Attempting to re-install Windows 10 with a Media Creation Tool on a HDD.

[Robo Reptile]

So, the SSD that was holding my operating system (Windows 10) has given up the ghost. I have a new SSD on the way (Intel, since their internal SSD quality control is apparently really good).

Sniffing around the internet revealed that the Windows 10 DRM seems to be connected to the motherboard, not to the memory storage unit. As such, I went to the following link to download a "media creation tool" so that I could re-install Windows 10.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10


Now, here is where the issue comes up.

To create the "Media Creation Tool," I downloaded the executable from the above link onto a dinky little notebook (really it's a tablet that has an attachable keyboard and happens to run Windows 10) and plugged in a 1TB external HDD that I had lying around. I moved the application ("MediaCreationTool1803") to the external drive and double clicked it, making sure to enter the parameters for my desktop PC (English UK, Windows 10, 64 bit architecture).

And - infuriatingly, maddeningly - it attempts to install the tool to my tablet. To "C:" and not to "D:". Not to the 1TB external HDD that would actually be useful for this purpose. Which fails, every time, since my tablet simply would not have the 8GB required free space even if I wiped the OS from it.

How do I remedy this? How do I make sure that the Media Creation Tool installs to the external HDD?

 

[madmatt30]

-^ rufus as I linked a while back.

 

[Filip_35]

And the next in this constant parade of obstacles to getting my desktop working again...

The SSD seems to work fine. That's good.

When starting up the PC and hitting F11 for the boot menu, I see three options:




1-USB: TOSHIBA

2-UEFI: (NTFS) TOSHIBA

3-AHCI P5: INTEL SSDCS2KW51268 (that would be the new SSD)

Either of the "Toshiba" options would have to be the external HDD, where the Windows10.ISO file is located. And yet, when I select 2...nothing seems to happen. When I select 1, I am taken to a black screen with the following message:

Reboot and Select proper Boot device
or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot Device and press a key


Confused, I downloaded the Windows 7 USB DVD download tool (as "Filip_35 suggested) and attempted to use it to burn the ISO onto the external HDD. The program picked up on the .ISO from my Windows 7 PC...yet it did not "see" the HDD device - it did not exist as far as the program was concerned. I tried formatting the HDD back to exFAT, then back to NTFS - the program still did not detect the device.


What do?

Don't burn it onto external HDD, but on a USB stick or DVD

if you really want to burn iso to HDD, use Rufus, as madmatt30 mentioned, but it's not so easy-to-use as Win USB/DVD download tool.

 

[Colif]

The only media that you can install Win 10 Pro or Home off is a DVD or USB Flash drive, it won't work off a HDD, as the installation process includes a few restarts and it doesn't look for anything other than Flash or DVD. Enterprise version of win 10 allows for more install methods such as over a network.

Does Win 10 work now on SSD? Can you right click start button, choose disk management and show us a screen shot of what it looks like (share image to image sharing web site and show a link here). I am curious why its showing the hdd in the boot order as it shouldn't be there.

Did you install win 10 on the hdd? I was under impression you were just putting the ISO on the hdd, not actually installing win 10 on it.

 

[Robo Reptile]

Hi there, people. I got my PC up and running, again! 😀

For posterity, and for anyone experiencing the same difficulties I did:

Don't try to create the Boot Media with an HDD. It just doesn't seem to work.

Instead, I went out to the shops and shelled out for a flash drive. I then used the "Rufus" program (as madmatt30 pointed out) and used it to transmute the .ISO file (provided by (Filip_35) into the drive, creating a fully functional piece of Boot Media.

I installed Windows 10 onto my new SSD and it works like a charm!

My thanks to the people of this community, who were willing to lend a helping hand.