[SOLVED] Black Screen with Blinking Cursor... bad USB?

[fall3n]

I just finished building a PC and am now trying to install windows 10. I created a bootable USB on my Mac twice with two different methods but when I try to boot from the USB on the new PC shows the BIOS, I select the USB as the boot device and then it just shows a black screen with no text but a blinking cursor at the top.

The two methods I tried to create the USB were:

1. dd on the terminal using an iso I downloaded from the Microsoft site.
2. Using the bootcamp assistant.

What am I doing wrong and how can I create a bootable windows 10 USB from my Mac that actually works so I can install Windows 10 on the new PC? Does the USB need to be formatted as FAT32?

 

[onespeedbiker]

Follow this link on how to make a Windows 10 install usb https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/

 

[fall3n]

@onespeedbiker I am creating the installation media from a Mac so that guide does not work for me. I can boot from the USB and I can enter the Windows installer, but when I click install now I get the following error message:

https://imgur.com/4byJXkK

View: https://imgur.com/4byJXkK


And I remember when I was making the USB, the cp command output “C:/Sources/install.wim is too large”. But the command still ran and copied all of the files. Do I have to format the USB differently or something?

 

[onespeedbiker]

The USB needs to be setup in a particular way, not just in the manner it is formatted. If you can not create one on a windows machine per the link, it's doubtful you will be successful creating one with a mac. However you could probably create a dvd install disk that will work, if you have the hardware to do so.

 

[fall3n]

@onespeedbiker as a matter of fact I have a DVD drive already ordered and arriving in the next few days so that is actually perfect because I can just use a DVD instead of a USB.
I have an old Windows 7 installation DVD lying around so if I installed Windows 7, would it be easy to upgrade to windows 10 or am I better off starting with Windows 10?

 

[onespeedbiker]

Much better to install windows 10, rather than upgrade to it..

 

[Darkbreeze]

You can't create installation media on the Mac and THEN use it on the PC. It will not work. You need to create the installation media on a PC for use on a PC. I suppose it's possible if you have some kind of frankenmac that is running a Windows OS, but that's probably about the only way.

 

[fall3n]

You can't create installation media on the Mac and THEN use it on the PC. It will not work. You need to create the installation media on a PC for use on a PC. I suppose it's possible if you have some kind of frankenmac that is running a Windows OS, but that's probably about the only way.

I wont be able to make an installation DVD on my Mac using the Microsoft iso?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Not for a PC. Not the last time I checked.

Well, you probably CAN, but it's not going to be a straight forward process like it would be if it was being done on a PC.

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-create-windows-10-installer-usb-drive-mac

 

[onespeedbiker]

I would think it would work. Creating a bootable CD/DVD from an ISO is a much more straight forward process than a USB.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Might not be as easy as you think, because it seems that at some point in 2018 Apple basically stripped the ability to do that from the MacOS. But it can still, at least when this was written, apparently be done. I'll be the first to admit I am not extremely experienced when it comes to the MacOS, but I've used it enough to know that there are or can be, major discrepancies in the way the MacOS and Windows OS work. Worse is the fact that Apple explicitly tries to STOP any attempts at cross compatibility.

https://appleinsider.com/articles/1...windows-10-install-media-on-macos-high-sierra

 

[onespeedbiker]

I know next to nothing about MAC, I was just going with youtube videos such as this

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHagKuOi3tk

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yep, that's old though, and concerns a windows 7 ISO so you KNOW it's old. Probably not going to be the same ballgame with the later versions of MacOS and Windows 10. I imagine it can still be done, but it isn't likely to be QUITE that simple. Still, worth a try, if you have the discs to spare.