Boot Camp error: An error occurred while copying the Windows installation files

Continued Conversation from Boot Camp error: An error occurred while copying the Windows installation files



I ran into this issue trying to install the full version of Windows 10 Pro October 2018 using 10.13.1 Mojave. I’m installing on a MacBook Pro 15 (2016).


I verified the system was fully ready to install. However this error occurred over and over. Finally I decided to push through manually and it worked. The problem is under the Windows 10 ISO under the Sources folder, there is a file called install.wim. This single file is over 4GB and can’t be written to a FAT 32 partition that Boot Camp creates. This is a limitation for FAT 32. Here was how I worked around it.


1. Star Boot Camp like normal.

2. Go to the point of failure where you get the error message.

3. Boot Camp will attempt to roll back the parition, but close Boot Camp so those two new partitions are kept. They are named OSXRESERVED and BOOT CAMP.

4. Use Disk Utility to erase the newly created “OSXRESERVED” partition, and with the erase feature, choose the ExFAT Format. (This format will allow you to write larger files than the FAT 32 format)

5. Manually copy all the contents from the Windows 10 ISO to the OSXRESROUCES volume.

6. Restart your Mac and enter into the boot selector (hold option key while restarting).

7. You’ll see an option called “Windows” to boot from. This is the installer.

8. As you go through the Windows installer, make sure to reformat the “Boot Camp” partition using the installer tool (this is step #4 from this help article Install Windows on your Mac with Boot Camp - Apple Support)

9. For the rest of the process follow step #5 from the above article. You’ll be clicking on the link “install Windows support software manually” (here is the direct link here If Windows Support Software isn't installed after you run Boot Camp Assistant - Apple Support)


I hope this helps! I’m staring at my window screen right now so I’m sure this setup worked for me.


Cheers!

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016), macOS Mojave (10.14.1), null

Posted on Nov 15, 2018 4:12 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 3, 2019 9:19 AM

While I'm not the author of the original post, I know what step 5 is. I believe there is a typo there, and that it should read "5. Manually copy all the contents from the Windows 10 ISO to the OSXRESERVED volume." After step 4 you should see a volume named OSXRESERVED on your desktop. Open the Windows 10 ISO. Copy the contents therein into OSXRESERVED. Go on to step 6.


To be honest, I tried this approach, and it didn't quite work. In the end I was able to install bootcamp using the standard installation process simply by using the older version of the Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft. (I think from October 2018?). That ISO does not contain the overly large file that necessitated the ExFAT technique outlined in evan-13's excellent post.


Hopefully Apple will update Boot Camp Assistant to work properly with the newest Microsoft ISO's.

42 replies

Nov 17, 2018 5:05 AM in response to evan-13

Having been investigating this and coming to the the same conclusion as you it was a fat32 limitation problem tried your method and ir works. However I tried to modify it slightly so you don’t need a pen drive so I took the following steps.

create a new folder “left mine on desk top”

open boot camp assistant action menu Download windows support software

then save it to the folder created.

Then follow your steps 1-5

but also copy the content from the windows support software to osxreserved. BUT DO NOT COPY AutoUnattended.xml. Delete that file.

restart Mac and hold down alt. “ this can be tricky on new MacBook Pro’s as there is no chime. Press it down to early and it won’t be recognised press it to late and it boots in to Mac OS. “ if it boots into MacOS it deletes the partition osxreserved and you have to start again“ also after booting into the first screen of Windows setup I had to use a wired mouse as keyboard trackpad didn’t work. When windows started loading it worked OK.

then finish installing windows as per your instructions after windows installs go to drive D: osxreserved open folder bootcamp. select click setup.

After installation restart press option select MacOS then go to system preferences open select start up disk then select MacOS as your start up disk if asks if you want to restart select yes. ( if you don’t the default setting will be to boot into windows on restart) when you want to boot into windows start holding optio key and select windows.

Nov 18, 2018 5:42 AM in response to Chris The Bipolar Bear

Yes it works! 1803 version of windows went without any problem. It only asked me for permission to process some changes(login and password). Then it did everything without me interfering.

In Windows it installed the drivers itself. But control for brightness does not work for me BUT SOUND sounds normal and great.

Thank you for contributions.

(MBP mid 2015 Ati gpu, Mojave 10.14.1, BootCamp Win 10_1803)

Nov 26, 2018 7:40 AM in response to martincapal

Use this download link for the Windows 10 ISO: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO


Choose the April 2018 update from the drop down (which is 1803) then choose your language and confirm. The install.wim file in that ISO is 4.09GB since it contains home AND pro versions of Windows 10.


Thank you for this thread - I was banging my head against the wall trying to solve this one. My issue was I was using the 1709, 1803, and 1809 versions downloaded from VLSC which contain far more versions than just home & pro and the install.wim was entirely too large. Using retail ISO from Microsoft solved the issue.

Dec 11, 2018 3:08 PM in response to evan-13

I created a tool that helps with this issue was well if you want to use the latest Windows 10 ISO. The "an error occurred while copying the Windows installation files" issue is due to the install.wim file being too large in the ISO, and my tool splits it into smaller parts so it fits on a FAT32 filesystem.


The tool is free and you can read all about/download it here:


https://twocanoes.com/using-larger-windows-10-isos-with-boot-camp-assistant/

Dec 11, 2018 3:31 PM in response to evan-13

I created a tool that helps with this issue if you want to use the latest Windows 10 ISO. The "an error occurred while copying the Windows installation files"issue is due to the install.wim file being too large in the ISO, and my tool splits it into smaller parts so it fits on a FAT32 filesystem. 

The tool is free and you can read all about/download it here:

https://twocanoes.com/using-larger-windows-10-isos-with-boot-camp-assistant/

Dec 22, 2018 5:47 PM in response to h3nrythe3ighth

This doesn't work for me. I have isolated the issue as being specifically that my usb has to be formatted with fat(32) and neither the april nor the october release iso will fit specifically because of the install.wim file being too large. Nothing will copy them over when it is formatted for fat32. I have no problems when they are formatted with ExFat, but my pc does not recognize this format for booting purposes. It does recognize the fat32 format as I tried to boot from this minus the install.wim (since it is the only thing that won't copy over) and it gives me a missing file error.

Jan 15, 2019 10:40 AM in response to evan-13

This did not quite work for me, but your observation regarding the file size in the October 2018 Update ISO is spot on. I am working with a late 2018 MacBook Pro, and OS 10.14. (I will not bore you with many permutations of attempts I made to get the October 2018 ISO to work, including the otherwise excellent advice given by evan-13. Creating bootable memory sticks, etc.) The short version of the story is that Boot Camp Assistant worked properly once I used the April 2018 Update ISO.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Boot Camp error: An error occurred while copying the Windows installation files

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.