Media Creation Tool v1909 Error code 0x8007003-0xA001B - Need help  

First, I've been trying some of the solutions in this thread, but none have worked, nor did any of the posters provide detailed descriptions of their respective solutions, so I'm reposting for help as my error code was slightly different.

Here's the brief story: Friend fell for phising ad - phoned and gave personal information - got scared about identity theft - I used the Nwipe 'DoD short' to wipe her computer (windows 7), no problems - used GParted to create the partition table as default msdos as per online instructions - loaded windows 10 onto a bootable usb using the windows setup wizard on my computer - her computer recognized it and started doing its thing. Then the computer shut down for some unknown reason most likely it over heated, as it was running hot, or it could have been a power supply issue as the jack is pretty loose. Then the computer wouldn't recognize or boot the USB, nor would it load windows, so I had to start again. I used the Nwipe quick pass this time, but I started to run into problems trying to put the MCT bootable onto the USB stick again. It got stuck at 61% of the verification process. I eventually got the error code in the subject and I've been trying to problem solve this for hours.

My problem is not with her computer, so I will not give specs for it. My problem is with my USB stick or my computer, as people in the thread linked at the top experienced.

I'm running Windows 10 Home on a Dell Latitude E5440. I'm using an old 16G Maxell USB which is probably the slowest variety.

I've tried:

1. Simply redownloading the MCT v1909 without changing much else. Ran into this problem.
2. Downloading the ISO from the setup wizard and creating a bootable USB with it using the Rufus 3.8 tool with: boot selection "Windows ISO"; Image option "Standard Windows Installation"; partition scheme "MBR"; target system "BIOS (or UEFI-CSM)"; File system "NTFS"; cluster size "default". Friend's computer did not recognize it and booted nothing at all.
3. Quick formatted the disk into Fat32 using the Disk Management tool in Paul's AiO-SRT. Tried again from the beginning creating the bootable USB. Got stuck at 61% as before, and then got even MORE stuck on the "cleaning things up before closing" step. I ended the task with the task manager. Did not get an error code, just froze.

I will be trying:

1. Using diskpart to change the partition table. But it was shown by someone else in the linked thread above not to work. Furthermore, Rufus has an MBR option, so I don't understand why that wouldn't work just as well as diskpart.
2. Getting my brother to make a bootable USB on his computer with his USB stick and seeing if that works.
3. The last-suggested fix on the above linked thread, but i don't fully understand it. How did the poster "quick format USB drive NTFS"?.... with a disk management tool i guess? And that was for an update on the same computer, so I won't be able to sue the "right click and run as administrator" on my friends computer which currently has nothing on it but 0s.

Any thoughts?

Caledon Ken said:

Hi banana345 Welcome to the TenForums @banana345

Start diskpart (I'm sure you know diskpart takes no prisoners so use with care)

List disk (identify your usb thumdrive from other drives)
Select disk # (where # is USB stick number, must be correct value for USB thumbdrive.)
Clean
Convert MBR
create part pri
format fs=fat32 quick
Assign
exit

Open File explorer and confirm USB is shown and it at least 8GB in size. ( well slightly less the 8GB)

Run MCT tool again.


Ken

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the reply. I'm actually a total n00b (but I learn quick) so i didn't get the 'takes no prisoners' joke =P

Thanks for the commands for diskpart. There were some helpful tutorials online, as well. One thing I noticed was they that recommended formatting as NTFS and you recommend FAT32. What's the difference between them and why do you think FAT32 will work for me?

banana

- - - Updated - - -

I'm giving the play-by-play of this process in case it's helpful to anyone else.

I've used diskpart to clean the disk and convert it to MBR. I looked up a tutorial, and completed these steps successfully.

I've re-downloaded the MCT v1909, selected 'create media for another computer' and set the architecture to BOTH (32 and 64 bit).

Ran into problem: it won't recognize the disk. Upon reinsertion of USB, I get a message that says "Insert disc into E:". The MCT setup wizard doesn't list any drives in its drive selection screen. Disk Management tool doesn't list it either!!

Forgot to format it!

I used the tutorials on this website and this website to assist me in formatting the disk and creating a recognizable partition.

I've begun the downloading process, the Windows 10 Setup is on the go....

Its simpler to down the latest ISO and at the end it gives you an option to create a usb use that an let MS create the usb. Without knowing the specs we dont know what settings you are using is it set uefi, legacey or other

As I said before, the problem is not with the BIOS of the computer I'm trying to fix, it's attempting to get the MCT onto the USB stick and have it be bootable. I've tried it a number of times now. I've also tried downloading the ISO and writing it to USB, but that did not work (see post above where I give all the options available for Rufus).

After Ken and other's diskpart suggestions, I've retried the MCT and progress... it halted at 70% instead of 61%.

I have not tried mounting the ISO and copying the files to a USB. However, I was under the impression that process did not create a bootable USB. Am I wrong? Recall that I'm trying to put this onto a different computer with no OS, so whatever I get needs to be bootable.

banana345 said:

I have not tried mounting the ISO and copying the files to a USB. However, I was under the impression that process did not create a bootable USB. Am I wrong?

Yes, it does create a bootable usb, it's how I always make mine. You need a Fat32 partition on the usb and if you want it to boot on a legacy bios PC then you need to mark the partition as Active. Without that it will only boot on uefi machines.

Make the ISO with the MCT, that way you will have an install.esd file in the ISO which Microsoft make sure is always smaller than the Fat32 4GB file size limit.