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Windows 10 Install Bug verified

From MS Forum: Windows 10 Install Bug verified - Microsoft Community 

While helping a User here at AMD Forum that is unable to install Windows 10 on his new Ryzen/Gigabyte Motherboard found this User that found a bug in a Motherboard BIOS in which if the date is set at 01-19-3001 Windows 10 won't install. The video shows the bug in detail.

NOTE: This is the User posting his question at MS Forum. The rest of the link shows the replies from other users on the thread:

THAT

Windows 10 Install Bug verified

It seems if your motherboard BIOS (AMD or Intel) allows you to set a date of 1-19-3001 or beyond, Windows 10 1909 will not finish installing, but locks up during the second reboot of the installation process. 

Furthermore, if the BIOS date is changed, and you restart the computer in an attempt to complete the install of Windows 10, guess what happens next? Windows 10 freezes again and when you check your BIOS date, you’ll find Windows 10 automatically puts the incorrect BIOS date back in your BIOS! If you change the motherboard, then attempt to restart from the failed install, the install will once again freeze and set the incorrect installation date back into the new motherboards BIOS!

So, after you’ve replaced every single piece of hardware (even a new motherboard!), your BIOS date will go back to the install date if you keep reattempting to boot off the SSD/HDD.

You must FIX the BIOS date FIRST, then restart the computer from the Win10 install media, clear ALL the partitions on the drive you want to install Win10 on, then start the installation process over from scratch. If the BIOS date is set at 1-18-3001 or earlier, Win10 Pro 1909 will install without issues.

I made a video about it here. Verified on Intel and AMD motherboards (both from Gigabyte, both using latest BIOS version). Some motherboard manufacturers do not allow the BIOS date to go beyond 2099. And for those people, they will never experience this issue.

This all started when a customer decided to build their own computer using parts I recommend. They decided to save some money by purchasing an open-box Gigabyte H370 HD3 motherboard from Amazon. They built the computer correctly. They made no errors. They tried to install Windows 10 and it kept locking up. The customer replaced the motherboard, the RAM and the CPU and PSU and SSD. After hundreds of dollars, many hours of frustration, they called me.

Because the BIOS date on the open-box motherboard was set to 3029, Windows 10 locked up during installation. When the customer bought a brand new Gigabyte H370 HD3 motherboard and disassembled and re-assembled  his system, he tried to boot off the SSD with the failed Win10 install, which then set the new motherboards BIOS date back to 3029!!!!! Also verified on Gigabyte x570 Aorus Elite.

Video demo here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-cCCnqWdBc

Seems like three lines of code of Win10 could check the system date against the windows install file creation date to issue a warning to the user that could have prevented this nightmare!

Also, at the bottom of the BIOS screen on the Gigabyte boards, it lists the maximum date range as 2099, but does NOT enforce it. 

5 Replies

when I setup a machine I check the BIOS and set the date etc  and other features before I even get around to installing windows and i have not seen any board with the date way off, this is due to factory checks etc

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While this may seem funny, and it really is, the fact that Windows is changing values in the BIOS without user input is something to be potentially concerned about, especially these days where computers are connected to the internet from the beginning, and Microsoft is doing everything they can to prevent the creation of local accounts. Even if it's something as simple as the time and date, it's not inconceivable that a bug is discovered in the future which locks up or forces a reboot if Windows and BIOS times and dates are not equal, much like this one except under a normal boot and not just upon setup. Just imagine the chaos this could cause, even more so if that bug somehow extends to something like OneDrive, where files created in the future cannot be accessed, or are deleted due to syncing.

Admittedly the chances of this are exceedingly low, but this is also the same company who released Windows builds which wiped people's files and causes computers to spontaneously wake up, among many other issues...

when version 1809 was released I did a clean install and i tested it also on a few other machines, no problems but some were surprised by not being able to find some documents etc

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Thanks for the heads up. Ridiculous as Microsoft has no business changing firmware settings without user permission. 

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Actually the settings are not changed so much as Windows reads the UEFI for device information so that it can load devices.

Windows does read and write as needed to the CPU TPM component for bitlocker and other services.

The DMI is read for licensing purposes and the SMbus is used for a range of devices.

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