Windows 7/Vista Installation Fails

Britt · 08 Jun 2011

I'm back with another issue. I'm setting up a PC for recording TV and it needs Windows 7 or Vista as the OS (since they come pre-installed with Media Center). This is the PC. The specs are also included:

Shuttle XPC Barebone

It contains 2GB DDR2 ram and a 500GB Seagate HDD.

During the windows installation (either Win7 or Vista) three things can happen:

-When the disc boots up, the GUI of the installation freezes and hangs indefinitely.
-When windows begins to install and expand the files, the PC will reboot randomly.
-During install, the screen will go black with only a few red pixels present.
*This happens with both 32/64bit installations.

I tried putting in a different video card to see if that was the issue, but no dice. Also, I know this system can run windows vista/7 because my father is using the same exact PC model (SN68SG2) and is running Vista ultimate 32bit just fine.

I have already diagnosed the RAM and HDD and they are in working order. For some reason, the only OS that installs without issues is XP. Worse case scenario, I can get XP media center edition, but I'd have to obtain a disc or iso to even test it out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :)

P.S. My Win7 computer experienced a 0xf4 BSOD. Google gave me nada on it. Any ideas what caused it?

theog · 08 Jun 2011

Have you cleaned the HD?

Britt · 08 Jun 2011

Yup. Made no difference.

theog · 08 Jun 2011

Are all parts new.

Is this a brand new Windows 7 DVD you are using.

Britt · 08 Jun 2011

The shuttle PC is a couple years old, but it was bought brand new, so were all the components. A previous XP OS has been running in it and I've experienced no problems whatsoever during its use.

The windows 7 disc is a backup copy of my genuine DVD (I make backups of all my discs). Sadly, I lost the genuine DVD during a move, but this disc has worked perfectly in all my other projects. It has no scratches.

gregrocker · 08 Jun 2011

The installer is still the prime suspect. Try writing the ISO to flash stick using this tool with Win7 in the dropdown menu: USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive - Create - Windows 7 Forums Then boot it under USB or HD's using one-time BIOS Boot Menu key.

If you don't have a flash stick until you can obtain one try burning another DVD using ImgBurn at 4x speed.

Try resetting the CMOS: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

While In BIOS setup make sure SATA controller is set to AHCI.

Unplug all other HD's and peripherals.

Britt · 08 Jun 2011

The shuttle pc doesn't support booting from a usb flash drive. Is there a workaround for that?

As for burning, does it matter that I use ImgBurn or not? I have PowerISO and I always burn at 4x speed. Never got a bad disc from it. And the windows 7 disc was used on another physical hdd a few days ago, and it had no issues.

But I'll try and find another ISO.

gregrocker · 08 Jun 2011

Sometimes the bootable flash stick shows up as a HD, or else it will be under USB or Removeable. Try and see in both BIOS setup and one-time BIOS Boot Menu.

Have you reset the CMOS yet, and how did you "clean" the HD? SSD - HDD Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

You can use HashTab... is the coolest thing ever!
to check the ISO integrity against Windows 7 RTM SHA-1 hash - checksums

Britt · 08 Jun 2011

Yes. I have reset the cmos to the default settings. I changed the sata controller to ahci and that made no difference. I cleaned the hdd using the techniques you linked to, but to no avail.

I'll try making a bootable usb, but I have doubts that it will work.

gregrocker · 08 Jun 2011

You can also try running Win7 installer from XP to see if it will install to overwrite XP, or install to a separate partition - we can later help you remove XP.

Another last resort is to install HD in another computer alone, install to it, then SysPrep the HD so it starts up on other hardware, swap it back to target machine: SysPrep to move HD to another computer