The installation failed in the SAFE_OS phase with an error during BOOT operation

• Disable (preferrably uninstall) your Antivirus utility before attempting the upgrade.
• Restart a few times and try again.
• Disable General USB Devices (example - Smart Card Reader). 
• If you are using a SCSI hard disk, make sure you have drivers available for your storage device on a thumdrive and it is connected. During Windows 10 setup, click the Custom Advanced Option and use the Load Driver command to load the appropriate driver for the SCSI drive. If this does not work and setup still fails, consider switching to a IDE based hard disk.
• Do a clean boot and try again.
• If you are upgrading using the .ISO file, disconnect from the Internet during setup, if you are connected by LAN (Ethernet) or Wi-Fi, disable both and attempt setup again. 
• If you are updating through Windows Update, when the download reaches 100% disconnect from the Internet LAN (Ethernet) or Wi-Fi and proceed with the installation.
• If that does not work, try using the .ISO file to upgrade if possible.
• If you are connected to a domain, switch to a local account
• If you have any external devices attached to the machine, disconnect them (example, gaming controllers, USB keys, external hard disc, printers, non-essential devices).

  If you are installing Windows 10 using Windows Update, try the following:

  1. Press Windows Key + X on the keyboard and then select “Command Prompt (Admin)” from the menu.

  2. Stop the BITS, Cryptographic, MSI Installer and the Windows Update Services. To do this, type the following commands at a command prompt. Press the “ENTER” key after you type each command.

                             net stop wuauserv

                             net stop cryptSvc

                             net stop bits

                             net stop msiserver

  3. Now rename the SoftwareDistribution and Catroot2 folder. You can do this by typing the following commands in the Command Prompt. Press the “ENTER” key after you type each command.

                            ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old

                            ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 Catroot2.old

  4. Now, let’s restart the BITS, Cryptographic, MSI Installer and the Windows Update Services. Typethe following commands in the Command Prompt for this. Press the ENTER key after you type each command.

                          net start wuauserv

                          net start cryptSvc

                          net start bits

                          net start msiserver

  5. Type Exit in the Command Prompt to close it and then restart the computer.

I believe the issue is concering my hardware (graphics card). The problem is I can not even get to the Windows 10 setup part

I boot into the Windows 10 ISO and see the Windows flag logo. A second later it blue screens and gives me that error. I can't even get into the Windows 10 setup process.

I have tried updating today with the official Windows 10 and get a BSOD right away when it reboots. It gets to the flag icon and immediately BSOD with an error saying
System Thread Exception Not Handled

Exactly the same happening to me. It goes through to the install take a rest part and then the blue flag come up and freezes so I have to press the start button for 5 seconds and then on restart a warning comes up saying -

0xC1900101-0x20017 saying

"The installation failed in the SAFE_OS phase with an error during BOOT operation"

Surely MS knows this problem as when I googled it it seems pretty popular and not just a hand full?

Any real help please!!

I have been trying to update to Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 since 2013. I bought this computer back in 2011 and didn't expect its lifespan would end so abruptly. Funny enough, my Asus A8H from 2007 is able to install Windows 10, whereas my Asus U43F is not. I have contacted Asus Tech Support on multiple occasions for help on this issue. They flat out said that because your computer came with Windows 7 we are under no obligation to help you on any other operating system besides that. I have ran Microsoft's Upgrade Assistant and it has stated that my computer was compatible with an upgrade to Windows 10. If I knew my computer would not be able to upgrade past Windows 8 I would not have purchased this $700 computer. I have felt cheated and lied to by Asus and will most likely not purchase their products again, because I simply cannot be certain if their products will be supported in the future.. I will be switching to Apple's Mac and avoid the headache that comes with Microsoft and PCs. It has been a good run, but 2 years of trying and failing to install Windows on this computer has left me frustrated.

Same issue. I have an NVIDIA GTX 650 and a SSD ADATA SP900 ATA.

I have my User Files on another HDD which is a spinning disk and my system files on the SSD.

Disabled Windows Defender.

Unplugged EVERYTHING from the external ports of the computer and then update.

Install goes fine. Extracting files.. Configuring files..

Once configuring files is completed it restarts. I see a flash on the screen (very very quickly) and then it says restoring your previous version and then error message on login.

I've tried 4 times at this point with the Upgrade my 8.1 to 10 not the external USB.

Any other suggestions? The video card has a Win 10 Driver available so I figured this wasn't the issue.

This is a bunch of BS  Microsoft...AGAIN....

Hey Longcat93,

I have the same model of laptop as you do, and I have exactly the same result. I'm still searching a way to make this work. I will share my findings if i'm able to do the upgrade. Please let me know if you were able to find a solution.

Good luck

I have done everything on this list and still get the 0xC1900101 0x20017 error during SAFE_OS phase with an error during BOOT operation

100% my drivers are all updated

I have unplugged all of my drives except the C drive

I have no external devices connected

From what I read, the ISO file is NOT a viable option, since the installation process I find, including DaCosta's links, says install WIndows 10 then reinstall Windows 10 from ISO, but if I could install Windows 10, I would not need the fricken ISO to reinstall. If there are better instructions somewhere on how to use the ISO file that does not FIRST include a successfull install, that would be awesome.

I now have 9 attempts and over 20 hours into the "FREE" Windows 10 disaster, and as far as I can tell, I have progressed very little. Microsoft should be ashamed of themselves for this abortion.

i had the same error, had to run an in place install to attempt to fix another problem (random glitch caused when the win 10 upgrade first became available) and after scouring every DB i could find, i got this page of solutions to work (used all of them to be sure), it would seem the error is caused by some miscommunication with your chip set, i tried solutions 2 and 3 first, and then 1 which ended up working. this is instruction to edit the ISO of the installer package, so use caution; i feel it's safe and have tried it with success, but that doesn't mean everyone will... enjoy!
http://windowsreport.com/installation-failed-safe_os-phase/

edit: important to note, it was not feasible for me to do a clean install, and that may work as well. i tried cleaning everything out, and using an un-modified dvd installer first. my system is older, but well within the requirements for the OS.