So, I got a Windows 8 Pro iso and I wiped my laptop and desktop. I used a Macbook Pro and used bootcamp assistant to create a Windows 8 USB bootable drive. When I used it on my laptop, it worked fine and installed perfectly; however, when I use the USB drive on my desktop, the installation errors and fails at "Getting files ready for installation". I noticed that it consistently fails at 97%. It gives me Error code: 0xC0000005
. I tried burning the iso to a DVD, but it fails at the same place every time!
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Are you doing a clean install or an upgrade?– user201262Sep 14, 2013 at 23:13
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@moses A clean install.– TuxSep 14, 2013 at 23:16
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upload the setupact.log: technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744583%28v=ws.10%29.aspx– magicandre1981Sep 15, 2013 at 6:09
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@magicandre1981 Here is the log after attempting with a DVD install: pastebin.com/ENvQbZfB– TuxSep 15, 2013 at 12:32
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can you also share the setuperr.log? The log looks fine.– magicandre1981Sep 15, 2013 at 17:42
1 Answer
You can install Windows 8 manually and avoid Windows' internal setup. May be this solves your problem. I assume you don't have a Windows ToGo or PE ready. I also reckon you can't hook up your desktop's internal drive to your laptop via external case. In this case I will explain how to deploy Windows 8 on your Laptop to a virtual hard drive (VHD) on your laptop/external drive to get something to boot your desktop computer with.
First you need to create a VHD. Open Run and enter Diskmgmt.msc.
Click on Action --> Create VHD. Enter a destination for the file, choose fixed and enter a meaningful size (20GB or more).
Once the process is finished, you can see the virtual hard disk among the other disk in the list in the lower half of the window. Right-click on the part that says Not initialized and choose Initialize.
Now, the status of the disk will list its memory as unallocated. Right click on "unallocated" and choose New Simple Volume.
Click yourself through the dialog, format the drive as NTFS and have a drive letter assigned to it. Now you have a mounted and ready to use virtual drive to install Windows 8 to.
Download GImageX. It allows you to extract Windows from its archive.
Start it up, click on Apply. Under Source locate the file source.wim on your Windows 8 installation disk. As destination locate the drive letter of the VHD.
Click Apply and GImageX will extract Windows to the VHD. You can also click Verify and Check to make sure all files are written correctly and that the archive is error free.
Once the process is finished. Unmount the VHD by going back to DiskManagement. Right-click on the disk and click Detach.
By now you have an installed Windows 8 on the VHD. You now have the choice what to do. You can use the VHD on your external drive turning it into Windows ToGo and allowing you to boot your desktop computer. Then you could run the Windows 8 installer and try to see if the installation works properly. You could also use ToGo to install Win8 manually to the hard drive by repeating the above steps but using your desktop hard drive as destination. You could also copy the VHD to your desktop and boot it there and be happy.
I will describe how to run Win8 off your external drive to boot your desktop enabling you to choose among the above options.
Copy the VHD to your external drive.
Download EasyBCD.
Your external drive already seems to be bootable. If it isn't then do the following: In EasyBCD click on BCD Deployment. Choose your external drive as destination and click on Install BCD. Choose the Vista/7 Bootloader and click on Write MBR
If you followed step 12 then EasyBCD will ask you if it should load the newly created BCD. Accept. If you skipped it then click on File --> Select BCD Store and locate the BCD on your external drive.
Once the BCD has been loaded click on Add New Entry --> in Disk Image choose type: Microsoft VHD, enter a name for it, and enter the path to it on your external drive or use the browse button. Click Add Entry.
Boot your external drive and run through the rest of the Windows 8 installation.
Once you have Windows 8 running on your external drive you can do the same steps above and install Windows 8 manually to the hard drive or just try to run Win8 setup again.
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Okay, so this is working so far; however, it is requiring a username and a password. I couldn't find anything useful Googling. How would I get passed this?– TuxSep 15, 2013 at 19:13
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You mean Windows 8 requires you to enter a username and password? Choose local account and generate a user account as usual. For Windows 8.1 this doesn't work and you'll have to create an account on Microsoft's website first with which you then can log in. Sep 15, 2013 at 19:14
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I don't have the option to choose a local account. It just prompts me to enter a username and password.– TuxSep 15, 2013 at 19:57
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Well, then create a Microsoft account and enter its credentials (email/password) during installation. Sep 15, 2013 at 20:08