Windows 7 - BSOD during Installation

I've tried installing Windows 7 build 6801 and I keep getting a BSOD during the installation. I have a 186GB HD and I've partitioned it the following way:
93.1GB - Vista
58.1GB - XP
20GB - for 7
15GB - Debian
and they're all primary partitions. My XP partition used to be 78.1GB, but I resized with the GParted Live CD (I've used this for years, and have never had a problem) and formatted it as an NTFS partition. When I boot up the 7 install disc, I can get all the way up to when you select which partition to install, and after hitting next, it says "unpacking, 0%" and then BSOD.

I also tried booting into it and just leaving it and after a period of time, it will BSOD, regardless of which stage of the install process I'm in.

Here's the BSOD code:
0x00000024 (0x000C225C, 0x00000011, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

I've searched google and I can't find anything that lists the same code. the BS tells me to do a chkdsk so when I booted into Vista, I when to disk properties and then directed it to check all partitions at boot and I didn't get any error messages. The BSOD also tells me to disable any antivirus or disk degragmenter...

Thanks.

Edit: just thought I'd add this: I burned the .iso at the lowest possible speed, and then verified the data with Nero 7, and even tried it in VirtualBox in a 25GB partition where it worked perfectly and installed. Only problem, it wouldn't go any higher than 1024x768 even with the VirtualBox display drivers.

The only thought I have on this is that the partition needs to be formatted. Windows 7 should offer to do that when installing. Not sure as I created the partitions in Vista and formatted them from there. If memory serves, ntfs is different in Vista from XP. Anyway that's probably what I would try.

Gary

Hi frankzappa7,


One thing you don't state with your system is how much RAM do you have?

Its just that Vista would often BSOD on install on x64 with more than 2GB of ram.

The trick with that was to take memory out to get to 2GB install then add the ram back in when completed.

May not apply to you or to Seven but is one possible cause

I already formatted it as an NTFS partition, are you saying I should delete it, leave it as raw and then format it with the 7 installation?
I have a Core 2 Duo processor at 1.6GHz with 2GBs of RAM. Vista runs smoothly on my system and seeing as how I was able to run 7 in a virtual machine with 740MBs of RAM and on a single-core, I don't see how hardware could be the problem.

Any idea on what the error code for the BSOD means? The wierd thing is it'll BS at any given moment, not just at a certain step in the installation.

Thanks for the help so far.

Hi frankzappa77

I did find this ...
0x00000024: NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
(Click to consult the online MSDN article.)
A problem occurred within NTFS.SYS, the driver file that allows the system to read and write to NTFS file system drives. There may be a physical problem with the disk, or an Interrupt Request Packet (IRP) may be corrupted. Other common causes include heavy hard drive fragmentation, heavy file I/O, problems with some types of drive-mirroring software, or some antivirus software. I suggest running ChkDsk or ScanDisk as a first step; then disable all file system filters such as virus scanners, firewall software, or backup utilities. Check the file properties of NTFS.SYS to ensure it matches the current OS or SP version. Update all disk, tape backup, CD-ROM, or removable device drivers to the most current versions.

• General Discussion {KB 228888} Win 2000, Win XP
• Caused by Open Handles while closing an application {KB 195857} Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP

What you may want to try is delete and remake the partition but don't format it - when you install let the installer format the partition for you

What I was thinking was that the Xp ntfs is a different version from the Vista ntfs, so if you formatted from XP it might not be compatible with Vista or 7.

Gary

I formatted it with GParted. Anyway, I got it to work. What I did was boot up in my Linux partition and use the GParted in there to delete the 20GB ntfs partition for 7 (I had to unmount it first). Then when I put in the installation disc, it booted up properly and the installation worked (I'm typing this from within 7). It had my video and ethernet driver pre-installed, which is pretty cool.

The one thing that's weird though, When I open Computer, my 98GB 'Acer' partition is no longer listed and is not my C:\ drive anymore. Disk management shows that it is still on my HD, but not listed as a drive letter.

My bootloader was showing all of my old settings with the additional Windows 7 and 'Earlier Version of Windows' for some reason. I'm going to try to boot into Vista and see what happens. Hopefully my GRUB bootloader is still chainloaded to BCD.

Now I'm just generalizing here, but I think when the 7 installation saw that there were already 4 primary partitions, it caused it to crash. When I left one raw, nothing happened.

Edit: ok so the 'Earlier Version...' was for XP, and for some reason now, I can't boot into Debian (GRUB was chainloaded using BCD). Vista recognizes the 20GB drive for Windows 7, by 7 doesn't recognize Vista.

Now I have one more question, if I deleted the 7 partition, would be bootloader get deleted too, or is the Windows 7 entry an extension to Vista's bootloader?

Glad you got it installed.

When I first booted into 7, all of my partitions showed (with an all new letter arrangement) except the Vista OS partition. Opened the Manage comp. window then disk management. Gave it a letter, and it then showed up in Win. Explorer.

Gary