Something Happened...

[John McCallum[_3_]]

I am trying to update an Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit PC to Windows 10.

Windows Update has failed several time to upgrade to Windows 10. I think it
tries each time I turn the PC on since 29 July.

I wanted to see what happened, so I downloaded the Windows 10 iso to a usb
drive. When I tried booting from the usb drive, it did not accept my Win 7
Product Key, so I booted into Win 7 and ran setup from the usb drive.
Everything looked ok ( Preparing xy% up to about 45% ) when I got an error
message in a box called "Something Happened". The error was "Setup has
failed to initialize the working directory."


John McCallum,

[. . .winston]

John McCallum wrote on 08/01/2015 2:33 AM:
> I am trying to update an Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit PC to Windows 10.
>
> Windows Update has failed several time to upgrade to Windows 10. I think
> it tries each time I turn the PC on since 29 July.
>
> I wanted to see what happened, so I downloaded the Windows 10 iso to a
> usb drive. When I tried booting from the usb drive, it did not accept my
> Win 7 Product Key, so I booted into Win 7 and ran setup from the usb
> drive. Everything looked ok ( Preparing xy% up to about 45% ) when I got
> an error message in a box called "Something Happened". The error was
> "Setup has failed to initialize the working directory."
>
>
> John McCallum,

Windows 10 upgrade by design will not accept a prior qualifying o/s
product key.

It might be prudent to start from scratch since the error can be
attributed to a corrupt or incomplete download or creation of the usb media.

Download Media Creation Tool (choosing the correct version, language and
architecture) - choose to create the usb option (i.e. don't save the iso
and create your own usb from the iso), once done, boot the qualifying
o/s and navigate to and run setup.exe on the usb media.


--
...winston
msft mvp windows experience

[Paul]

John McCallum wrote:
> I am trying to update an Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit PC to Windows 10.
>
> Windows Update has failed several time to upgrade to Windows 10. I think
> it tries each time I turn the PC on since 29 July.
>
> I wanted to see what happened, so I downloaded the Windows 10 iso to a
> usb drive. When I tried booting from the usb drive, it did not accept my
> Win 7 Product Key, so I booted into Win 7 and ran setup from the usb
> drive. Everything looked ok ( Preparing xy% up to about 45% ) when I got
> an error message in a box called "Something Happened". The error was
> "Setup has failed to initialize the working directory."
>
>
> John McCallum,

If you had stuck with the original recipe,
eventually Microsoft would have fixed it for you.

Eventually.

To generate an "activation record" at Microsoft, you can

1) Boot Win7. Run setup.exe of the Win10 download. (GWX
would have done this for you, or perhaps
C:\$Windows.~BT\setup.exe might have worked.
GWX is the thing that "invited" you to update
to Windows 10.)

An "Upgrade Install" is done. *Now*, an activation record
exists at Microsoft. Your OS doesn't have a conventional
key. No key box should be seen during the exercise.

Note that, *the Win7 key has nothing to do with this*.
You cannot jam the Win7 key, into the Win10 25-character box.
That box is reserved for usage *only* with Win10 keys (buy
them on Newegg etc). This scheme uses a currently running
OS, an OS that is currently activated, and converts the
activation information into an "activation record" stored
on a Microsoft server. A hardware hash (including the MAC
address of your NIC card), helps Microsoft keep track of you.
While the CPU doesn't have a serial number, Windows makes
extensive usage of the MAC address of the NIC on the
motherboard. And this is why motherboards come with NICs.
To keep track of you.

2) If, at some future time, you wish to clean install,
you can:

a) Boot Win10 USB or DVD.
b) Do clean install from there.
c) Installer contacts Microsoft, verifies hardware hash
of computer matches activation record.
d) OS activates automatically. No key box should be
present to confuse matters.

If no activation record exists for your box,
you will be prompted for a 25-character key.
And such a response is what you would expect if
buying boxed software off Newegg.

What can you do now ?

3) Boot Win7.
Insert media containing Win10 ISO9660 contents etc.
Run setup.exe off that media.
Do Upgrade Install.
Generate Activation record at Microsoft.
No key need be entered in the 25-character key box.

If you have incompatible applications, a bizarre
partition setup, or your NVidia video card will cause
the bad NVidia driver to be downloaded, the installation
may still back out. For NVidia users, it will take
time to fix the driver, clearing the way for successful
installation.

I would prefer the original download (the one you received
by using GWX invitation and stored in C:\$Windows.~BT) to
have finished the installation, as it leaves all the issues
in Microsoft's court. By moving to the ISO9660 approach,
you're taking more responsibility for getting it running
yourself. While you can still contact Microsoft for help,
you're just invoking more manual fiddling on someone's part.
The GWX would have automated everything, given time.

Your C:\$Windows.~BT could well be empty by now. When
I ran MediaCreationTool.exe, it emptied my $Windows.~BT .
Good thing I copied all 6GB of it, to another computer...

Being in a rush, never helps with high tech toys. Ask me
how I know this sometime... (points to room full of broken junk).

Paul

[John McCallum[_3_]]

John McCallum,
". . .winston" wrote in message ...

>John McCallum wrote on 08/01/2015 2:33 AM:
>> I am trying to update an Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit PC to Windows 10.
>>
>> Windows Update has failed several time to upgrade to Windows 10. I think
>> it tries each time I turn the PC on since 29 July.
>>
>> I wanted to see what happened, so I downloaded the Windows 10 iso to a
>> usb drive. When I tried booting from the usb drive, it did not accept my
>> Win 7 Product Key, so I booted into Win 7 and ran setup from the usb
>> drive. Everything looked ok ( Preparing xy% up to about 45% ) when I got
>> an error message in a box called "Something Happened". The error was
>> "Setup has failed to initialize the working directory."
>>
>>
>> John McCallum,
>
>Windows 10 upgrade by design will not accept a prior qualifying o/s product
>key.
>
>It might be prudent to start from scratch since the error can be attributed
>to a corrupt or incomplete download or creation of the usb media.
>
>Download Media Creation Tool (choosing the correct version, language and
>architecture) - choose to create the usb option (i.e. don't save the iso
>and create your own usb from the iso), once done, boot the qualifying o/s
>and navigate to and run setup.exe on the usb media.
>
> ...winston
>msft mvp windows experience

Thanks. I downloaded again, and this time I managed to upgrade. Working in
Windows 10 now.
....John

[. . .winston]

John McCallum wrote on 08/01/2015 7:19 AM:
>
>
>
>
> John McCallum,
> ". . .winston" wrote in message ...
>
>> John McCallum wrote on 08/01/2015 2:33 AM:
>>> I am trying to update an Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit PC to Windows 10.
>>>
>>> Windows Update has failed several time to upgrade to Windows 10. I think
>>> it tries each time I turn the PC on since 29 July.
>>>
>>> I wanted to see what happened, so I downloaded the Windows 10 iso to a
>>> usb drive. When I tried booting from the usb drive, it did not accept my
>>> Win 7 Product Key, so I booted into Win 7 and ran setup from the usb
>>> drive. Everything looked ok ( Preparing xy% up to about 45% ) when I got
>>> an error message in a box called "Something Happened". The error was
>>> "Setup has failed to initialize the working directory."
>>>
>>>
>>> John McCallum,
>>
>> Windows 10 upgrade by design will not accept a prior qualifying o/s
>> product key.
>>
>> It might be prudent to start from scratch since the error can be
>> attributed to a corrupt or incomplete download or creation of the usb
>> media.
>>
>> Download Media Creation Tool (choosing the correct version, language
>> and architecture) - choose to create the usb option (i.e. don't save
>> the iso and create your own usb from the iso), once done, boot the
>> qualifying o/s and navigate to and run setup.exe on the usb media.
>>
>> ...winston
>> msft mvp windows experience
>
> Thanks. I downloaded again, and this time I managed to upgrade. Working
> in Windows 10 now.
> ...John

You're welcome. Another key is not booting the media...since doing so
will run the setup.exe on the media before the o/s is loaded -
effectively bypassing the 'Upgrade' and being treated as a desire to
clean install Win10 and require a Win10 Product Key entry.

***After upgrading to Win10** that same media 'can' be used to perform a
clean install (since the device and license are now registered and
retained on the MSFT server)...one can 'Skip' the product key entry, the
software will handshake with the MSFT server verifying the device and
license and then proceed to clean install and automatically activate Win10.

--
...winston
msft mvp windows experience

[. . .winston]

Paul wrote on 08/01/2015 4:03 AM:
> John McCallum wrote:
>> I am trying to update an Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit PC to Windows 10.
>>
>> Windows Update has failed several time to upgrade to Windows 10. I
>> think it tries each time I turn the PC on since 29 July.
>>
>> I wanted to see what happened, so I downloaded the Windows 10 iso to a
>> usb drive. When I tried booting from the usb drive, it did not accept
>> my Win 7 Product Key, so I booted into Win 7 and ran setup from the
>> usb drive. Everything looked ok ( Preparing xy% up to about 45% ) when
>> I got an error message in a box called "Something Happened". The error
>> was "Setup has failed to initialize the working directory."
>>
>>
>> John McCallum,
>
> If you had stuck with the original recipe,
> eventually Microsoft would have fixed it for you.
>
> Eventually.
>
> To generate an "activation record" at Microsoft, you can
>
> 1) Boot Win7. Run setup.exe of the Win10 download. (GWX
> would have done this for you, or perhaps
> C:\$Windows.~BT\setup.exe might have worked.
> GWX is the thing that "invited" you to update
> to Windows 10.)
>
> An "Upgrade Install" is done. *Now*, an activation record
> exists at Microsoft. Your OS doesn't have a conventional
> key. No key box should be seen during the exercise.
>
> Note that, *the Win7 key has nothing to do with this*.
> You cannot jam the Win7 key, into the Win10 25-character box.
> That box is reserved for usage *only* with Win10 keys (buy
> them on Newegg etc). This scheme uses a currently running
> OS, an OS that is currently activated, and converts the
> activation information into an "activation record" stored
> on a Microsoft server. A hardware hash (including the MAC
> address of your NIC card), helps Microsoft keep track of you.
> While the CPU doesn't have a serial number, Windows makes
> extensive usage of the MAC address of the NIC on the
> motherboard. And this is why motherboards come with NICs.
> To keep track of you.
>
> 2) If, at some future time, you wish to clean install,
> you can:
>
> a) Boot Win10 USB or DVD.
> b) Do clean install from there.
> c) Installer contacts Microsoft, verifies hardware hash
> of computer matches activation record.
> d) OS activates automatically. No key box should be
> present to confuse matters.
>
> If no activation record exists for your box,
> you will be prompted for a 25-character key.
> And such a response is what you would expect if
> buying boxed software off Newegg.
>
> What can you do now ?
>
> 3) Boot Win7.
> Insert media containing Win10 ISO9660 contents etc.
> Run setup.exe off that media.
> Do Upgrade Install.
> Generate Activation record at Microsoft.
> No key need be entered in the 25-character key box.
>
> If you have incompatible applications, a bizarre
> partition setup, or your NVidia video card will cause
> the bad NVidia driver to be downloaded, the installation
> may still back out. For NVidia users, it will take
> time to fix the driver, clearing the way for successful
> installation.
>
> I would prefer the original download (the one you received
> by using GWX invitation and stored in C:\$Windows.~BT) to
> have finished the installation, as it leaves all the issues
> in Microsoft's court. By moving to the ISO9660 approach,
> you're taking more responsibility for getting it running
> yourself. While you can still contact Microsoft for help,
> you're just invoking more manual fiddling on someone's part.
> The GWX would have automated everything, given time.
>
> Your C:\$Windows.~BT could well be empty by now. When
> I ran MediaCreationTool.exe, it emptied my $Windows.~BT .
> Good thing I copied all 6GB of it, to another computer...
>
> Being in a rush, never helps with high tech toys. Ask me
> how I know this sometime... (points to room full of broken junk).
>
> Paul

Too much work. As I suspected, the issue was the media.

--
...winston
msft mvp windows experience

[Char Jackson]

On Sat, 01 Aug 2015 04:03:59 -0400, Paul > wrote:

> Note that, *the Win7 key has nothing to do with this*.
> You cannot jam the Win7 key, into the Win10 25-character box.
> That box is reserved for usage *only* with Win10 keys (buy
> them on Newegg etc). This scheme uses a currently running
> OS, an OS that is currently activated, and converts the
> activation information into an "activation record" stored
> on a Microsoft server. A hardware hash (including the MAC
> address of your NIC card), helps Microsoft keep track of you.
> While the CPU doesn't have a serial number, Windows makes
> extensive usage of the MAC address of the NIC on the
> motherboard. And this is why motherboards come with NICs.
> To keep track of you.

Surely, if you go down the list far enough of what a NIC can do, eventually
you run into something related to network communications.

[Al Drake]

On 8/1/2015 2:01 PM, . . .winston wrote:
> John McCallum wrote on 08/01/2015 7:19 AM:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> John McCallum,
>> ". . .winston" wrote in message ...
>>
>>> John McCallum wrote on 08/01/2015 2:33 AM:
>>>> I am trying to update an Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit PC to Windows
>>>> 10.
>>>>
>>>> Windows Update has failed several time to upgrade to Windows 10. I
>>>> think
>>>> it tries each time I turn the PC on since 29 July.
>>>>
>>>> I wanted to see what happened, so I downloaded the Windows 10 iso to a
>>>> usb drive. When I tried booting from the usb drive, it did not
>>>> accept my
>>>> Win 7 Product Key, so I booted into Win 7 and ran setup from the usb
>>>> drive. Everything looked ok ( Preparing xy% up to about 45% ) when I
>>>> got
>>>> an error message in a box called "Something Happened". The error was
>>>> "Setup has failed to initialize the working directory."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> John McCallum,
>>>
>>> Windows 10 upgrade by design will not accept a prior qualifying o/s
>>> product key.
>>>
>>> It might be prudent to start from scratch since the error can be
>>> attributed to a corrupt or incomplete download or creation of the usb
>>> media.
>>>
>>> Download Media Creation Tool (choosing the correct version, language
>>> and architecture) - choose to create the usb option (i.e. don't save
>>> the iso and create your own usb from the iso), once done, boot the
>>> qualifying o/s and navigate to and run setup.exe on the usb media.
>>>
>>> ...winston
>>> msft mvp windows experience
>>
>> Thanks. I downloaded again, and this time I managed to upgrade. Working
>> in Windows 10 now.
>> ...John
>
> You're welcome. Another key is not booting the media...since doing so
> will run the setup.exe on the media before the o/s is loaded -
> effectively bypassing the 'Upgrade' and being treated as a desire to
> clean install Win10 and require a Win10 Product Key entry.
>
> ***After upgrading to Win10** that same media 'can' be used to perform a
> clean install (since the device and license are now registered and
> retained on the MSFT server)...one can 'Skip' the product key entry, the
> software will handshake with the MSFT server verifying the device and
> license and then proceed to clean install and automatically activate Win10.
>

Winston, what is the advantage of doing a clean and why would you want
to do it in the first place? Does it change anything specific?

[. . .winston]

Al Drake wrote on 08/02/2015 5:24 AM:
> On 8/1/2015 2:01 PM, . . .winston wrote:
>> John McCallum wrote on 08/01/2015 7:19 AM:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> John McCallum,
>>> ". . .winston" wrote in message ...
>>>
>>>> John McCallum wrote on 08/01/2015 2:33 AM:
>>>>> I am trying to update an Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit PC to Windows
>>>>> 10.
>>>>>
>>>>> Windows Update has failed several time to upgrade to Windows 10. I
>>>>> think
>>>>> it tries each time I turn the PC on since 29 July.
>>>>>
>>>>> I wanted to see what happened, so I downloaded the Windows 10 iso to a
>>>>> usb drive. When I tried booting from the usb drive, it did not
>>>>> accept my
>>>>> Win 7 Product Key, so I booted into Win 7 and ran setup from the usb
>>>>> drive. Everything looked ok ( Preparing xy% up to about 45% ) when I
>>>>> got
>>>>> an error message in a box called "Something Happened". The error was
>>>>> "Setup has failed to initialize the working directory."
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> John McCallum,
>>>>
>>>> Windows 10 upgrade by design will not accept a prior qualifying o/s
>>>> product key.
>>>>
>>>> It might be prudent to start from scratch since the error can be
>>>> attributed to a corrupt or incomplete download or creation of the usb
>>>> media.
>>>>
>>>> Download Media Creation Tool (choosing the correct version, language
>>>> and architecture) - choose to create the usb option (i.e. don't save
>>>> the iso and create your own usb from the iso), once done, boot the
>>>> qualifying o/s and navigate to and run setup.exe on the usb media.
>>>>
>>>> ...winston
>>>> msft mvp windows experience
>>>
>>> Thanks. I downloaded again, and this time I managed to upgrade. Working
>>> in Windows 10 now.
>>> ...John
>>
>> You're welcome. Another key is not booting the media...since doing so
>> will run the setup.exe on the media before the o/s is loaded -
>> effectively bypassing the 'Upgrade' and being treated as a desire to
>> clean install Win10 and require a Win10 Product Key entry.
>>
>> ***After upgrading to Win10** that same media 'can' be used to perform a
>> clean install (since the device and license are now registered and
>> retained on the MSFT server)...one can 'Skip' the product key entry, the
>> software will handshake with the MSFT server verifying the device and
>> license and then proceed to clean install and automatically activate
>> Win10.
>>
>
> Winston, what is the advantage of doing a clean and why would you want
> to do it in the first place? Does it change anything specific?
>
>
Hi, Al.

A clean install wipes and formats the drive of everything that existed
before formatting in prepartion of putting down Win10 Bits with no
application programs or user settings.
Some folks like to start from scratch with each new o/s. In fact many
users that clean install find that a percentage of the software that
they installed on the prior o/s was never of much value or used and
don't reinstall it ending up with a leaner system.




--
...winston
msft mvp windows experience