You can't install Windows 10 to a USB flash drive.

[dahermit]

Windows 10 attempting to install on flash drive

Your primary partition can be misidentified as a flash drive for a number of reasons. Try any of the following fixes.
"* In Start, type "Disk Management" and select the first option that appears. Right click on the partition to which you want to install your drive. Select "Mark partition as active." Close Disk Management. Try installing Windows 10 now."

The System Reserved partition is already marked "active."

"* In Start, type "Regedit" and select the first option. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control. Change the value of "PortableOperatingSystem" to 0."

I tried this...the download failed (I let it run for 12 hours), locking up my computer and disorganized my hard drive...had to format the drive and then run a fresh clone to it.

"If neither of these fixes work, try installing Windows 10 using the media creation tool instead:"

Tried, using media creation tool...it did not install, generated the Oxc1900200 error. Whenever Windows Update Manaindicatests, it idicates that I do have the resources to install it (8GB, AMD A4-5300B APU with Radeon HD Graphics, 3.40GHz, 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor)
As for marking a partition "active" my wife's computer ( a twin of mine) has her System Reserved partition marked "active" and the "PortableOperatingSystem" in Regedit is marked "1" and hers has downloaded and installed the Windows 10 Pro 1709 update without incident.

Note that I am not interested in a Clean Install...I am too old and dependent upon my applications to find and download them all over again. There has to be something I can do other than a Clean Install.

 

[dahermit]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from dahermit : "Error: You can't install windows 10 to a USB flash drive..."

"Your primary partition can be misidentified as a flash drive for a number of reasons. Try any of the following fixes."
"* In Start, type "Disk Management" and select the first option that appears. Right click on the partition to which you want to install your drive. Select "Mark partition as active." Close Disk Management. Try installing Windows 10 now."
The System Reserved partition is already marked "active."
"* In Start, type "Regedit" and select the first option. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control. Change the value of "PortableOperatingSystem" to 0."
I tried this...the download failed (I let it run for 12 hours), locking up my computer and disorganized my hard drive...had to format the drive and then run a fresh clone to it.
"If neither of these fixes work, try installing Windows 10 using the media creation tool instead:"
Tried, using media creation tool...it did not install, generated the Oxc1900200 error. Whenever Windows Update Manager starts, it idicates that I do have the resources to install it (8GB, AMD A4-5300B APU with Radeon HD Graphics, 3.40GHz, 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor)
As for marking a partition "active" my wife's computer ( a twin of mine) has her System Reserved partition marked "active" and the "PortableOperatingSystem" in Regedit is marked "1" and hers has downloaded and installed the Windoes 10 Pro 1709 update without incedent.

 

[dahermit]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from dahermit : "Error: You can't install windows 10 to a USB flash drive..."

"Your primary partition can be misidentified as a flash drive for a number of reasons. Try any of the following fixes."
"* In Start, type "Disk Management" and select the first option that appears. Right click on the partition to which you want to install your drive. Select "Mark partition as active." Close Disk Management. Try installing Windows 10 now."
The System Reserved partition is already marked "active."
"* In Start, type "Regedit" and select the first option. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control. Change the value of "PortableOperatingSystem" to 0."
I tried this...the download failed (I let it run for 12 hours), locking up my computer and disorganized my hard drive...had to format the drive and then run a fresh clone to it.
"If neither of these fixes work, try installing Windows 10 using the media creation tool instead:"
Tried, using media creation tool...it did not install, generated the Oxc1900200 error. Whenever Windows Update Manager starts, it idicates that I do have the resources to install it (8GB, AMD A4-5300B APU with Radeon HD Graphics, 3.40GHz, 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor)
As for marking a partition "active" my wife's computer ( a twin of mine) has her System Reserved partition marked "active" and the "PortableOperatingSystem" in Regedit is marked "1" and hers has downloaded and installed the Windoes 10 Pro 1709 update without incedent.

 

[USAFRet]

Windows 10 attempting to install on flash drive

Right. You cannot (easily) install a Windows OS to a USB connected flash drive.

Now...what are you actually trying to do?
Install it on an internal drive, but the installer sees it as a flash drive?

Why are you trying to install this OS?
What OS is on it now?

 

[Rocky Bennett]

I have read everything thing that you wrote dahermit. It sounds like you want to perform a clean install of Windows 10. You want to dual boot Windows 10 with Windows 10? Do you have two licenses for Windows 10?

 

[dahermit]

I have read everything thing that you wrote dahermit. It sounds like you want to perform a clean install of Windows 10. You want to dual boot Windows 10 with Windows 10? Do you have two licenses for Windows 10?

NO! No! I DO NOT want to do a clean install.
My problem: When Windows Update Assistant tries to download and install the 1709 Windows update, it fails with the error: Oxc1900200. If I try to download and use a Windows.ISO file to upgrade to the 1709, it fails with the message: "you can't install Windows 10 to a USB Flash drive using setup." I am just trying to get the update installed on my internal hard drive...not a USB flash drive. There is no USB flash drive connected to my computer.

 

[dahermit]

Windows 10 attempting to install on flash drive

Right. You cannot (easily) install a Windows OS to a USB connected flash drive.

Now...what are you actually trying to do?
Install it on an internal drive, but the installer sees it as a flash drive?

Why are you trying to install this OS?
What OS is on it now?

I am NOT trying to install a Windows operating system to a USB drive...I am just trying to allow Windows Update Assistant download and install the 1709 update to my Windows 10 Pro system.

Yes...the the installer (when trying to install the update via Windows.ISO file) sees it as a flash drive, not the internal that is actually there. If I let Windows Update Assistant do it, it aborts with an Oxc1900200 error, which I suspect is caused by the updater thinking that I am trying to install to a USB, inasmuch as I have more than adequate resources available for the update.

 

[USAFRet]

I am NOT trying to install a Windows operating system to a USB drive...I am just trying to allow Windows Update Assistant download and install the 1709 update to my Windows 10 Pro system.

Yes...the the installer (when trying to install the update via Windows.ISO file) sees it as a flash drive, not the internal that is actually there. If I let Windows Update Assistant do it, it aborts with an Oxc1900200 error, which I suspect is caused by the updater thinking that I am trying to install to a USB, inasmuch as I have more than adequate resources available for the update.

Try this:
Download the Win 10 MediaCreation tool: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Run it, and create a USB install..not just the ISO file.
Boot from that and start the actual install process..
When it asks..."Keep Everything".

This should do a 'reinstall', but without losing any of your current data or applications.

 

[dahermit]

I am NOT trying to install a Windows operating system to a USB drive...I am just trying to allow Windows Update Assistant download and install the 1709 update to my Windows 10 Pro system.

Yes...the the installer (when trying to install the update via Windows.ISO file) sees it as a flash drive, not the internal that is actually there. If I let Windows Update Assistant do it, it aborts with an Oxc1900200 error, which I suspect is caused by the updater thinking that I am trying to install to a USB, inasmuch as I have more than adequate resources available for the update.

Try this:
Download the Win 10 MediaCreation tool: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Run it, and create a USB install..not just the ISO file.
Boot from that and start the actual install process..
When it asks..."Keep Everything".

This should do a 'reinstall', but without losing any of your current data or applications.

It did not work. At a point in the install setup, I got the message: "This upgrade path is not supported. Please close setup and re-launch from the root of the media or go back and pick a different installation choice."

I did what they suggested (removed the USB flash drive), rebooted with the hard drive, reinserted the flash drive and went to setup on the flash drive. It wanted me to allow it to download updates before installing...which I did. However, it still gave me the message as per above...did not complete the setup.

 

[USAFRet]

It did not work. At a point in the install setup, I got the message: "This upgrade path is not supported. Please close setup and re-launch from the root of the media or go back and pick a different installation choice."

I did what they suggested (removed the USB flash drive), rebooted with the hard drive, reinserted the flash drive and went to setup on the flash drive. It wanted me to allow it to download updates before installing...which I did. However, it still gave me the message as per above...did not complete the setup.

Which version of Win 10 do you have?

 

[dahermit]

It did not work. At a point in the install setup, I got the message: "This upgrade path is not supported. Please close setup and re-launch from the root of the media or go back and pick a different installation choice."

I did what they suggested (removed the USB flash drive), rebooted with the hard drive, reinserted the flash drive and went to setup on the flash drive. It wanted me to allow it to download updates before installing...which I did. However, it still gave me the message as per above...did not complete the setup.

Which version of Win 10 do you have?

Windows 10 Pro, version 1703(OS Build 15063.966)

 

[BadAsAl]

There are a couple things here that you can try, namely increasing the size of your reserved partition (is yours 350MB?) and also resetting Windows update: https://superuser.com/questions/1021364/cant-apply-update-to-windows-10-error-0xc1900200

Apologies if you tried any of these but there is a lot to read on this thread already and I can't get through it all

 

[dahermit]

There are a couple things here that you can try, namely increasing the size of your reserved partition (is yours 350MB?) and also resetting Windows update: https://superuser.com/questions/1021364/cant-apply-update-to-windows-10-error-0xc1900200

Apologies if you tried any of these but there is a lot to read on this thread already and I can't get through it all

My System Reserved partition is 550MB.

I ran that command prompt program as listed in the link and then ran Windows Update Assistant again. It failed with the usual " Something went wrong....Ocx1900200" error.

 

[dahermit]

There are a couple things here that you can try, namely increasing the size of your reserved partition (is yours 350MB?) and also resetting Windows update: https://superuser.com/questions/1021364/cant-apply-update-to-windows-10-error-0xc1900200

Apologies if you tried any of these but there is a lot to read on this thread already and I can't get through it all

My System Reserved partition is 550MB.

I ran that command prompt program as listed in the link and then ran Windows Update Assistant again. It failed with the usual " Something went wrong....Ocx1900200" error.

However, when I ran that program, it threw a couple of errors:
ren : Acess to the path 'C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution' is denied.
At line:1 char:5
+ ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwardDistribution.old
+CategoryInfo :WriteError: (C:\Windows\SoftwareDistributionbutton:String) [Rename-Item], IOEception
=FullyQualifiedErrorId : RenameItemIOErro, Microsoft.Powershell.Commands.RenameItemCommand.

ren : Cannot create a file when that file already exists.
At line:1 char:5
+ ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 catroot2.old
+CategoryInfo : WriteError : (C:\Windows\system32\Catroot2:string) [Rename-Item], IOException
+FullyQualifiedErrorID : RenameItemIOError,Microsoft,Powershell,commands.RenameItemCommand

I have a screenshot of the errors but I cannot seem to get it to post.