Clean install randomly unsuccessful; any solution?


  1. mc510
    Posts : 64
    Win10 Pro x64
       New #1

    Clean install randomly unsuccessful; any solution?


    I just swapped a working SSD into my newly acquired (used) 7th generation i3 laptop, then did a clean install of Win10 Pro 2004 from USB and ran Windows Update until it found no more updates. I ended up with a system that was brutally slow, much slower than with a traditional hard drive; totally unusable. After several hours of failed diagnosis, I gave up and re-did the clean install. The installer got into a loop during final system configuration, so I aborted and again re-did the clean install. Installer got stuck in a loop again, at a different spot. Aborted and re-did the clean install one more time ... this time it completed successfully and the system is running fast and stable, just like it should. I literally did nothing different any of these times, but got three different outcomes. Question is, next time I need to do a clean install, is there anything that I can do to ensure that installation is successful?
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  3. Ztruker
    Posts : 14,046
    Windows 11 Pro X64 22H2 22621.1848
       New #2

    How did you do the clean install? Did you follow a tutorial or wing it?
    Exactly what steps did you take?
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  4. mc510
    Posts : 64
    Win10 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    Ztruker said:
    How did you do the clean install? Did you follow a tutorial or wing it?
    Exactly what steps did you take?
    I booted off the USB installer, selected Advanced, deleted all existing partitions on the SSD, then allowed the installer to do its thing.
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  6. Ztruker
    Posts : 14,046
    Windows 11 Pro X64 22H2 22621.1848
       New #4

    That's the correct Clean Install method for sure.

    Did you check to see if there was a firmware update for your SSD? What about drivers for the laptop chipset? I know you have ti working okay now but just thinking ahead to the future.
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  7. mc510
    Posts : 64
    Win10 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       New #5

    Ztruker said:
    That's the correct Clean Install method for sure.
    Did you check to see if there was a firmware update for your SSD? What about drivers for the laptop chipset? I know you have ti working okay now but just thinking ahead to the future.
    The SSD firmware is up to date; that was actually one of the things that I checked when the first install produced a brutally slow system. It's currently running with chipset drivers that got installed during the regular installation process; I'm pretty sure that it hasn't needed to get new ones from Windows Update. Anyways, the thing that's really confusing me is that I did the clean install process four times, exactly the same, and twice I had to abort it, once it completed and the system was unusable, and once it completed successfully. Is this kind of randomness just normal for Windows 10?
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  8. Ztruker
    Posts : 14,046
    Windows 11 Pro X64 22H2 22621.1848
       New #6

    No, not at all. What hardware do you have connected when you do the install?
    Are there any other hard drives? Any USB devices other than mouse and keyboard?

    What is the make and model number of the SSD? Is it a normal SSD or a NVME M.2?
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  9. mc510
    Posts : 64
    Win10 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    It's a laptop; there's no additional hardware installed or connected.
    The SSD is a Sandisk Plus SATA, SDSSDA-120G-G25
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  10. Ztruker
    Posts : 14,046
    Windows 11 Pro X64 22H2 22621.1848
       New #8

    What is the make and full model number of the laptop?
    Since it's fairly new it's probably UEFI and not BIOS.
    Is the hard drive setup as MBR or GPT?
    What was the setup of the previous drive, MBR or GPT?
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  12. mc510
    Posts : 64
    Win10 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       New #9

    It's an HP Pavilion 15" X360 bk163dx, and you're correct it does use UEFI not BIOS. The SSD uses GPT, as did the original hard drive that I replaced.
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  13. Ztruker
    Posts : 14,046
    Windows 11 Pro X64 22H2 22621.1848
       New #10

    If this was a Desktop I'd say reset the CMOS by unplugging the power, pulling the CMOS (CR2032) battery then pressing and holding the power button for 10 to 20 seconds, but with a Laptop that is harder to do as the CMOS battery is typically a lot harder to access.

    Ah well, it's working good now/ Hope it continues. Time for image backup though.

    Backup your hard drive

    The first thing you need to do is backup your current install. The best way to do this is to use Macrium Reflect Free to make an image backup to an external hard drive. If you don't have an external hard drive now is a good time to get one as regular backup should be a part of your normal process. You can get a 1TB external hard drive for $60 (less if on sale).

    There are other backup programs available but Macrium is the one I use and recommend.


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