Installing Windows 10 is slow because formatting the drive is taking too long.
Installing Windows 10 is slow because formatting the drive is taking too long.
You're trying to perform a clean install on your Windows 10 desktop from an older Windows 8 setup. The drive was already partially formatted, so you're facing a restart issue. To proceed, try the following:
- Ensure the boot USB is properly connected and the system is powered on.
- After formatting completes, wait for the drive to finish (this may take several minutes).
- Once done, restart your computer.
- On the next boot, select the installation media and choose **New** during setup.
- If the drive still won't format, try using a different USB drive or a live USB with Windows 10 installation tools.
If problems persist, consider checking for hardware issues or consulting a professional.
I would create an Ubuntu USB myself, start it up, use Gparted to form one partition across the entire disk, quickly format it, then set up a fresh partition table and restart the Windows installer. Let me know if you need step-by-step guidance on this process, but you should be able to find clear instructions on YouTube.
It might stem from permission issues. There was a time when a laptop only allowed writing to one drive at once, and when I started a Windows USB, it preferred the USB over the hard drive, which felt strange at the time.
Do you have another computer available? You can set up Windows on that machine by installing it on the same storage drive. First, disconnect all devices from the main PC (storage drives) and connect the one you want to install Windows to. Be sure to remove every drive except the target one. This prevents the installer from finding other Windows installations and overwriting them. Follow the normal installation steps, and during the 10-second countdown, hold the power button on the PC to force it off before rebooting automatically.
I don't have another desktop, so I'm unsure if that's possible. The Windows boot from USB isn't loading into the installation area anymore—it starts spinning but then the screen goes black instead of showing the install process. This happened before any changes to the USB drive, and I just reformatted the SSD after it stopped working.
I initially relied on the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from Microsoft's website. After it didn't function well, I switched to a fresh .ISO file from a torrent and used Universal-USB-Installer from pendrivelinux.com. Right now I'm working on fixing my desktop while using my laptop to generate boot drives.