Clean installation of Windows 11

[bluenose1940]

Yesterday I tried to do a clean install of Windows 11 on my Dell Vostro 3671 and I ran into loads of problems.
I had downloaded the Microsoft Media Creation tool to a USB and started the process and, everything seemed to be doing exactly what it should. When it got to about the 76% installed stage it started to go wrong. The whole thing went back to the beginning and started over again and, the same thing happened. I tried this process three times without any joy and so tried to abort it. I removed the USB and attempted to re-boot my pc thinking that it woul effectively be back to what it was before I started the installation. Unfortunately this was not the case. I got an error that was telling me that the pc couldn't find a bootable drive. I managed somehow to get into the BIOS again and reset it to what I thought was the original hard drive but, this didn't work either. I then re-inserted the USB and started the process once again. This time, when it reached the point where I got the message "If you want to upgrade press YES but if you want to do a clean installation press NO". Originally I had chosen a clean install without saving anything but this time I chose the upgrade option but yet again, I ran into the previous problem of the install reaching a certain point and then starting over again.

I have the O/S on the 'C' drive, all of my data is on a separate SSD (usually shows up as 'E' and I have 3 additional SSD drives, one for a backup of the O/S and the other two are for backups of my data. I have disconnected all of the additional drives while doing the Windows 11 installation.

By this time I am close to tearing my hair out and so I just messed about with things and eventually got the pc up and running again.

I wonder if anyone has encountered this problem and how they overcame it.

At the moment if I look under 'System' I seem to have Windows 11 Pro 24H2 running things but, how can I be sure that everything will work fine if the installation only seems to get to the 76-77% point?

I really would like to complete this clean install of Windows 11 properly so that I know things will be as they should be. Any help will be much appreciated but, please try to make any suggestions as simple as possible as I am in my 85th year and if things get too technical I can and do get a little confused.

I have been doing the istallation using the Media Creation Tool but I notice that there is something called an ISO method, what's the difference and would it be better to go down this path?

I have sent an email to Dell but I don't think that they will be of much help as the machine ran out of warranty in 2024.

Thank you.

 

[tehnokraat]

@bluenose1940
From this story, I can only assume that you did something wrong, or that you did not do a clean installation, but something else, or that your computer is not in order or configured correctly, or - finally - that the installation source you made was not in order or complete. There could be many reasons. You should check all of this before trying again, and if everything is fine with your computer, be sure to also check your USB or other source on which you have stored the original copy of Windows required for the installation.
Good luck to You.

PS. One more thing. Are you sure that this hard drive is not encrypted? Have you turned off Bitlocker, for example, if you use it, or if you use some other encryption - it would also need to be turned off before doing anything else.

 

[pete.i]

If you have Windows version 24H2 on then you must have done something right because that is the newest version of Windows 11. I don't know what the ISO version of installing Windows other than doing an upgrade as per this you tube vid.........

............This method you can use to upgrade unsupported hardware. It isn't as easy as using the media creation tool and it does require a working version of windows to be on the machine as you have to use the command prompt to use it. I have used this method and it was succesful on three laptops but it did destroy my wifes laptop although I think that laptop was about to pack up anyway. I generally use the media creation tool as this automatically downloads the newest version of Windows and that would appear to be what you have done. I wouldn't worry about it for now to be honest. If you are backing up your stuff on separate hard drives then just use what you have done and see how it goes. If your computer boots up okay and the Windows version is showing as 24H2 then everything would appear to be okay.

Edited to add. You can also use a free program called Rufus to install Windows 11 but that also requires you to download a copy of the Windows 11 ISO which is easy enough. But neither of these two methods are as easy as using the media creation tool if you want a clean install. As I said if your computer boots and it is using Windows version 24H2 then it seems to be okay.

 

[Ste]

Probably has been touched on already but it could be something that THAT specific USB drive. Maybe try a different one. Otherwise if a different USB drive has same problem then you may want to consider purchasing a physical media/disk of windows 11 From Newegg or something.

If all other suggestions fail and dell/MS is not able to help.

 

[pete.i]

It would seem to me, seeing as though bluenose 1940 has said "if I look under 'System' I seem to have Windows 11 Pro 24H2 running things" that everything has installed correctly. To be able to look at system he must have Windows installed and if it says 24H2 then that is the newest version of Windows 11 available so he must done something right. I have noticed a couple of times when I have done a clean install of windows it doesn't actually say it has reached the 100% point. It just reboots and goes into the Windows setup screens so I am assuming that is what has happened with bluenose's installation. Of course unless the OP comes back and lets us know we will never know.