Problem with installer hanging

volodei · 23 May 2011

I am sorry in advance if I am posting something that has already been resolved but I cant seem to find anyone on here who has had a problem similar enough to mine for a proper solution to my problem.

For starters My sys specs are as follows:

psu: 450 watt coolmax
mainboard: xfx nvidia nforce 780i sli
processor: intel q8400 2.66ghz 1333fsb 4mb cache
ram: 2x 1g OCZ platimum ddr2
hdd: hittachi 1tb drive sata deskstar
gpu: 2x evga geforce 9500 gt 521mb
optical drive: lg super multi dvd rw drive

I was having an issue with startup after an unknown window update install (unkown as in its my wifes rig and I was told second hand by her that it was after a windows update install). I attempted startup repair multiple times with no real outcome until i swapped over my main os hdd and was then able to run startup repair on her hdd. From that point on I was able to run win 7 from either drive rather succesfully until the next day. I receieved a text message from the wife while I was at work stating windows updated again and startup was not possible ( thus again i have no idea what update it was). since that point I have been unable to even run startup repair on her hdd even with the previous fix of using my hdd to do so (I know using my HDD doesn't make a whole lot of sense but I was desperate for a solution at the time.) I finnally gave up with trying to repair the installation booted into 7 using my hdd and backed up her essential files. I then attempted to boot the win 7 installer from dvd. I was not able to boot to dvd from the installed drive. I then swapped out her sata dvd drive for my ide drive. I was still unable to boot into dvd. I then decided to just wipe the hdd altogether and start from scratch. DBAN booted just fine from the ide drive but would not load from the sata drive.
After a quick wipe (well 1tb drive so ill let you all be the judge of quick there lol) I then shut the rig down and removed my hdd and her sata optical drive and attempted to load into the installer. The dvd begins to load into the installer but hangs everytime at the loading windows screen. I have tried multiple reconfigurations of hardware to resolve this issue inculding but not limited to:
*video cards in/out of sli (i do not have onboard graphics otherwise i would have tried that)
*sata optical drive and ide optical drive
*ps2 mouse and keyboard v. usb
* i swapped my mem out for hers (4x 1gb sli ready ocz ddr2 mem)
* tried every combination of mem dimms immaginable (1 to4 gigs and all variations in between)
*tried removing her hdd and installed mine and still the installer hangs at starting windows.
*while i had my hdd installed i booted to windows to test hardware stability and ran pcmark burn in 6 to test stability ran tests for 30 mins without any glitches or hardware failures

so any guidance and help would be much appreciated. this problem has had me stumped for about 3 weeks now and it is just unimaginably frustrating.

thanks in advance for the help guys.

gregrocker · 24 May 2011

In the future, so you know: to recover from Updates as apparent cause of Win7 not booting, boot into System Recovery Options to System Restore to before the Update. Also to change Win7 to new hardware you need to Sysprep it's HD first, or run Paragon Adaptive Restore CD after moving the HD but before trying to start it. Memory also cannot be swapped between machines unless it exactly matches spec's.

Unplug all peripherals and all other HD's except the target HD plugged into SATA1.

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 this fails, try IDE mode.

You may have a problem with installer. If retail, clean the disk with soft cloth using outward motion. If you downloaded and burned the DVD yourself, confirm ISO integrity and burn another using ImgBurn at 4x speed.

Next write the confirmed ISO (or extracted from DVD with ImgBurn) to flash stick using this tool with Win7 in the drop-down: Universal USB Installer – Easy as 1 2 3 | USB Pen Drive. Boot under USB or HD's.

Test your RAM with memtest86 CD for 5-6 passes or overnight: RAM - Test with Memtest86+ then test your HD using maker's diagnostics/repair CD extended scan: Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp

There are other steps to try after reporting back what happens with those given. Or you can install in your other machine, SysPrep the HD to remove all drivers to move to problem machine, or run Paragon Adaptive Restore on the moved HD before starting. SysPrep to move HD to another computer

theog · 24 May 2011

Where did you buy your Windows 7?

volodei · 24 May 2011

Gregrocker: thanks for the input. that being said... i am not a novice user. My very first response was to boot into sys recovery. I could not boot into that nor safe mode nor startup repair nor debug mode. now as far as the hdd swapping it is not advisable to just swap win7 drives but it is doable and was only done so initially to test sys components to make sure it was a software issue and not a hardware issue. in regards the memory swapping, i custom built both rigs and do a reasonable side business of pc building and repair i would not make such a common mistake of trying to swap in components that were not compatible to the target system.

Now back to the problem at hand. let me simply state the problem. I CANNOT boot into any windows install disc. I have in my possession one win7 home premium 64bit oem install disc, one win7 ult 32bit install disc, and one win7 ult 64bit install disc. They are original disc without damage or dirt. I know for a fact all three discs work, as I have successfully booted into the installer environment on 2 other pcs with these disc to just verify functionality of discs. Now on the pc i am trying to install with previously mentioned specs i am able to boot into DBAN, Hirens, AVG Recovery tools, clonezilla, sardu, and ubuntu but i however cannot get a windows installer to boot. i have even tried just for fun to attempt a boot into the installer environment without a hdd present and surprise surprise i cannot boot into the installer.

at this point my goal is to make sure that in the event that i have to repair this os in the future i am fully able to utilize the built in windows utilities to do so. thus my obsession with being able to be able to boot into the windows installer and thus access the repair utility if i again am unable to access it from the utility partition.

theog i purchased my win7 home pro 64 bit from tigerdirect. my win7 ult from newegg.