You can learn the reasons for getting files ready for installation stuck and 8 methods to fix it, as well as learn about backing up your system and how to restore it in different situations.
"I had some issues with my computer and had to reinstall Windows 10. i made a bootable USB drive using the media creation tool and used it to reinstall Windows 10. however, it got stuck when preparing the installation profile, even when i chose to customize the installation and delete all partitions, it would get stuck at 1% just the same. I followed the advice of others on the internet and waited from morning until afternoon and the install process is still stuck in the same spot. My patience is running out, can anyone suggest something else?"
During the Windows 10 installation process, you will encounter the step of preparing the installation profile, which means that Windows is downloading the installation profile or working on some task in the background at this time, which usually requires a wait of some time, up to 3 hours is normal according to Microsoft reports.
However, in some cases, when you wait for 3 hours, you will find that the installation progress remains the same, which means that Windows 10 is stuck in the prepare file step, as described in the case above. At this point, you can choose to continue waiting until your patience runs out or you can try to fix it once you understand the cause of this problem.
The following are the common reasons that cause Windows 10 to get stuck while preparing the profile to be installed, knowing these reasons will help you to resolve the issue next.
If you don't know how to fix the problem that Windows 10 is stuck while preparing the profile to be installed, please refer to the following 8 solutions and learn the exact steps in detail to ensure that you can solve the problem successfully.
When the Windows system takes too long to process tasks in the background or to download and install files, it can give users the illusion that they are stuck, but in fact, Windows may still be running normally at this time, but it is just too slow in preparing the files to be installed. Therefore, you can first confirm that the drive is active by using the LEDs and then wait patiently for 2-3 hours to see if the process is complete. If after 2-3 hours, the computer is still stuck at the same progress, go to the next method.
External devices can make it easier for you to use your computer, but in some cases they can also cause some compatibility issues and cause problems with getting stuck when you are preparing to install an file. Therefore, you can try disconnecting all external devices to resolve these issues.
From the results of some users' feedback, it seems that a faulty display card and memory may also cause the problem of getting stuck while preparing the profile to be installed. In any case, this is a worthwhile approach.
In Windows Safe Mode, the computer will start without loading any third-party applications and drivers, which can provide help to the user to check and fix the computer system errors. Safe mode can be used to troubleshoot when there is a problem of getting stuck while preparing a file to be installed.
If you are using bootable media to install Windows 10, adjust that USB drive priority in the BIOS to fix the problem of getting stuck while preparing the profile to be installed.
When you encounter the problem of getting stuck while preparing the files you want to install, it may be due to problems with the files themselves on your Windows system, at which point you can choose to delete those problematic files to resolve the above problem.
In some cases, the ISO file itself that you downloaded may be faulty and further cause the problem of getting stuck while preparing the file to be installed. Therefore, you need to format the USB drive and download the ISO file again.
diskpart
list disk
select disk 1 (make sure the disk number you select is a USB drive, otherwise data may be lost on other disks)
clean
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick
assign
Rufus is a free and open source portable application for Microsoft Windows that many users are accustomed to using to create bootable USB drives. However, from the results of some users' feedback, the bootable media created by this application may have problems and cause the issue of getting stuck while preparing the file to be installed. Therefore, it is recommended that you use Microsoft's official Media Creation Tool to create bootable media.
In addition to the 8 methods mentioned above, you can also use the professional third-party backup and restore software AOMEI Backupper Professional to solve the problem of getting stuck while preparing an file to be installed, and depending on the situation.
AOMEI Backupper Professional is a professional system backup and restore software for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 and many other versions, with a clear and easy-to-use interface, you can create a system backup image in just a few simple steps, and it can also restore the system backup to the local computer or other computers with different hardware, while Ensure your computer boots successfully. Please download and install the free trial version of AOMEI Backupper Professional, then create a system backup and restore the system backup to the computer in question.
AOMEI Backupper Professional provides you with daily, weekly, monthly, event-triggered and USB plug in timed backup functions. In addition, differential backup can also effectively reduce the time of each system backup, we recommend you to enable this function. Next, the detailed procedure of system backup will be described as follows.
Step 1. Install and execute AOMEI Backupper Professional on another normally running computer, select the Backup tab in the left panel, and select System Backup in the right panel.
Step 2. Select a destination path in the System Backup window to save the system backup, and then tap the Start Backup button. If you have multiple backup tasks, you can change the Task Name by tapping the pencil icon in the upper left corner before starting the backup.
Step 3. After the system backup is complete, tap the Finish button.
After creating a system backup image, you can use it to restore your system. The detailed steps for an off-board restore are as follows.
Step 1. Use a bootable disk to boot a computer with a problematic system and change the boot priority in the BIOS. Please connect a device that has a system backup file so that it can be selected during a restore.
Step 2. After AOMEI Backupper Professional executes automatically, switch to the Restore tab in the left panel, tap to select the image file, and then select the system backup file (with the .adi extension) you created before.
Step 3. In the Image Information window, select the Restore the system backup option and select the system image you need to restore based on the time, then click Next.
Note:
If you want to restore the system image to another location (hard drive, USB flash drive, etc.), check the Restore system to another location checkbox.
Step 4. First confirm the restore operation, then confirm that the Universal Restore checkbox is checked (preset is automatically checked), tap the Start Restore button, and wait for this process to complete.
When performing an Universal Restore, please note these matters.
In addition, when you want to replace your computer's hard drive, you can also clone your operating system from a large HDD to a smaller SSD with AOMEI Backupper Professional, saving time on system installation while preserving the original data.
The problem of getting stuck while preparing a file to be installed is a big trouble for many users. If you are unfortunate enough to encounter this problem, besides the 8 solutions provided in the article, you can also use the third-party software AOMEI Backupper Professional to perform a system restore or an Universal Restore, depending on the situation. After the problem is solved, it is recommended to use the software again to make a system backup for quick recovery when you encounter similar system problems again.
AOMEI Backupper is available for several Windows system versions and you can create system file images in just a few simple steps. In addition to that, the software can provide you with other features that may interest you, such as file backup, partition backup, disk wipe, etc to meet all your own needs.