First of ALL all USB 3.0 Flash is not support it, I suggest to use USB 2.0 that will work.. Now best way clean out the Partition as Zero. then check the UEFI is cleared out from the bios.. then Try boot on DVD Disc that contain Windows 10 upgrade. (if you have Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 installed) Now Best way to test your SSD tools see if still good, then use it. If you comes cross bad SSD and not even year old, check the product Policy to exchanged or replace one by Vendor product. Good luck!
They have already posted a new thread about how they lost activation, so pretty sure they are past the can't install to partition.
I had the same error during Windows 10 Pro x64 installation. I solved disconnecting the 2nd HDD, but the OP said there are no extra drivers installed in his PC. There is also other way(s) to install Windows like: 1) Attach SSD to other PC and install there, then connect back to the original PC. With this method you can also check if the problem is on SSD. 2) Install Windows 10 in a Virtual Machine (like VMWare or Vbox) then clone/restore the image into SSD I used the 2nd method (VM one) many times, to install and customize Windows + Office + Tools, then cloned with Acronis True Image. Now the image is on my NAS and I'll use it every time I have to make a clean install (like parents PC )
If I were you, I would clone(copy) the HDD that you had upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 to SSD, then replace the HDD with SSD, that way you should have a working SSD.
I hadn´t any problems while installing Windows 10 x64 on a brand new non formatted SSD Crucial MX200. And it wasn´t necessary to disconnect a secondary HDD to install Windows.
USB 3.0 is natively supported in Windows 10 so stop spreading FUD. I do recommend installing via SATA though. Boot up gparted and delete all partitions on the drive. Start the Windows 10 installation again and just select the drive you want to install on. It will automatically create the neccesary partitions for you.
I had this happen during setup, I just deleted all the partitions on the drive which left me with unallocated space. I then let windows format the unallocated space and setup would continue.
Plugin the SSD into another computer/OS and configure the SSD there using diskpart (clean, create partition primary, set it active and format it ntfs), then try it again.
I got caught with this one a couple of times... Yes, yes, I know I'm senile. After making sure that your disk is clean (i.e. diskpart clean) make sure that the disk you are trying to install is actually set as a boot disk in your BIOS. That fixed it for me straight away. HTH
I would love to see this new thing called boot firmware, can you explain how you saw this boot firmware ?.