This article started to be written on August 3, 2015.

Windows 10 is out! Hooray…. oh wait… my installation failed again?!?

With Windows 10 finally out for users to get, everyone’s rushing off to get it. Microsoft’s servers are flooded with tons of requests, plus they’re taking into account all feedback as quick as possible and trying to fix issues as they come up. I mean, that’s awesome with this effort, but the installation comes with a few hiccups.

For this article I will be describing my full installation progress. Learn from my mistakes, maybe glean some tips on how to avoid errors in your installation of Windows 10 so you don’t have to spend three days trying to fix everything like I did. 🙂

Proof of the painful process I went through… each wasting about 4 hours due to having to redownload everything.

So, let’s get started!

(Note: All recollections of installation are through screenshots I remembered to take and memory. Don’t rely on it too heavily)

Attempt 1

My first attempt was actually planned to be filmed as a demonstration for a FandaGear video. I used the GWX (Get Windows 10) program that came with an update and nested itself into an icon in the taskbar, which should have worked all right. The end result?

“0x80070004 – 0x3000D The installation failed in the FIRST_BOOT phase with an error during MIGRATE_DATA operation”

Example of an error. There are three variations of seeing the same error.

At about 44% for all these failed attempts during driver installation of the upgrade process led to

Attempts 2-4 (yes, I tried the same thing that many times… stupid me, but at least I tried something each time)

These attempts were actually done with Microsoft’s Windows 10 Installer program. There aren’t any screenshots, but they basically ended up as the same as above, just different looks.

Some solutions I tried before each one include the following.

1. Uninstalling many programs not needed anymore.

Uninstalling programs via the default “Programs and Features” panel.

2. Cleaning the registry just in case something was screwing up…

CCleaner is a great utility and a must have.

3. Running some other Windows 8.1 updates in case they fixed something later on secretly.

It could help, but it didn’t.

4. Repairing permissions in case that was the issue with the error. Instructions followed were the best answer selected by the asker here in SuperUser. I’ve pasted the instructions too below the screenshot.

Trying to see if permissions were the issue.

Error 0x80070005 in Windows Update when you try to install updates

Resolution

Error code 0x80070005 is also known as “ACCESS DENIED.” It usually occurs when you lack file or registry permissions that are required to install the update. (Because file or registry permissions may be changed by malware, we recommend that you scan for malware after you repair the permissions.)

To resolve the issue, make sure that you are logged on as an administrator, and then install the updates again. If the problem continues, use the SubInACL tool to repair file and registry permissions. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Download the SubInACL tool (Mirror), and install it to the default path that is offered by the installer. The default path will be one of the following, depending on your version of Windows:
   • %ProgramFiles%\Windows Resource Kits\Tools (32-bit versions of Windows)
   • %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Windows Resource Kits\Tools (64-bit versions of Windows)
2. Start Notepad, and then copy and paste the following commands:

   @echo off
   
   setlocal
   
   echo.
   echo Determine whether we are on an 32 or 64 bit machine
   echo.
   
   if "%PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%"=="x86" if "%PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432%"=="" goto x86
   
   set ProgramFilesPath=%ProgramFiles(x86)%
   
   goto startResetting
   
   :x86
   
   set ProgramFilesPath=%ProgramFiles%
   
   :startResetting
   
   echo.
   
   if exist "%ProgramFilesPath%\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\subinacl.exe" goto filesExist
   
   echo ***ERROR*** - Could not find file %ProgramFilesPath%\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\subinacl.exe. Double-check that SubInAcl is correctly installed and re-run this script.
   goto END
   
   :filesExist
   
   pushd "%ProgramFilesPath%\Windows Resource Kits\Tools"
   
   subinacl.exe /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /grant=administrators=f  /grant=system=f
   subinacl.exe /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER /grant=administrators=f  /grant=system=f
   subinacl.exe /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT /grant=administrators=f  /grant=system=f
   subinacl.exe /subdirectories %windir% /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
   
   echo FINISHED.
   echo. 
   echo Press any key to exit . . .
   pause >NUL
   
   popd
   
   :END
   
   endlocal
   

3. Save the file as Reset.cmd.
4. Right-click the Reset.cmd file in File Explorer (in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8) or Windows Explorer (in Windows 7 and Windows Vista), and then click Run as administrator. In Windows XP, double-click the file in Windows Explorer.
5. Wait until the execution finishes, and then try to install the update again.

Note If you receive errors when you run SubInAcl, see the following Microsoft blog: Notes about a couple of possible issues while using the SubInAcl tool.

I did receive numerous errors during the process, ignore and keep going just in case this is your solution.

5. Disable anti-virus. I was using Panda, and did it since attempt 3, so if that helps…

Attempt 6

With a different place used to install, I thought this area is a guaranteed work, but as usual… it didn’t… scroll past to find out what I did.

I had hoped this would work.

So Albert, what did you do?

After much exploring, and unfortunately I do not have my source of answer (but will quickly put it here if I find it), Orbx seems to be at fault. They have put a file in the Start Menu folder that Windows just did not enjoy, and it was useless as well, causing the upgrade process to freak out and revert to Windows 8.1.

Run “Run” (haha, LOL) with Windows Key+R, enter “%appdata%\MIcrosoft\Windows\Start Menu,” go to “Programs,” find “Orbx,” and locate a file called “TODO.” It’ll have no extension, and it has nothing in it… delete it, get rid of it, try installing again.

Hooray! So maybe my issues were not Microsoft’s fault. Sorry…

If you have any questions of installation, let me know below, I hope my troubles above and solutions tried might help you get to enjoy the new features of Windows 10 (loving it so far, but still has some work to do).