Okay, I’m really at a loss here. I’m trying to complete a simple set of tasks: fully wipe all drives on my PC, do a fresh Windows install, and completely repartition everything to change which drive is my C Drive, so it gets the boot files. I want to get to the page where I can select which drive I’m installing Windows on. I tried doing a fresh install from the setup.exe on my boot USB, but I was never given the menu that usually appears for selecting the drive. I’m just deeply confused and desperate right now. It feels like this simple process has turned into a nightmare, and I’ve spent 10 hours trying everything with no results and no feedback from the 25 different Discords I’ve messaged for help.
So what part did you get to before you had an issue? Got any pics? Also, do you have only the drive you want to install to connected?
Like I said in the post, I went through the fresh install process via the setup.exe inside of the boot USB. I’m not sure what visual info you’re asking about since I don’t see how just showing a picture of my C Drive still being the boot drive would help.
I just wanted to know where you got stuck. It can help to see what you’re seeing. But yeah, if you still have the old boot drive connected, that might cause issues.
Have you tried pulling all the drives out except for the one you want and the USB? That might help with getting the menu to select the drive for the install.
I did that, but the BIOS just refused to recognize the drives and boot. I was stuck in a cycle. So I feel like there’s some step I’m missing.
Yeah, that can happen. Just make sure you’re booting from the USB correctly. Sometimes you need to set it as the first boot device in BIOS.
It sounds like you might be running the setup.exe manually instead of booting from the installer USB. That can only repair or upgrade the Windows install you’re running from. You really need to boot from it to do a clean install.
That makes sense now. I guess I was trying to avoid rebooting but it seems that’s the only way.
If you’re running into issues with the product key, just hit ‘I don’t have a product key’ and activation should grab it automatically when you’re done. If not, you might need to hunt for that sticker on your PC.
That’s what it’s asking for now, which is odd since I thought it was supposed to be saved on my boot USB from MCT.
Honestly, you should just wipe everything down and change your boot drive. Nothing better than a fresh start, especially if things have been this frustrating.
Yes, and that’s exactly what I’m trying to do but it feels impossible right now.