Installing Windows 11 24H2 Boot Loop

[jpjc47]

Hello All,

I am unfortunately in the need of some assistance. I just recently completed building a new PC which for all intents and purposes is almost identical to a PC I built as a Media Server approximately 1 year ago. I used my Presets from the creation of the Media Servers ISO and made only changes to the Post-Setup section, namely removing software that was not needed. None were added. Every time that I boot into the Windows Installation Environment everything looks and acts correctly to the best of my knowledge, however what is happening is that it will enter into the first cycle of the installation environment (configure hard drive etc.) and then after finishing this cycle it will reboot. Unfortunately that's as far as I can get with it no matter what troubleshooting I've done. It will come back to the load screen attempting to load into the installation environment and then for some unstated reason will fail and reboot only to try and fail again repeatedly.

As for what I've done to resolve the issue I have tried god knows how many Windows 11 Enterprise ISOs. Ive tried both 24H2 and 23H2. I have tried removing all software from the post-setup section also without success. I even tried disabling Hyper-V, I saw a post somewhere that that perhaps causes issues however did not provide a resolution. Some individuals were saying to try and remove the Flash Drive before the reboot also provided no resolution.

If anyone could provide some insight it would be greatly appreciated. I am incredibly frustrated trying to solve this.

I have also included my Preset File as I'm sure that would be needed as well.

I would like to thank anyone in advance for their assistance! Have a great day!

Mod Note: Redacted user password and product key from preset.

 

[garlin]

1. Is there a reason for using 26100.1 instead of a current build?

2. Don't copy the answer file to other locations, unless there's a legitimate need to do so. This is probably causing a loop.

                <AnswerFileLocationPanther>true</AnswerFileLocationPanther>
                <AnswerFileLocationBoot>true</AnswerFileLocationBoot>

 

[jpjc47]

I wound up trying many different images and that was unfortunately the last one that I had tried. I will switch over to a current image for my next attempt.

I will get that Answer File section corrected. There was no reason for it. I will test and let you know the results. Thank you so much.

 

[garlin]

There's specific reasons for using the other two options, but they're rare.

Setup.exe uses a long path search order when looking for answer files. The first one it finds gets used, but it copies the working version into "\Windows\Panther" as the install proceeds.

Copy to boot saves a copy of the answer file inside boot.wim (where it's loaded on X:\).

Copy to Panther saves a per-image copy under "\Windows\Panther". This version is not globally shared (unlike autounattended.xml on the ISO). Sometimes it's used to keep an image-specific file, like if you have a Pro license key for a Pro image. This allows someone to have tighter control on a per-image basis.

Normally you would never combine them. When the system restarts, it may find another answer file to take precedence. So it's trapped in an endless loop.

 

[jpjc47]

That definitely makes sense. I honest don't recall selecting them but must have at some point. Good now to have a better idea what they do. Thank you.

Also I regret to inform that after making those changes it is still stuck in an endless loop. Any other thoughts by chance?

 

[garlin]

Honestly, you need to pay more attention when I have to edit your preset, hiding the user password and license key.

I don't see any problem with the preset. Have you tried a clean Windows ISO (just to check the reboot loop)? I have a suspicion you have a corrupted BCD store or a bad UEFI setting so it tries to boot off the assigned system drive, fails completely, and falls back to the next available boot device (which is the USB drive).

When the PC is booting back into WinPE, it doesn't even matter what's been removed from the image or any of the Post-Setup commands.

Are you even seeing a black background with the "white worm" spinning in a circle? That means it made it past WinPE and is in the middle of specialize pass.

 

[jpjc47]

I will remember that for the future, I honestly didn't even think about removing them.

When it completes the first cycle and reboots it does go to the screen with the "white worm." It does sit there for a minute and then after a short while goes black and reboots.

I am heading to work so later tonight I'll go through the bios and see what I can find that may be causing an issue. Any areas I should focus my efforts on that you can think of?

Thank you

 

[garlin]

Your preset doesn't have any SATA controller drivers (Intel RST). I don't know if your motherboard requires it to properly install.

Just remember every Windows release contains a different set of default drivers. Some might work out of the box, some don't. Which is why I asked whether an install of clean Windows works or not.

 

[jpjc47]

Greetings. I just got home and was able to test a Clean Windows ISO. It was installed without issue.

I will also try incorporating the RST drive into the Unattended Install.

 

[jpjc47]

Good Evening. I have incorporated the RST Driver. This resulted in no change. I then attempted to start with a fresh selection of pre-sets so that I wasn't possibly loading anything from a previous install that may be impacting this install. This also resulted in no change in the process. Any other thoughts as to what I could be missing?

 

[garlin]

At this point, I would begin the process of elimination. Do several install runs to eliminate each stage as the culprit.

1. Download a clean Windows ISO. Make a backup copy.
2. Load the ISO. Load your preset, except now reset the Post-Setup screen so you have no Post-Setup items.
3. Apply changes, install.

Did this make a difference? If not, continue on until it stops being broken.

4. Load backup copy of clean ISO. Load your preset, wipe out the Post-Setup screen and wipe out Settings changes.
5. Apply and install.

6. Repeat again, wiping out Registry imports.

By working backwards, we need to establish from where the fault was introduced. It's highly unlikely based on your Component removals to be that as the first order to check.