Windows 7 64bit - Driver Corrupted-

mart9012 · 27 Mar 2011

Hi,

I'm getting this error when installing Windows 7 64bit...

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:
1. Insert your windows installation disc and restart your computer.
2. Choose your language settings, and then click "Next".
3. Click "Repair your computer".
If you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.
File: \windows\system32\DRIVERS\ql2300.sys Status: 0xc0000098
Info: Windows failed to load because a critical system driver is missing, or corrupt.

I have read through a number of forums to see if others have had this and followed the various suggestions.

I am running Windows XP in C: and trying to install Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit in another drive. I am installing from "legal" upgrade CDs but using selecting custom install from boot. I have tried an ISO from MS and also a number of downloaded ISO's just to see if it is a fault with the CD. I get the same error each time. Some of the installs make two partitions (a tiny one and a large one) and the upgrade one just installs straight into the drive. The file QL2300.sys is in the right directory (F:\windows\system32\drivers) and I have replaced it with another copy from QLogic. Makes no difference.

Automatic repair stops saying this can't be repaired.

I have had Windows 7 32bit installed on this machine and it was fine. That drive failed so I'm reinstalling.

I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions..

Mart...

CPU AMD 64X2 5200+
MOBO Gigabyte GA MA-770 DS3
4x 1GB Kingston DDR2

theog · 27 Mar 2011

Try this,
1) Unplug the WinXP HD.

2) Than install Windows 7 to your new HD,it would be worth Cleaning the HD first
SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

Than post back.

pebbly · 27 Mar 2011

Hi mart9012, Welcome to the forums , Try reburning the ISO at the lowest speed possible ,You may also experience problems with installing Win7 on the 2nd drive the OS likes to be on the 1st drive

mart9012 · 27 Mar 2011

Thanks for your replies.

I shall try this and let you know what happens.

mart.

mart9012 · 27 Mar 2011

Ok...

I deleted the partitions using Windows XP disk managment. Created two partitions, one of 80GB and one of 200GB and then formatted each. I uplugged the other hard drives leaving just the one for windows 7 and rebooted with a genuine MS Windows 7 64bit disk in my DVD drive.

No change. The same error regarding QL2300.sys came up again so I rebooted and went into the repair windows tool. It couldn't fix it so it sent an error report to Microsoft. I tried using the hardware checking tool which ran and claimed to find errors but by the time it finished completely the machine rebooted into a blank screen that remained constant. I've reconnected my XP drive, booted into it and looked for a log fine in the Windows 7 drive but can't find one.

Any further ideas. Bear in mind I'm using genuine a MS disk and my hardware should be fine with 64 bit Windows 7!

thanks,

Mart.

Ztruker · 27 Mar 2011

Some possibilities I can think of.

1. Defective ram. Remove all but 1GB and see what happens. It will install a bit slower but not much.
2. Defective hard drive. Did you do long or Quick formats when creating the new partitions? Give the drive manufacturers diagnostic a try, see if it finds any errors.
3. Disconnect everything except what is absolutely needed for the install, especially any USB devices.

gregrocker · 27 Mar 2011

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

Remove all but 2gb of RAM to try install. Test your RAM: RAM - Test with Memtest86.

Wipe the HD before install: SSD - HDD Optimize for Windows Reinstallation.

Choose Custom Install, use Drive Options (Advanced) to partiition, format.

If install fails, post back verbatim error message or step at which it fails and exactly how: Clean Install Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums

mart9012 · 30 Mar 2011

Hi..

Just thought I would give you some feedback. I did all the things you suggested and finally installed the 64 bit version of Windows 7. I suspect that memory may have been an issue but the biggest issue seemed to be an HDMI cable. That was sorted out once ATI catalyst was installed. I gotta say that I don't like the 64bit installation. I wonder if the drivers are immature because my graphics had artifacts left on the screen and I was getting quite a lot of explorer crashes. My system did pass the 64 bit suitability.

Since my Windows 7 installation comes with both the 64but and the 32bit I deleted the partition and installed the 32 bit version. Already it is much more stable, runs at similar speeds and although I understand it won't use all 4Gb of installed memory on my machine I'm satisfied with things now.

Cheers for all your help.

Bare Foot Kid · 30 Mar 2011

Hello Mart, welcome to Seven Forums; good to see you got it sorted and thanks for the update; here's some information you may care to save for future use, you may find it useful at a later time.

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 first 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 Primary partitions or an Extended partition 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

If you don't want to wipe the entire HDD, you can do a partition-specific wipe of the Windows partition using the Partition Wizard Bootable Disk (PWBD) have a look at Option Three in the tutorial at this link below.

Partition Wizard : Use the Bootable CD

Xybernauts · 07 Oct 2011

I had the same problem as the original poster. My High Definition Audio drivers had become corrupted. I tried to uninstall and reinstall them, but the same corrupted drivers kept on being reinstalled. After troubleshooting for awhile I decided to try to upgrade my OS. Originally I had Windows 7 x64 Ultimate installed. I tried to upgrade with the same disc I used during the original installation, but it didn't work. Kept on getting an error message telling me that it couldn't upgrade because the disc wasn't up-to-date. The original disc was from 2009. I had a friend who had a more recent version Windows 7 x64 ultimate disc from around 05/2011. Same OS, just more up-to-date. I was able to upgrade my OS without having to format my hard disk. The upgrade completed successfully after a few hours and by the end of the process my audio drivers were working again. I didn't lose anything. Basically all my files and programs and setting were intact.

I just wrote this to let future visitors know what worked for me. There were alot of options, but for me this seemed to be the easiest. Also thanks Bare Foot Kid for the 411.