Install failure on new system, running out of ideas

vivlock · 06 Mar 2011

I have recently (last Wednesday) built myself a shiny new computer. Here's what's inside:

MB: ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX

RAM: GeIL Value PLUS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model GVP34GB1600C9DC

Harddrive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3R HE103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Graphics: XFX HD-687A-ZDFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower XT TPX-775M 775W

On trying to install Windows 7, I reach some percent before I:
"Windows cannot install required files error 0x80070570
The file may be corrupt or missing.. Make sure all files required for installation are available and restart installation."

Here are the things I've done about it:

-I have removed all but one stick of RAM. I can't remove much else, my motherboard has no integrated graphics, so I'm stuck with my graphics card, only one hard drive, etc...
-I have burned 2 different install disks and made a bootable USB drive, no dice. I do not believe it is my install file (downloaded twice and my boyfriend checked it with some utility called Febooti fileTweak Hash and CRC as per the recommendation of someone on the internet).
-I have run memory tests, everything appears to be fine in the memory department.
-I have reformatted the drive at least 3 times, from different utilities (from Windows 7 install, from Ubuntu install, from GParted) because I had been told that Windows 7 sometimes formats drives too quickly and also because I'm getting desperate.
-I have clocked up my RAM (to 1600), clocked down my RAM (to Auto and 1333), and stared at every setting in BIOS that I could think might make a difference.

I'm about to go run some hard drive tests. I don't expect this to tell me anything.
I'm running out of ideas. Please help me.

DocBrown · 06 Mar 2011

All of your hardware sounds fine. Where did you download the win7 ? Which version and is it 32bit or 64 bit ?

Orbital Shark · 06 Mar 2011

Hi, welcome to the forums :)

Try This as it has been known to work for others.

OS

vivlock · 06 Mar 2011

I downloaded it from my school, we get a free license from an academic alliance page. I have successfully installed from this ISO before and had no issues.

Also, my apologies, I forgot to mention it was Professional 32 bit. :)

vivlock · 06 Mar 2011

Orbital Shark:

Thanks, I just tried it, but unfortunately it did not work.

DocBrown · 06 Mar 2011

You have some fine 64 bit hardware there. I would try downloading the 64 bit , Burn with ImgBurn (Freeware) at 4x speed with verify ON

gregrocker · 06 Mar 2011

Formatting the HD isn't sufficient and really does nothing. You need to wipe all boot code with DISKPART from DVD command line: Disk - Clean and Clean All with Diskpart Command
DISKPART : At PC Startup

Make sure you have the latest BIOS update. If so, reset the CMOS: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways To Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

While in BIOS setup, set SATA controller to AHCI to try install.

If these steps fail, use Step 2.2 here to pre-partition and mark Active: SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

Check your ISO HASH against official HASH here: Windows 7 RTM SHA-1 hash / checksums

Try writing the confirmed ISO to flash stick using UltraISO trial version: On File tab Open ISO, on Bootable tab Write Disk Image, Format, Write. Boot under USB or HD using BIOS Boot Menu key.

NGC 3242 · 06 Mar 2011

“Windows cannot install required files error 0x80070570”

I think it could be that your install DVD disc is not perfect. I recommend you download the Windows 7 ISO 64 bit image again and burn it on a machine known to make good disks. Ideally you want to drop the burn speed down to as low as possible.

Since you have been able to run GParted from the Ubuntu install disk in life CD mode, that indicates that most or all of your hardware is probably good. I checked the reviews for your RAM on Newegg and the RAM looks excellent.

For the motherboard and BIOS I would take out the battery for 30 minutes and put it back in. That will reset the BIOS. Leave the BIOS settings at the failsafe settings.

I have the same hard drive that you have. For some reason the regular hard drive utility doesn’t work on this particular model drive. The tool that Samsung does offer is available at the link below. I know this because I called them. I believe it has both a diagnostic utility and what they call a low-level format utility which is actually just a program the rights ones and zeros to the hard disk. In other words it’s an eraser program. It takes about three hours to run the eraser program. Utility program is a lot faster.

ESTOOL301v_CDROM.zip:
http://www.samsung.com/global/busine...ort_in_es.html

As a test of the hardware you might try installing Ubuntu to the hard drive. If you can get Ubuntu loaded and start Firefox and hit the Internet that should verify that the hardware works. Then boot into live CD mode and delete all the partitions.

Then try the Windows 7 install again.

vivlock · 06 Mar 2011

Alright, so I ran some tests on my hard drive (Samsung's hard drive diagnostics), everything was cool. As expected. 'Cause nothing's ever that simple. Tried 64-bit, had same problem, also as expected (although I'll probably continue trying with 64, I don't know why I wasn't before). Did a clean all with DISKPART as recommended, then reset the BIOS and changed the hard drive controller to AHCI, also as recommended.

Still nothing. I'm going to continue my way down gregrocker's list here, at least to try the pre-partitioning. I've already verified the HASH, I'll try yet another USB I suppose.

Bare Foot Kid · 06 Mar 2011

Hello vivlock, welcome to Seven Forums!

Have you tried the wipe that was suggested earlier, have a look at this information below and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.

After you have copied out or made back-ups of the data you need to save to external media, use Step One of this tutorial at the link below to do a wipe (secure erase) to the entire Hard Disk Drive / Solid State Drive.

Then if you do not want to create the new Windows 7 "System Reserved" partition use the outline in Step Two #2 to create, format and mark Active a single 100GB partition to do the installation to.
If you do want to create the "System Reserved" partition use the outline in Step Two #3 to create, format and mark Active the System Reserved partition and then create and format the 100GB partition to do the installation to.

Either way, running the "clean all" then creating and formatting the partition(s) using diskpart will get you the best possible space to do a clean install of Windows 7 to; you can always extend the Windows partition to include the remaining unallocated space on the HDD / SSD or create additional partitions after the installation completes if you choose.

SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

DISKPART : At PC Startup

Do a Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version