Installing Windows 10 from USB fails to load setup

Question

I am trying to install Windows 10 (Enterprise) on a new system. So far I ...

• downloaded the ISO from Microsoft.
• created a bootable USB drive (USB 3.0) with Rufus (with GPT, FAT32)
• verified it by trying to boot on a different machine and I can successfully load the windows installer
• tried it with and without target SSD attached
• tried both USB 2.0 and 3.0/3.1 ports
• tried to boot with UEFI and without
• also tried to integrate USB 3.0 Drivers from my motherboard disk into the boot.wim and install.wim on the USB drive using NTLite (but recently read that the Windows 10 ISO already has 3.0 drivers)

But whenever I try to boot I end up with one of these error messages:

• "The operating system coulnd't be loaded because a critical system driver is missing or contains errors." File: ...\bxvbda.sys Error code: 0xc0000098
• "The header checksum for this file doesn't match the computed checksum." File: ...\winload.efi Error code: 0xc0000221
• "The operating system coulnd't be loaded because the kernel is missing or contains errors." File: ...\ntoskrnl.exe Error code: 0xc0000221
• "The digital signature for this file couldn't be verified." Error code: 0xc0000428

I used NTLite to check the install.wim and found all of these files. When I press return (continue) the errors show up in "random" order.

Why does windows fail to start the setup and what did I forget to check?

Solution

1. Update the BIOS. Windows 10 needs an up-to-date BIOS.

2. Check your system time in BIOS. The driver probably appears to be expired or not yet valid, prompting signature errors, resulting in failure to load.

3. Or, this system has a bad USB port, bad USB controller, or doesn't like Windows' stock driver, so try F6 loading a more current one.

Comments

[Ramhound]

Most of those errors indicate your trying to create a bootable disk from a corrupt .iso file.

[spmdc]

I downloaded the ISO twice, and it works on a different machine.

[ss4566654768]

Create the bootable iso with Rufus. It could be an error with how you made the installer rufus.akeo.ie

[spmdc]

I changed the system time to the current time the first time I entered the BIOS. The board is a MSI z170a Krait Gaming, delivered about a month ago. I didn't think it would need a new driver to run Windows 10, I will update it now.

[spmdc]

Thanks, I just updated the BIOS and I can now enter the setup. Guess the "Windows 10 Ready" slogan on the box was meant for DVD install only. ;)