SOLVED Media Creation Tool Failure

[Edward Kennedy]

After reading an article in PC World, I decided to use the Media Creation Tool to create an ISO version of Win 10 on a USB drive. I downloaded the tool and ran it. All was well during the Win 10 download and download verification. The program then moved on to setup the USB when the terribly informative message appeared..."SOMETHING HAPPENED". THAT'S IT!!! Upon which the program terminates. I repeated the process once with the same results. What's going on?

 

[SIW2]

Do you have "C:\$Windows.~WS\Sources\Windows\sources\install.wim"

You may need to go to folder options and show hidden files to see it.

 

[Edward Kennedy]

No, I do not have that file.

 

[Edward Kennedy]

BTW - I will be upgrading Win 7.

 

[Calab]

After reading an article in PC World, I decided to use the Media Creation Tool to create an ISO version of Win 10 on a USB drive. I downloaded the tool and ran it. All was well during the Win 10 download and download verification. The program then moved on to setup the USB when the terribly informative message appeared..."SOMETHING HAPPENED". THAT'S IT!!! Upon which the program terminates. I repeated the process once with the same results. What's going on?

What size USB drive?
Have you tried downloading to an internal drive?
Have you got a 8GB memory stick to try and build a bootable USB key?

My guesses would be:
- USB drive full, or needs a CHKDSK, or USB connection is loose.
- The Media Builder has bugs. Might not like something on your PC. My download, etc. went fine but it refused to close when I clicked "Finish".
- Download was damaged. Not sure if the Media Builder will try the download again or if it just fails like that.

 

[Edward Kennedy]

The USB drive is a clean 64GB. I read and wrote to it just perfectly before I ran the creation tool. All this is happening with Win 7.

 

[SIW2]

It tries to delete the downloaded files %systemdrive%\$Windows.~WS after it has created the installation media. That is why it seems to hang at the point it says "Finish".

 

[Edward Kennedy]

What you say makes sense, but I still do not know why the tool fails to create an ISO on the USB. After the process the USB is still blank.

 

[Nibiru2012]

It's best

What you say makes sense, but I still do not know why the tool fails to create an ISO on the USB. After the process the USB is still blank.

It's much better if you use the Media Creation tool to just download the ISO file and store it. You'll probably need it in the future regardless. That is how I do it and it hasn't failed yet. (Knocking on wood!)

Then use this very good utility for installing an ISO file to a USB drive for USB-HDD install of the OS.
It's called RUFUS... yeah I know silly name; excellent utility. I like it better than Windows USB utility.
Simple user interface and easy to use. Plug in your USB drive, start the program it instantly recognizes the drive and then direct it to the ISO file you want to load.

It will work on both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms too from Windows XP on up.

The big plus is that it's FAST... very fast! The best utility I've ever used to copy an ISO to a USB drive for OS installs.

The latest version is RUFUS 2.2 You can download it from here: https://rufus.akeo.ie/
Here's the direct link to download it: https://rufus.akeo.ie/downloads/rufus-2.2.exe

From the webpage:
"Rufus is a utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives, such as USB keys/pendrives, memory sticks, etc.
It can be especially useful for cases where:

• you need to create USB installation media from bootable ISOs (Windows, Linux, UEFI, etc.)
• you need to work on a system that doesn't have an OS installed
• you need to flash a BIOS or other firmware from DOS
• you want to run a low-level utility

Despite its small size, Rufus provides everything you need!

Oh, and Rufus is fast. For instance it's about twice as fast as UNetbootin, Universal USB Installer or Windows 7 USB download tool, on the creation of a Windows 7 USB installation drive from an ISO. It is also marginally faster on the creation of Linux bootable USB from ISOs. (1)
A non exhaustive list of Rufus supported ISOs is also provided at the bottom of this page."


Try the method I suggested and see if you have better results. Remember it's always a good idea to store the ISO of the OS you like to use somewhere safe. I use two methods; one it's on my Google Drive and also on my 2TB NAS setup.

Let us know how it worked for you!

Nibs

 

[shakeyplace]

I've been getting the same error for almost 24 hours now, haven't found any solution but keep asking myself "Why does it keep telling me 'Something happened' when nothing happens!"

 

[Edward Kennedy]

I had a grand plan for using a USB key...that part of Media Creation Tool fails to work. Out of frustration, I chose to create a DVD. That part of the tool worked perfectly. BTW - I used an ISO burner called PowerISO which is free to use. That too worked perfectly.

My actual install was a little weird in that the installer asked for my product key. When I entered it, the installer politely rejected it. After a few paniced hours of trying figure out what was wrong I simply told the installer to skip my product key input and the rest of the installation process went fine.

This is the weirdess installation process yet for MS...and I go all the way back to 3.1.

 

[shakeyplace]

I had a grand plan for using a USB key...that part of Media Creation Tool fails to work. Out of frustration, I chose to create a DVD. That part of the tool worked perfectly. BTW - I used an ISO burner called PowerISO which is free to use. That too worked perfectly.

My actual install was a little weird in that the installer asked for my product key. When I entered it, the installer politely rejected it. After a few paniced hours of trying figure out what was wrong I simply told the installer to skip my product key input and the rest of the installation process went fine.

This is the weirdess installation process yet for MS...and I go all the way back to 3.1.

Yes, My USB install is almost ready. That worked on my little Dell Venue 8 Pro like a charm. Had the same issue.
Seems you're as old as me, lol. I remember 3.1, I threw away my install diskette a couple years ago.

 

[SIW2]

If the creation tool fails, you can d/l the iso directly from here:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/techbench

 

[Edward Kennedy]

LOL...I could be older...remember DOS 2.1?