Clean installation of Windows 11

Yesterday I tried to do a clean install of Windows 11 on my Dell Vostro 3671 and I ran into loads of problems.
I had downloaded the Microsoft Media Creation tool to a USB and started the process and, everything seemed to be doing exactly what it should. When it got to about the 76% installed stage it started to go wrong. The whole thing went back to the beginning and started over again and, the same thing happened. I tried this process three times without any joy and so tried to abort it. I removed the USB and attempted to re-boot my pc thinking that it woul effectively be back to what it was before I started the installation. Unfortunately this was not the case. I got an error that was telling me that the pc couldn't find a bootable drive. I managed somehow to get into the BIOS again and reset it to what I thought was the original hard drive but, this didn't work either. I then re-inserted the USB and started the process once again. This time, when it reached the point where I got the message "If you want to upgrade press YES but if you want to do a clean installation press NO". Originally I had chosen a clean install without saving anything but this time I chose the upgrade option but yet again, I ran into the previous problem of the install reaching a certain point and then starting over again.

I have the O/S on the 'C' drive, all of my data is on a separate SSD (usually shows up as 'E' and I have 3 additional SSD drives, one for a backup of the O/S and the other two are for backups of my data. I have disconnected all of the additional drives while doing the Windows 11 installation.

By this time I am close to tearing my hair out and so I just messed about with things and eventually got the pc up and running again.

I wonder if anyone has encountered this problem and how they overcame it.

At the moment if I look under 'System' I seem to have Windows 11 Pro 24H2 running things but, how can I be sure that everything will work fine if the installation only seems to get to the 76-77% point?

I really would like to complete this clean install of Windows 11 properly so that I know things will be as they should be. Any help will be much appreciated but, please try to make any suggestions as simple as possible as I am in my 85th year and if things get too technical I can and do get a little confused.

I have been doing the istallation using the Media Creation Tool but I notice that there is something called an ISO method, what's the difference and would it be better to go down this path?

I have sent an email to Dell but I don't think that they will be of much help as the machine ran out of warranty in 2024.

Thank you.

Hello @Bluenose1940 and welcome to ElevenForum.





Take your time, and read ALL the notes.

Please fill in your system specs with more detail. Is this a Windows 10 PC? Does it meet the requirements for Windows 11?
Are you having problems with the computer prior to attempting the update?
Can you post a screenshot of 'Disk Management'?

Ghot said:

Clean Install Windows 11

This tutorial will show you step by step on how to clean install Windows 11 at boot on your PC with or without an Internet connection and setup with a local account or Microsoft account. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes...

www.elevenforum.com

Take your time, and read ALL the notes.

Click to expand...

What about latest Beta version -- - the bootloader from the ISO is "revoked" when sec boot is enabled nd you attempt a clean install.

From UUPDUMP when trying to make a bootable USB stick from the iso generated this message appears : (and boot does indeed fail after windows tries the initial OOBE boot).



Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

What about latest Beta version

Click to expand...

I don't recommend UUP Dump or any "Beta" versions, for a clean install.
But that's good to know anyway.

@Bluenose1940

Can you run Winver and post a screeshot? It will tell us which version of Windows is actually installed.

To post a screenshot on this forum...​

1. Take the screenshot, (or camera pic), edit it as desired, save to your desktop as .png or .jpg (max. size = 2MB)
2. Left click in your post, where you want to place the screenshot.
3. Click the Attach Files button at lower left, browse to your image and select it.
4. Then click Insert, I usually choose the Thumbnail (smaller) option, or there is a Full Image (larger) option.

If the "new" PrtSc key function is not to your liking... here is how to set it back to it's classic function...

Hi folks

@Ghot


Same ISO installed fine on a VM under KVM/QEMU with sec boot and TPM



"Go figure" !!!!

Cloned it back to a physical disk -- worked too.
Tried again using the Rufus generated boot device -- worked fine on a VM , failed on physical install.

Cheers
jimbo

Hi Bluenose,

Is your BIOS bang up to date? I would get that sorted first, before I try to install Windows. Also, make sure secure boot and TPM are enabled in the BIOS - they might not be by default.

Bluenose1940 said:

When it got to about the 76% installed stage it started to go wrong. The whole thing went back to the beginning and started over again and, the same thing happened.

Click to expand...

I believe that I know what is happening here...

About 76% is a point during the installation where Windows setup naturally reboots. What SHOULD happen at that point is that when the system reboots it would boot from the HDD (or SSD) and continue the installation. The fact that you say that it went back to the beginning and started over tells me that the system is instead booting from your installation media again.

So there are a couple of things that you can do:

1) The installation media is only needed up to the point of the first reboot. At that point, everything needed to install Windows is already on the HDD. So, as soon as Windows says that it is about to reboot REMOVE the installation media. If you system is capable of booting from the HDD properly, this will resolve the problem.

2) Another option would be to enter the BIOS and change the default boot device to your HDD. Then, at startup, use whatever hotkey you would press to get a boot menu to allow you to override the default. Choose your Windows installation media. When the system reboots during installation, since the default is now the HDD, it won't boot from your installation media again. It should boot from the HDD instead and continue installation normally.

Hope that this helps!

EDIT: I don't know what the hotkey is for a Dell to override the normal boot sequence. On an ASUS it is F8, on generic AMI systems it is F7, Lenovo uses ENTER. You will need to determine what to use on your Dell.

Right then folks, I have filled in as much info as I can find regarding the specifications of my pc. I hope that it will be sufficient.
before starting all of this installation I ran a complete Dell update to ensure the latest drivers etc was installed. I also ran a compatibily test and everything came out as ticked and totally fine.
If I have missed anything, let me know and I'll reply again. Thank you.

Excellent. Thankyou. Is the desktop running OK now. If not, what problems do you have? Do you still wnt to do a clean install?

A screenshot from 'Disk Management' would still be helpful.

Press the Widow key and X key together, then select 'Disk Management'.

@kelper
Yes my pc seems to be running OK but, as I mentioned in my original post, my main concern is that everything will work ok bearing in mind that the installation only seemed to reach the 76-77% stage before starting the whole process again. With that in mind, yes I do still want to do a clean install so that I know that it has run to completion and should, in theory at least, run without any problems.

many thanks thus far for your help. Much appreciated.

If I were you, I would do a 'repair install using Windows Update' as this does not require you to have a Windows 24H2 iso file, just an internet connection.
This needs very little interaction from you but could take a couple of hours.

Another option is to run sfc /scannow followed by DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth

These will ensure that your system has all the correct system files.

kelper said:

If I were you, I would do a 'repair install using Windows Update' as this does not require you to have a Windows 24H2 iso file, just an internet connection.

Click to expand...

This is good advice and the easiest way to do a repair install.

OK folks, I have run the 'repair' option and it all appears to have worked well.
I am now going to get cracking on installing my programmes such as macrium etc.
Thanks a million for all the valued input, it is very much appreciated and, is so very helpful that such knowledeable forum members are prepared to give their time and effort to help those such as myelf. Thank you so much.

Bluenose1940 said:

I am now going to get cracking on installing my programmes such as macrium etc.

Click to expand...

After you install Macrium, I suggest that you make a backup image. After that you can install any programs or make any changes you want. If something goes wrong the Macrium image will take you back to the Windows install before you ran into any problems.