Media creation tool download windows 10 is broken?

Solution 3 – Try another PC and check storage space

In case you have multiple PCs at home or at the office, and the first refuses to comply, just try another. Users reported that the variety of errors followed by ”There was a problem running this tool” issue, emerged on non-Windows 10 computers. Meaning that Media Creation Tool works the best in Windows 10.

So, if you have an alternative PC, make sure to use it to create a bootable USB or ISO file. In addition, we advise you to use USB that packs at least 6 GB of storage space.

Even though the main Windows 10 setup takes around 4 GB, this size won’t suffice for updates. Additionally, if you’re using Media Creation Tool to update your Windows 10 to the latest build, make sure that you have enough space in the system partition (C:, most of the time).

Finally, some users managed to fix the issue by formatting the USB flash stick to NTFS format instead of FAT32. After that, it seems that the Media Creation Tool worked just fine.

Solution 4 – Check for updates

Many users turn to Media Creation Tool when they want to speed up the upgrade to a major build. Now, this tool, just like the Windows Update feature, uses update-related services and it heavily depends on their performance. Services like BITS are of utmost importance, even for a non-native application like Media Creation Tool.

So, what you’ll need to do is to make sure that all update-related services are running. These instructions should show you where to look and what to do with update services:

1. In the Windows Search bar, type services.msc and open Services.
2. Find these services on the list and make sure they’re running:

• Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)
• Server
• IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules
• TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
• Workstation
• Windows Update or Automatic Updates

1. If any of those services are stopped, right-click and choose Start for each individually.
2. Restart Media Creation Tool and look for changes.

This workaround might be just enough to relieve you of the ”There was a problem running this tool” error, but it seems that that’s not always the case. For further troubleshooting, you’ll need to reach for the registry.

Solution 5 – Tweak the Registry

The registry is dangerous ground for newbies and it’s not recommended to roam around and change values on your own. At least, if you’re not positive about your actions. And most folks aren’t until the critical system failure occurs and hell broke loose.

Now, jokes aside, there’s something you can and should change in the Registry in order to possibly address update issues with Media Creation Tool. Of course, before we start, it’s advised to back up your registry and then and only then move to tweak.

Follow the instructions below in order to make certain registry changes:

1. In the Windows Search bar, type regedit, and open Registry Editor.
2. Choose File in the Menu bar and click Export.
3. Export your registry to back it up.
4. Now, follow this path:
   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade
5. Right-click on the empty space and choose New > DWORD. Name the new dword AllowOSUpgrade and set its value to 1.     
6. Restart your PC.

Solution 6 – Try a third-party tool instead

Finally, if you’re in possession of Windows 10 ISO file, but you can’t use Media Creation Tool to create a bootable media, there’s always an alternative.

Most users would immediately turn to Rufus, which is a small, portable third-party tool. With it, you should be able to create a bootable media USB and avoid the aforementioned errors with Media Creation Tool. You can find and download Rufus by clicking on this link.

With this step, we can conclude this article. In case you have questions or alternative solutions regarding the Media Creation Tool error, it would be nice to share them with us in the comments section below.

Editor’s Note:This post was originally published in September 2017 and has been since completely revamped and updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness