Hi guys. Back in May, I had a failing SSD which I cloned with Macrium Reflect and replaced, and it left some unallocated space which I had to fix up. But since the release of Windows 1803, I have been having trouble updating to it. I have tried numerous things to get it to update, but some suggest that it is my weird partition setup, including a FAT32 unlabelled System Reserved partition instead of NTFS. Some have even suggested making the reserved partition larger than the default size. Below is a partition layout of a computer that I have been successfully able to upgrade to Windows 1803 with a nice clean partition layout, and the other following one is the troublesome one. How can I tidy it up without losing anything and starting again?
Hadron, Lucky you didn't follow that weird advice as the FAT32 partition is the EFI System Partition and is essential for booting from a GPT disk. The Reserved Partition can't be Resized or Moved. Not possible as it is the MSR. What issues do you have with the OS? Has the disk always been GPT?
If I try and update 1709 to 1803 via Windows Update, I just get this message. If I try and update using an ISO (Disc) or USB or via the Windows10Upgrade9252.exe, it restarts, gets to 0%, then gives me the following message, and reverts back to previous OS. I've tried numerous things mentioned online, but without any success. I have NO issues at all with the current Windows 10 1709, except it refuses to update to 1803, even though now and then it gets prompted via Windows Update to update, but fails. All drivers are up to date. Clean boot etc. I can't answer if the disk has always been GPT. I guess it has. I haven't intentionally changed it. I don't know what the previous failing SSD was. I guess it would have been the same. I just cloned it with Reflect.
I noticed that the Windows 10 Upgrade folder creates 2 ESD files for some strange reason, both named the same except for an underscore at the end of one. They are exactly the same files with the same hashes, so I have converted one of those ESDs to ISO and going to try that. It probably won't make any difference to the outcome. Do you think it may be because it is a GPT partition? I think I can convert to MBR with MiniTool Partition Wizard.
We have a few laptops that won't upgrade beyond 1703. A CPU issue. If I had your computer I'd try re-installing 1709 and if that works, try 1809 next week.
It worked. After months of trying off and on, converting one of the ESDs found in the Windows10Upgrade folder (using ESD Decrypter) to ISO that is produced from running Microsoft's Windows 10 Upgrade Tool then mounting it, I have finally had success. Something that I have noticed immediately, is that the ISO produced from converting the ESD is quite a bit larger than the ISO you get from Microsoft's Media Creation Tool. Download Windows 10 (Includes Microsoft's Windows 10 Upgrade Tool & Media Creation Tool) https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/software-download/windows10
Mods are welcome to move or delete this thread as I stumbled on the solution after posting it. And thanks to Brian, as always.