Forum Discussion
Can Not Upgrade my computer to Win 11
I have an ASUS ROG gaming laptop. It's 3 years old and it apparently has the specs to be able to run Win 11. It has a 10th generation i7 CPU, 16 gig ram memory, 2070 nVidia video chip, 500 gig SSD and a 2 TB drive that I removed. I tried to upgrade from the (upgrade and security) area. It failed. I went to the MS site and tried to create a USB boot disk and could not. After finding out that the second SSD drive I installed was handing things up I removed it. Then I found there wasn't enough available storage space on the C drive. I removed programs. I checked and updated drivers and on and on. This is the last failure message I got. "We couldn't install Windows 11, we've set your PC back to the way it was right before you started installing Win 11, 0xC1900101 - 0x30018 (apparently a driver error message). The installation failed on the FIRST_BOOT phase with an error during SYSREP_SPECIALIZE operation." Thats the message. I feel that I am competent at doing computer stuff and I have never had a problem when upgrading all types of computers over the last 40 years. Dealing with DOS 3.0 was easier than this. I am now at the point of just going out and buying a new computer so I can play the PC games that I review for a web site. Please help because I would like to salvage this PC If possible. Thank you.
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5 Replies
The recurring upgrade failure with error code **`0xC1900101 - 0x30018`** indicates a critical **driver or BIOS incompatibility** during the system specialization phase (`FIRST_BOOT`), common on gaming laptops due to specialized hardware. To fix this, you must **prioritize updating your ASUS ROG laptop's BIOS** to the latest version available from https://www.aessuccess.com.co the ASUS support site, as this often contains firmware fixes necessary for Windows 11 compatibility. Additionally, **temporarily uninstall all non-essential third-party applications**, especially any **ASUS utilities (like Armoury Crate)** and third-party antivirus, as their low-level drivers frequently conflict with the Windows 11 installation kernel. Once the system is cleaned and the BIOS is updated, attempt the upgrade again using the **Media Creation Tool's `setup.exe`** from within your running Windows 10 desktop environment.
It sounds like you’ve already tried most of the key troubleshooting steps — nice work narrowing it down. The 0xC1900101 - 0x30018 error usually points to a driver conflict during installation.
Here are a few things that often fix it:
Unplug all external devices (USB drives, gaming peripherals, external SSDs).
Update or temporarily uninstall GPU drivers, especially NVIDIA ones — the installer sometimes conflicts with older drivers.
Disable antivirus or security tools before upgrading.
Free up at least 30–40 GB on your C: drive.
Try Windows 11 Installation Assistant from the Microsoft site instead of the Update tool.
If that still fails, perform a clean install using a bootable USB after backing up your data.
Many ROG laptop users fixed this exact issue by updating the BIOS from ASUS support first — definitely worth checking before giving up.
It sounds like you’ve already tried most of the key troubleshooting steps — nice work narrowing it down. The 0xC1900101 - 0x30018 error usually points to a driver conflict during installation.
Here are a few things that often fix it:
Unplug all external devices (USB drives, gaming peripherals, external SSDs).
Update or temporarily uninstall GPU drivers, especially NVIDIA ones — the installer sometimes conflicts with older drivers.
Disable antivirus or security tools before upgrading.
Free up at least 30–40 GB on your C: drive.
Try Windows 11 Installation Assistant from the Microsoft site instead of the Update tool.
If that still fails, perform a clean install using a bootable USB after backing up your data.
Many ROG laptop users fixed this exact issue by updating the BIOS from ASUS support first — definitely worth checking before giving up.
Did you check if you have any hypervisors installed? Virtualisation drivers cause these errors, and you must uninstall or temporarily disable them while performing the upgrade.
The error code 0xC1900101 - 0x30018 during Windows 11 upgrade indicates a driver-related issue, specifically during the SYSREPS_SPECIAlIZE phase, which often involves driver conflicts or compatibility problems.
