm trying to fix right now is an Hp Envy 15z J-100

 

[USAFRet]

Are the two laptops identical?
What did you use to create this "recovery drive"?

Hi USAFRet,

Thanks for the quick response. I used the "create a recovery drive" option in Windows 10. The two laptops are NOT identical, one is a Dell (I don't know the model), the one I'm trying to fix right now is an Hp Envy 15z J-100

Then this will NOT work.
Dell->HP WILL fail.

Just make a normal Win 10 install, as linked above.

 

[joepanger88]

Are the two laptops identical?
What did you use to create this "recovery drive"?

Hi USAFRet,

Thanks for the quick response. I used the "create a recovery drive" option in Windows 10. The two laptops are NOT identical, one is a Dell (I don't know the model), the one I'm trying to fix right now is an Hp Envy 15z J-100

Then this will NOT work.
Dell->HP WILL fail.

Just make a normal Win 10 install, as linked above.

Sounds good, thank you guys for the help. I'll update this post if it's successful or not.

 

[USAFRet]

Sounds good, thank you guys for the help. I'll update this post if it's successful or not.

Steps for a clean install:
http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-3567655/clean-installation-windows.html

 

[joepanger88]

Sounds good, thank you guys for the help. I'll update this post if it's successful or not.

Steps for a clean install:
http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-3567655/clean-installation-windows.html

So I made the USB drive, and changed BIOS settings so that the USB drive would boot up first and it worked! I got all the way to the Windows setup screen. Something that's different from the link you provided is that there is no product activation screen. There was only a license and agreement page.

I followed all directions and deleted all partitions until there was just unallocated space. Windows then goes through the install process, but after it's done, the computer just restarts the entire installation process.

A part of the install instructions said to disconnect any secondary drives: "Temporarily disconnect ALL other hard drives except the primary drive that windows will be installed to. With the power turned off, simply disconnect ALL other internal drives from the motherboard SATA headers or external drives from their USB ports, except the flash drive or optical drive to be used DURING the installation process".

I suspect that there are drives that I have not disconnected, but I do not know what those drives would be in a laptop. What are those drives that need to be disconnected?

I also think it may be that I am deleting the wrong partitions. There are 4 types showing up: Recovery, System, MSR (Reserved) and Primary. Which do I delete and which do I keep?

 

[USAFRet]

This is a laptop, correct?
There is almost certainly just ONE physical hard drive in it.

You may not be seeing the 'product activation' page, because this is a laptop, and the OS install is reading the relevant info direct from the hardware.
No activation needed.

The partitions?
You delete ALL of them.
Then proceed on.

 

[joepanger88]

This is a laptop, correct?
There is almost certainly just ONE physical hard drive in it.

You may not be seeing the 'product activation' page, because this is a laptop, and the OS install is reading the relevant info direct from the hardware.
No activation needed.

The partitions?
You delete ALL of them.
Then proceed on.

So I've tried this multiple times now. Windows Setup is able to run through all the steps up to Step 9 of Section 2 in the link you referenced. After Windows supposedly installs, the computer just restarts and I am sent back to the original setup screen. It never gets to the Cortana setup part.

 

[USAFRet]

This is a laptop, correct?
There is almost certainly just ONE physical hard drive in it.

You may not be seeing the 'product activation' page, because this is a laptop, and the OS install is reading the relevant info direct from the hardware.
No activation needed.

The partitions?
You delete ALL of them.
Then proceed on.

So I've tried this multiple times now. Windows Setup is able to run through all the steps up to Step 9 of Section 2 in the link you referenced. After Windows supposedly installs, the computer just restarts and I am sent back to the original setup screen. It never gets to the Cortana setup part.

As it restarts, remove the USB or DVD.
See what happens.

 

[joepanger88]

This is a laptop, correct?
There is almost certainly just ONE physical hard drive in it.

You may not be seeing the 'product activation' page, because this is a laptop, and the OS install is reading the relevant info direct from the hardware.
No activation needed.

The partitions?
You delete ALL of them.
Then proceed on.

So I've tried this multiple times now. Windows Setup is able to run through all the steps up to Step 9 of Section 2 in the link you referenced. After Windows supposedly installs, the computer just restarts and I am sent back to the original setup screen. It never gets to the Cortana setup part.

As it restarts, remove the USB or DVD.
See what happens.

It worked beautifully. Thank you so much for your help.

UPDATE: Ok, now I have run into a new obstacle. I have the OS installed, and it runs. But after a while, my computer makes the sound that occurs when you disconnect a USB drive from a computer and then the screen goes black. But nothing is inserted into the ports. The computer then restarts a few times and goes into repair mode.

Any idea what could be causing this?

 

[USAFRet]

UPDATE: Ok, now I have run into a new obstacle. I have the OS installed, and it runs. But after a while, my computer makes the sound that occurs when you disconnect a USB drive from a computer and then the screen goes black. But nothing is inserted into the ports. The computer then restarts a few times and goes into repair mode.

Any idea what could be causing this?

Check all your cables. I had a laptop that did that. I thought it was a failing external HDD. But it was rather a cable that was mostly but not quite connected 100%.

 

[joepanger88]

UPDATE: Ok, now I have run into a new obstacle. I have the OS installed, and it runs. But after a while, my computer makes the sound that occurs when you disconnect a USB drive from a computer and then the screen goes black. But nothing is inserted into the ports. The computer then restarts a few times and goes into repair mode.

Any idea what could be causing this?

Check all your cables. I had a laptop that did that. I thought it was a failing external HDD. But it was rather a cable that was mostly but not quite connected 100%.

Do you know which cable you reconnected that solved your issue? I disassembled my entire laptop, disconnected and reconnected all cables and tried it again. It still isn't working. Could it be that my hard drive connector is flawed?

Upon inspecting the hard drive connector, one of the small gold wire conductors is frayed/bent out of place. Could this be it?

 

[USAFRet]

Upon inspecting the hard drive connector, one of the small gold wire conductors is frayed/bent out of place. Could this be it?

That could absolutely be the issue.
Not saying it is, but it very well could be.

 

[joepanger88]

Upon inspecting the hard drive connector, one of the small gold wire conductors is frayed/bent out of place. Could this be it?

That could absolutely be the issue.
Not saying it is, but it very well could be.

I've just ordered a new cable. It seems like replacing the cable is all I can do at the moment. I'll update this thread after I try it out.

 

[joepanger88]

Upon inspecting the hard drive connector, one of the small gold wire conductors is frayed/bent out of place. Could this be it?

That could absolutely be the issue.
Not saying it is, but it very well could be.

So after getting the cable, I replaced it and plugged it into the hard drive. It seemed to work for about an hour or so before again making the USB connect noise and crashing. So I've decided to try and see if replacing the motherboard will do anything.