Alienware Area 51 R6 Cannot Upgrade or Clean Install Windows 10 Build 20H1

Unable to install Windows 10 build 20H1 or later.

No cause information.

This article contains information about Alienware 51 R6 systems unable to upgrade to or clean install Windows 10 build 20H1. The solution requires a manual update of the Dell system BIOS to version 1.2.0 or later (a download link is at the end of the article).

Unable to Upgrade to Windows 10 Build 20H1

Alienware Area 51 R6 systems cannot upgrade to Windows 10 build 20H1 from earlier versions of Windows 10 (19H2 and earlier).

Windows 10 starts the upgrade process but stops after the system reboots with error: "0xC1900101 - 0x20017 (The installation failed in the SAFE_OS phase with an error during BOOT operation) (Figure 1)."

Figure 1

Windows 10 attempts to roll back to the previous version that was installed on the system. You can also start rollback manually:

1. Power the system off and back on three times.
2. On the third time, your system boots into the "Advanced Recovery Environment."
3. Click Advanced Options.
4. Click Troubleshoot.
5. Click Rollback.

Unable to Clean Install Windows 10 Build 20H1

Alienware Area 51 R6 systems cannot perform a new install of Windows 10 Build 20H1. When you attempt the installation, Microsoft will present the following message during the setup process (Figure 2):

Figure 2 - Alienware Area 51 R6 Windows 10 Build 20H1 Your PC is not supported.

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Solution

Update the Dell BIOS to version 1.2.0 or later and attempt the upgrade again.
Alienware Area 51 R6 BIOS and Drivers

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