Cannot Run MediaCreationTool1909

I'm trying to do a clean install of Windows 10 Pro; I currently have Windows 7 Pro.

For several days I've been trying to run the MediaCreationTool1909.

I'm repeatedly getting this error:

There was a problem running this tool We're not sure what happened, but we're unable to run this tool on your PC. If you continue experiencing problems,reference the error code when contacting customer support. Error code: 0x80070424 - 0x90018

It goes to these screens:

Getting a few things ready Applicable notices and license terms

After accepting it goes back to

Getting a few things ready screen What do you want to do?

After selecting

Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC

and clicking "Next" it goes to

Select language, architecture, and edition

I select English (United States), Windows 10, and 64-bit

and leaving "Use the recommended options for this PC" checked (I've tried both: same result) and clicking "Next" it goes to the screen to pick USB or ISO (I've tried both: same result).

It then asks me to select the drive.

When I select the USB drive where the MediaCreationTool1909 is I immediately get the same message.

I've tried selecting other drives on my system.

Same result.

I spent hours Googling this and trying all sorts of fixes, mostly involving ensuring that several specific services were set to automatic (they were).

I tried two different blank 30 GB NFST-formatted thumb drives that I know work, tried several different onboard USB ports, but no luck.

I redownloaded a new file several times, from both Firefox and Chrome.

I disabled my antivirus (ESET NOD32) and Malwarebytes Premium.

I looked at other options to create a bootable USB from an ISO file, but all roads seem to lead to the same process: going through the media creation tool (MediaCreationTool1909).

Is there a way to directly download an ISO, save to USB and install from there?

UPDATE: Decided to try this on my wife's desktop and IT WORKED! The total size of the download is about 4 GB: I hope that's correct.