Repair install/in-place upgrade not proceeding normally

Benjamin,

I have just run a Repair install myself to make sure nothing has changed recently. I used my 21H1 ISO.

The Step 7 tutorial diagrams are correct.
- After clicking on setup, the 'ConsentUI' [aka Admin prompt] appears.
- Then the preparing dialog appears. It is a small one about 3 inches by 1 inch.


- Then the big Install Windows 10 dialog appears. It covers about half the screen.



I do not know what to suggest any more. I am out of ideas.

Denis

Benjamin,

There were problems running Repair installs with v20H2 but they were resolved when the v20H2 ISO was updated & reissued by MS.

There was some discussion in the main thread
Known and Resolved issues for Windows 10 version 20H2 - TenForums
as well as in numerous other threads.

In essence, Repair installs would run as if you had selected Keep nothing. It seems to me that the symptom you are seeing matches that.

I was never on v20H2. I think you would benefit from the guidance of somebody who was and who understood the problem such as Bree - #159 bree 20h2 repair install solution - TenForums


@Bree
Please would you look at Benjamin's problem - I think the screenshots in post #5 showing what happens when he runs a Repair install say it all.

Benjamin Philip said:

My experience diverges at step 7: instead of a small splash screen, I get the full-screen borderless window on top [as pictured here]

It seems to me to match the descriptions you & the others posted about the old 20H2 Repair install problem.


All the best,
Denis

Benjamin,

Please would you check this post and re-post it with any corrections that are required so that Bree is properly briefed when he comes back to the forum [which might not be today].

Your system spec showed that you had this Version-Build.

Benjamin Philip said:

Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (64-bit), v 20H2 (OS Build 19042.985)

So you had actually started with

v 20H2 (OS Build 19042.508)
or
v 20H2 (OS Build 19042.631)
{These are the two versions of the v 20H2 ISO that were issued.}

and you had updated with a Cumulative update to
v 20H2 (OS Build 19042.985)

I do not know what Version-Build of ISO you first downloaded but your later posts confirmed that you eventually downloaded a 20H2 ISO.

Benjamin Philip said:

Only upon discovering that my winver showed 20H2 did I manually download a 20H2 ISO.

You did not mention which Build of 20H2 this was [it is significant].

If you had downloaded the v 20H2 (OS Build 19042.508) ISO then your Repair install problems are in keeping with those reported all that time ago [and thoroughly investigated by Bree as shown in the link I posted].

- If you had downloaded the v 20H2 (OS Build 19042.631) ISO then you would have side-stepped all the problems you have experienced because .631 contained the corrections necessary to avoid them.

By the way, just to reduce rather than increase confusion, I saw your comment

Benjamin Philip said:

Upon selecting the version, I noticed that this build of 19042.985 should usually be 21H1. There is no 20H2 19042.985

ISOs have a Build state such as v 20H2 (OS Build 19042.508 or 631)
After installing a Version at whatever Build state it is then your Cumulative updates increase that final Build number [to .985, for example].
So, whilst you were correct in thinking that there was no ISO issued at v 20H2 19042.985 you were not correct in thinking that there was no v 20H2 19042.985 at all because that would have been achieved by installing a Cumulative update.

If my understanding of matters is correct then you can simply update with the latest Cumulative update in order, afterwards, to be able to run a Repair install using the v 20H2 (OS Build 19042.631) or later ISO.

All the best,
Denis

Benjamin,

If my understanding of matters is correct then you can simply update with the latest Cumulative update in order, afterwards, to be able to run a Repair install using the v 20H2 (OS Build 19042.631) or later ISO.

All the best,
Denis

Benjamin Philip said:

Let me see if uninstalling WinCDEmu and mounting it "natively" changes anything.
-> No, still starting a full fat fresh installation.

@Try3 has asked me to look at your problem. I see that every time you mount an ISO and try to start an in-place repair upgrade it starts a clean install instead.

You should be able to start the upgrade by running the Setup.exe that you'll find on the mounted ISO. But beware, you will find a Setup.exe in TWO places, one is in the \sources\ folder and another in the root of the mounted drive. For example, if the ISO mounts as drive D: then there will be a D:\Setup.exe and a D:\Sources\Setup.exe.

If you run the one in the sources folder it will start a clean install, for a repair upgrade you must only run the one in the root of the drive, that's D:\Setup.exe in the example above.


Yes, there was as bug in the repair upgrade for 20H2 but that was fixed long ago. There wasn't anything wrong with the ISO as Try3 thought, actually the bug was in the installed Windows. A fix was applied by cumulative update, starting with KB4586853 for build 19042.662. Your build is higher than that, so you have already got the fix.

Benjamin,

The latest Cumulative update I have installed is KB5003637 CU, the latest 'Patch Tuesday' one [which contains both security & 'quality' updates].
I don't bother with the interim ones such as KB5004476 CU [issued on the third Tuesday of each month] because they only contain 'quality' updates and I just cannot be bothered enough to do them.

In all cases, when my checks reveal that an update is available, I find its thread in TenForums [such as KB5003637 CU] and see what others have experienced about them. If most comments are OK & none are catastrophic then, after a few days, I'll update my least important computer then the middle-ranking one and finally my main computer. So a week or more has normally passed since the CU was issued before I have completed updating.
- Sometime after that I'll make a new system image for each computer so I have a baseline to revert to if the next update causes problems.

I also noticed one other significant comment in your last post.

But I also tried 20H2 19042.508 …

Once you had done this, you were definitely stuck with no possibility of running Repair installs.
Only a Cumulative update to beyond .631 would get you out of this problem.
Note even a 21H2 ISO Repair install could succeed until that Cumulative update had been done.

But I do understand your reticence. Wait for Bree to join in. He investigated this 20H2 Repair install business and worked out how to solve it before MS had issued a corrected ISO.

Best of luck,
Denis

Bree & Benjamin,

I typed so slowly that I've only just seen your exchange.

Bree - note that Benjamin installed .508 [i.e. below the level of the fix] during his early attempts to address his issues. I think it is this step that has dogged his subsequent efforts.

I'll butt out now,
Best of luck,
Denis