Question Feature Update to 1903 Fails with 0xC1900101 - 0x20017

[britechguy]

The full dialog given after the rollback was:

We couldn't install Windows 10
We've set your PC back to the way it was right before you started installing Windows 10

0xC1900101 - 0x20017
The installation failed in the SAFE_OS phase with an error during BOOT operation

I know that the first error code is pretty generic, and there seem to be a number of, shall we say, questionable "fixes" for that one. I have not, though, seen anything specific for the second one.

I believe the only things that have changed on my computer since going to 1809 was upgrading from Home to Pro, which went without a hitch, and turning on Hyper V (though I have no virtual machines set up yet).

I figured I'd ask here in case anyone has any theories. My machine had the relatively new message in the Windows Update Pane saying it was "not quite ready" until yesterday, when it changed to the "Download and install now" link. I used the ISO file method to try to update, as that's what I've always had the best success with and I'd downloaded it not all that long ago.

 

[onespeedbiker]

Several sites pointed to KB3064209, an Intel CPU microcode update as the cause; the fix looks wonderfully complicated . https://windowsreport.com/installation-failed-safe_os-phase/

 

[Ralston18]

I have a computer that has been very much doing the same thing.

Here is a link that helped me delve into the issues:

https://howtofixwindows.com/windows-10-version-1903-failed-to-install/

What I discovered was that BITS (Background Intelligence Transfer Service) is in "Manual" with respect to Services via service.msc.

Would not expect to find that setting in "Manual" if being started is necessary for updates.

I worked my way through the linked article and another run at an update to 1903 is pending on a test computer.

Just sharing for now. Read the link and feel free to offer feedback and findings.

 

[Colif]

SafeOS phase: Errors most commonly occur during this phase due to hardware issues, firmware issues, or non-microsoft disk encryption software.

Since the computer is booted into Windows PE during the SafeOS phase, a useful troubleshooting technique is to boot into Windows PE using installation media. You can use the media creation tool to create bootable media, or you can use tools such as the Windows ADK, and then boot your device from this media to test for hardware and firmware compatibility issues.

Do not proceed with the Windows 10 installation after booting from this media. This method can only be used to perform a clean install which will not migrate any of your apps and settings, and you will be required re-enter your Windows 10 license information.

If the computer does not successfully boot into Windows PE using the media that you created, this is likely due to a hardware or firmware issue. Check with your hardware manufacturer and apply any recommended BIOS and firmware updates. If you are still unable to boot to installation media after applying updates, disconnect or replace legacy hardware.

If the computer successfully boots into Windows PE, but you are not able to browse the system drive on the computer, it is possible that non-Microsoft disk encryption software is blocking your ability to perform a Windows 10 upgrade. Update or temporarily remove the disk encryption.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/upgrade/troubleshoot-upgrade-errors

 

[britechguy]

Thanks to you both. In my case, since my machine has an AMD A12-9700P APU the Intel microcode issue can be eliminated.

I will report back as I work through this. There's no huge hurry on my end, so it may be a few days. There are other pressing issues "in real life" happening now, too.

 

[britechguy]

Well, this appears to me to have been related to having Hyper-V enabled.

I did get a message from Intel Driver & Support Assistant (and this was after the initial Feature Update failure) that I had an update to my WiFi & Bluetooth drivers, which I did apply, but the same "old" ones are on another laptop that is the hardware twin (literally) of this one and it didn't have any issues.

But after disabling Hyper-V I kicked off setup.exe for the 1903 update, got myself through the first few screens where one has to hit the Next button, and went to bed.

As of this morning, 1903 is up and running on this system.

One data point for anyone else who gets this error code combination and may have Hyper-V enabled. A second if you have Intel drivers, but this seems way less likely to me.