Windows could not complete the installation...

Solved
Perez -  
Malekal_morte- Posted messages 178136 Registration date   Status Modérateur, Contributeur sécurité Last intervention   -
Hello everyone,

I’m reaching out because since the last update my PC is stuck and I can’t get anything out of it.

Situation:

I have a 2-year-old Asus UX303L laptop. It doesn’t have a disc drive.

I did the latest Windows 10 update and everything went smoothly (the computer restarted and went to the startup page). At the time I didn’t need it, so I naturally turned it off.
When I restarted it, it behaved strangely; it first displayed the Asus logo in a completely normal manner, then it showed that same logo again but bigger (as if the resolution had changed), then a window appeared with the message:
Windows could not complete the installation. To install Windows on this computer, restart the installation program.

When I press enter the computer restarts and goes through the same loop over and over again...

What I’ve tried - noticed:

I started by having a look in the BIOS, but I noticed that it was excessively slow when switching between pages (one minute to access the "advanced" and "boot" pages, but no problems transitioning to the other pages...)
So I attempted another method, I know my computer has a hidden partition accessible with the F9 key that allows me to restore my computer to factory settings, but here too there's a problem: I can access this mode on the PC but the available options don’t help me
The first option suggests continuing and switching to Windows 8, but in reality it just reboots my PC and it goes back to the restart loop
The second offers a troubleshooting option "refresh my PC" or "reset my PC" but my PC tells me "you need to log in as an administrator but there are no administrator accounts on this PC" to resolve this issue it suggests restarting to "try to log into Windows to manage my user accounts" and I kid you not, if I restart it goes back to that message.

I’m starting to get a bit desperate, I’m planning to try creating a bootable USB stick tomorrow with Windows 10 on it and attempting to reinstall it by changing the boot order in the BIOS (even though it will take me an hour to access the menu) but I unfortunately have little hope knowing that my PC currently offers no alternative for booting in that menu (but given that the PC doesn’t have a CD drive and no USB stick is currently connected to it, that might explain it...)

Does anyone have a possible solution or even just a simple idea that I haven’t explored?

Thanks in advance!!!

Configuration: iPad / Chrome 61.0.3163.73

5 réponses

Percheron
 
Hi,

the F9 key allows me to restore my computer to factory settings, but here again, there’s a problem: I can access this mode on the PC, but the available options aren’t helping me.
The first option suggests continuing to Windows 8, but in reality, it just reboots my PC and it starts the looping reboot again.
The second option offers a repair to either "refresh my PC" or "reset my PC", but my PC displays "you must log in as an administrator, but there are no administrator accounts on this PC."


No access to the command prompt in all this?
1
perez
 
Access to the command prompt is impossible, the PC restarts to give me access but it gets stuck as usual in the restart schema / unable to access Windows, restart the installation...

New developments,

I managed to enter disk dart but nothing helps me in there (or I can't see it!)
1
Percheron
 
Same question: command prompt?
0
Perez
 
So, some news about my issue! So I consulted Malekal's advice but nothing worked, the computer wouldn't restart. I then used the software provided by Microsoft to update or install Windows 10, but again I encountered a bug (unable to finalize the installation)

So, a new idea, I downloaded an ISO of Windows 10. I had a partitioned hard drive in my PC, so I first tried to recover my installation using this USB drive, but once again I got stuck... so I gave up and reinstalled over the partition. It's working again but I lost my software (but I just need to reinstall it) and some various files.

I couldn't find any other solutions...
0
Malekal_morte- Posted messages 178136 Registration date   Status Modérateur, Contributeur sécurité Last intervention   24 711
 
ok so you got a Windows that starts up?
0
perez
 
Indeed!

And so the problem is resolved!
0
Malekal_morte- Posted messages 178136 Registration date   Status Modérateur, Contributeur sécurité Last intervention   24 711 > perez
 
Okay, for next time,


I invite you to create a system image now that you have a stable Windows.
=> How to create a Windows system image
This system image can be restored at any time, including Windows, updates, and installed programs.
Very convenient to easily restore Windows when everything crashes.

So if you need to reinstall Windows, you can restore your image, which saves you from having to go through all the tedious updates, reinstalling software applications and settings.
0
Malekal_morte- Posted messages 178136 Registration date   Status Modérateur, Contributeur sécurité Last intervention   24 711
 
Hello,

The hidden partition will restore Windows to when you first purchased the computer, probably Windows 8 in your case.

Sometimes, configuring updates can take a while, a few hours.

Otherwise, check this out: https://www.malekal.com/windows-bloque-a-linstallation-des-mises-a-jour/

--
Please press any key to continue the disinfection...
-4
Perez
 
I tested a lot of things from this page but I'm still very limited in possibilities. I ended up creating the Malekal live CD on a USB stick.

Then I disabled "secure boot control" and "launch CSM" to be able to boot from the USB stick.

Upon reboot, I selected the USB drive for boot (with the escape key) but the computer remains stuck on a DOS-like page with the message "try (hd1): ntsf5: 2" in a loop...
0
Malekal_morte- Posted messages 178136 Registration date   Status Modérateur, Contributeur sécurité Last intervention   24 711 > Perez
 
You need to empty the SoftWaredistribution folder or attempt a system restore.
0
perez > Malekal_morte- Posted messages 178136 Registration date   Status Modérateur, Contributeur sécurité Last intervention  
 
I will try to empty the file using the file explorer on the bootable USB key DAST! Let's see what happens.

Edit: I found the file (there are actually 4 of them), should I delete everything in the most recent one?
0
Malekal_morte- Posted messages 178136 Registration date   Status Modérateur, Contributeur sécurité Last intervention   24 711 > perez
 
Yes, delete all the content of C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution
and see if that makes any difference.
0