When you try to upgrade your Windows 10/8.1/8 to Windows 11/10, you may receive an error message – Couldn’t install Windows, You can’t install Windows on a USB flash drive from Setup. This article explains what you should do to get rid of this problem.
You can’t install Windows on a USB flash drive from Setup
Sometimes the error message is followed by the Error code: 0xc1900104. I’ll discuss a few methods that may resolve your issue.
First of all, you have to make sure your system meets the minimum system requirements. My experiences with this issue are limited to the various user reports so the information may or may not work for you.
1] Mark the Windows partition as active
There were lots of users who reported that they were able to resolve the problem by simply marking the Windows partition as active.
To do so, follow these steps:
- Go to the Metro screen and type in Control Panel
- Then click System and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management
- In the Navigation pane, under Storage, click Disk Management.
- Right-click the primary partition that you want to make active, and then click Mark Partition as Active.
Once you have marked the partition as active, please reboot the system and try to update again from Windows Store.
2] Change this registry value
The other fix few users reported as being helpful was to change a registry value. Please be careful while working in the registry. Make sure you create a backup of Registry before you proceed.
From the Desktop screen, press Win + R
Type in Regedit
Go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
Change the value PortableOperatingSystem to “0” from 1.
Once you change the registry value, please reboot the system and try to update again from Windows Store.
3] Increase the partition size
Finally, very few users reported that if the partition reserved by Windows was too small, especially for SSDs, then you may encounter this problem. The easiest way to fix this will be to use Partition Manager software and increase the reserved partition to at least 500 MB (it may be around 100 or 150 MB).
There are lots of free partition manager software out there that help you increase the partition size. Please proceed with caution, and it’s best if you can create a backup image of your drives just to be sure.
While this post may mention Windows 8.1/8, it applies to Windows 11/10 too.
What is error code 0xc1900104?
This Windows Update Error 0xc1900104 arises when you try to upgrade your version of Windows. This error mainly appears when you do not have sufficient disk space on your computer. Apart from that, if there are some issues with the hard disk, you can find the same error while upgrading your computer.
Why can’t I install Windows 11/10 on a USB flash drive?
The main reason why you are not able to install Windows 11 or Windows 10 from a USB flash drive is that the USB device is offline. Even if it is online and working, you must check that you have created the correct bootable drive. On the other hand, not having the minimum disk space could be the reason as well.
I hope this will help you resolve your issue. Do let us know if you find out any other way to resolve this problem.
