Can't Install 7 or Vista on DV4-122nr

Hi,

Wondering if anyone has run in this before. I couldn't find anything specific on the web:

I have a year and a couple month old HP DV4-122nr laptop with Vista x86 Home Premium OEM installed. It recently had issues shutting off randomly, so I decided to do a clean install to Windows 7 Ultimate x64.

I have done tons of installs in the past since XP came out and have always had good luck. I tried to do my regular clean install (via USB) and once I got to the "expanding files" part, the laptop would just shut down. I tried it several times, same deal. I then tried installing from a DVD. Again, shut off at random points during the expanding files section.

I then figured it had something to do with Win 7, so I tried Vista. This time I got it to the point where it would restart, but then it would just go black afterwords and show no video.

I tried several flavors of Vista (x86,x64,Home Premium, Ultimate, SP1, SP2 and SP0), but again to no avail. I then finally got Vista Business x86 to install, but when I installed the graphics driver, it killed it (black screen). I went into safe mode and uninstalled the graphics driver and it booted normally.

Just for the heck of it, I installed Windows XP SP3 (after I slipstreamed the correct SATA driver) and lo and behold; success! I managed to get most of the drivers working and it ran just fine.

At this point, I am at a loss for words. Why the heck would it only run on XP when it was clearly designed to run on Vista/7?

Oh, I tried swapping out hard drives, RAM and tried with the battery installed and without. I also flashed the BIOS to the latest version and turned off virtualization in the BIOS settings. Nothing helped.

Could someone please help? I want to run 7 on this machine.
Thanks

The laptops specs:

Product NumberNB204UA#ABAMicroprocessorAMD Turion X2 RM-72 Dual-Core Mobile ProcessorMicroprocessor Cache2.10 GHzMemory4096MBMemory Max8192MBVideo GraphicsATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics RS780MVideo MemoryUp to 1918MBHard Drive250GB (5400RPM)

Do you have a bootable USB flash stick? Were you booting it from one-time BIOS boot menu key - ESC on HP?

You may need to wipe the HD first of conflicting boot code: SSD - HDD Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

I would have tried a Repair Install for the problems you were having.

You should also test your memory for 5-6 passes using memtest86 CD, and your HD using maker's full diag/repair CD scan: Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities

Check for newer BIOS version update, check SATA controller setting in BIOS setup.

Thanks for the quick response!

You may need to wipe the HD first of conflicting boot code: SSD - HDD Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

I will try that next, thanks.

I did update to the latest BIOS. I did a mem test and it passed. I even swapped out the RAM and HDD, to no avail.

Do you have a bootable USB flash stick? Were you booting it from one-time BIOS boot menu key - ESC on HP?

Yes, one time boot option, As for the USB install, I have done that tons of times with no problems on other machines.

check SATA controller setting in BIOS setup.

I see no options for for that at all in the BIOS.

I will try wiping the HDD first, but I don't think it will work since I tried a different HDD and installation failed as well.

Thank you again.

Anything else I can try?

OK, ran the memory test again; no errors

Tried to clean the HDD and it just restarts when I type "clean".

What I don't understand is why it will run XP and not Vista or 7...

What I do when I don't have any more time to troubleshoot prob installs is to move the HD to another computer to do the install. Then in Device Manager remove all of the key drivers (SATA controller, CPU, display, network, sound, etc) but don't restart when requested, just power down and move HD back to problem machine where it will usually start, install all drivers, requesting several restarts.

Since XP works for some reason, how about I use the setup disk to do a slow format then try to install Win 7?

Think that may work?

Thanks again gregrocker for your assistance.

Do you have a can of air to blow out the fan?
Could be overheating
Just a random thought, and it won't hurt to check.

Yes, that was the first thing I did. It does run quite hot though.

I still have no idea why it will only run XP.

Thanks!

Are you trying to install Windows 7 on a desktop with the specs listed below, or on a laptop on your first post?

Yes, all on a HP DV4-1222nr laptop.

If performing a simple "clean-all" fails, you need to check temps, hardware.

It seems to run hot, but then again, it always has. The hardware would be my primary suspect, however how could that be if it installs XP fine?

The odd part is that it installs Windows XP fine. Which doesn't really mean anything, unless all your versions of Vista and Windows 7 are corrupted. Unlikely?

Impossible. I use the same DVD's/USB's to do installs all the time without issue.

Had something similar happen to me with a Dell laptop, it wouldn't install any OS, not even Linux. Finally I wiped the hard drive using a 3rd party application and bingo it worked!

I tied Linux too. It failed! What software did you use to format? I'll try it!

Thanks