Windows 10 USB loop after install....sigh...

[MaxTTT]

Hi all, long time listener, first time caller.

Was attempting a clean install of win 10 as the previous win 10 (perfectly working) upgrade left the old win 7 still on the C drive, and I wanted to start from scratch. Used same Rufus usb with which I created the win 10 image. This time though, I needed to format SSD as it would not load OS as it said it was MBR not GPT, so used diskpart and cleaned SSD. Load then all went well, but when it went to restart it ended up back in a loop at the first install page.
Took USB out and got 'reboot and select proper disk' error.

Have made sure SSD is first boot.

Have tried CMD to fix MBR using fixboot etc, but I think I may have been trying to do this from diskpart, so it has not worked. I will try tomorrow to do from X/ prompt

Tried the win 10 install troubleshoot and startup repair, but it said it could not be repaired.

Could it be a bios setting?

This usb and OS install ran perfectly up to today's reinstall.

Any ideas greatly appreciated, this is my music making machine and I need her back!

 

[Jwpanz]

Did you download the ISO file for Windows 10 to that USB or is that the USB you bought with Windows 10 preloaded?

 

[MaxTTT]

Downloaded Win 10 from windows site. It all loaded beautifully when I used it to upgrade from Win 7.

Tried X:/ commands again:
bootrec /fixmbr was successful
bootrec /fixboot Access is denied
bootrec /scanos 0 Windows installations found
bootrec /rebuildbcd 0 Windows installations found


I reset my bios to optimised defaults (leagcy and Uefi)

Still same issue...Install sees SSD, loads windows, first reboot after finishing and back to either loop (with USB in), or 'reboot and select proper disk' without USB in.

 

[MusenMouse]

If there is an option to in your BIOS try setting boot to hybrid legacy\UEFI.

 

[MaxTTT]

Yes as mentioned above, made sure legacy/UEFI was selected (which is was)

 

[MusenMouse]

Have you tried turning off secure boot?

 

[MaxTTT]

Will double check secure boot is off.

Had a minor breakthrough. Got a new usb. New iso from windows site. Cleaned all 4 previous attempts from ssd. windows loaded then restarted without error. YAY! went to windows load screen, but then at 62%, got stuck on 'getting files ready for installation"...I had forgotten I had a few USB devices still plugged in back, so removed those, rebooted,....and back to 'reboot and select proper disk' error..
Cleaned SSD, tried again, but back to loopville, can't get to the second windows loading site.

This makes me think the SSD might be the issue, so now I am attempting to load windows on one of the other HDD

 

[MaxTTT]

Removed other HDD. Install would not load on partition even though it had previously been cleaned and formatted...so selected it and hit delete! Microsoft gave a warning about wrong order or something...kept going, and all installed!
Thanks to all who offered suggestions