How to install windows 10 via command line?

Hello $reader,

For the past couple of days, I have been trying to install Windows via the command line. It wasn't an easy journey, but I am finally able to install it successfully on my machine. Someone who wants to install Windows 10(probably the other releases as well) can follow this guide.

Why would someone want to install Windows via the command line?

There could be several reasons to install Windows via the command line. Some of them are like, you don't want Windows to create several partitions on your drive(this one's mine), Windows setup is throwing errors like bootloader is installed in NTFS file system change it to fat32, Windows can't be installed on this disk, etc. or you want to do some experiments with it.

What are the steps to follow?

First, make a bootable USB drive, then in the setup wizard choose "Repair this pc," then click on "Troubleshoot," then command prompt.

 Second, make an NTFS partition, format it, assign it a letter(let's say C), and let's assume your bootable USB is assigned with the letter I. Create another fat32 partition and assign it a letter(let's say G) to install the bootloader.

Third, find the location of "install.wim" or "install.esd." "install.esd" is just a more compressed version of "install.wim." Most probably, you will find it in "I:\sources\."

Fourth, run the following commands:

dism /apply-image /imagefile:I:\Sources\install.wim /index:1 /applydir:C:\

"index" parameter decides the variant of Windows to install. For example, "1" is for Home, "6" is for Professional, etc.
This command will install Windows in "C:"

Fifth, now its time to install the bootloader. To install it run:

bcdboot C:\Windows /l en-us /s G: /f UEFI

Sixth, open BIOS and choose the Windows EFI file to boot.

If everything goes well, you will see the Windows out-the-box-experience window, asking for your location, timezone, username, etc. If not ...

What are the possible errors?

Some of the possible errors are like:

"Windows setup wizard could not configure your computer hardware to run Windows,"

"Windows restarted unexpectedly, try reinstalling it,"

etc.

To resolve these errors press "Shift + F10", this will open the command prompt. In the command prompt, go to

"C:\Windows\System32\oobe".

launch msoobe by typing "msoobe".

If it is stuck at the loading window that says "This may take a while". Restart the pc and again open the command prompt and type "regedit". This will open the registry editor.

In the registry editor go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/SETUP/STATUS/ChildCompletion

On the right-hand side double-click on setup.exe. If the value is 1, change it to 3.

This should solve the problem.


If you find this guide useful, please let me know in the comments.