Can't boot past "press any key to boot USB" from windows 10 installation USB

The problem: My supposedly bootable win10 is visible in the boot menu. When I select it, it says press any key to boot USB... and that's as far as it goes. I'm left with an underscore blinking on the screen.

I have previously been able to boot multiple linux distributions from the concerned USB without error, so I'm pretty sure that's not the issue. Relevant information:

• ISO version is Win10 21H2 (the most recent)
• PC is an old Dell XPS 8300 (does not have UEFI)
• I used Rufus to create the USB with the following options:
  • NTFS file system
  • MBR partition scheme
  • Cluster size 4kB
  • Added fixes for old BIOSes

Please tell me if there's any important information I've left out.

Solution 1:

FIX: This had a really, really stupid fix. Turns out Windows is just super slow to boot. Tooke 10 whole minutes to get past the blinking cursor!