Windows 7: no installation method works?!

So when I try to install windows 7 from a burnt dvd i get an error that there are files missing, yet using the same DVD I was able to successfully install it on my laptop. (Side note, installing vista or xp works fine using my dvd drive)

A while ago I simply did an upgrade from vista to windows 7 and it worked fine, but I heard its far better to do a clean install. I tried using my portable harddrive and setting it up to boot from it (like using a usb stick) and when i start up the computer it just has a blinking line at the top left corner and thats it - using the same portable harddrive setup I again successfully installed it on my laptop.

I even tried doing a clean installation of vista then doing an upgrade to windows 7 and now it doesn't seem to want to work either (same files missing message)

System is:
P5B Deluxe, core 2 duo E8500, ATI 4890, 4gb crucial ballistX ram



thanks in advance for any help!!

Hi skyedemon, welcome to the forums.

Firstly, have you set the BIOS to boot from the USB drive? The default is CD/DVD then HD.

Also, the missing files...would they be CD/DVD driver files? If so you need to disable IDE emulation for SATA within the BIOS as this has been known to cause installation issue in Vista & Seven, i know you said it installed in Vista but it might just work.

Hope this helps




OS

guess I forgot to mention but yeah I changed the boot priority to the usb drive.

I'm not sure what you mean by IDE emulation, but in the bios theres a setting for SATA configuration that I currently have set to "compatible", other choices are "enhanced" and "disabled"

Try 'disabled' or 'enhanced' and see if that has any effect.

I set it to enhanced, booted from the dvd but is extremely slow; i've heard a lot of people have that answer but google searches don't yield good answers?

Best bet is to try disabled

Although, if the DVD is running slow you may still be able to install. Might take a while though...

with disabled, i couldn't even boot the dvd, just asked to enter bootable media. its 3am here so i probably shouldn't attempt a long install now haha

That might be best, you can reset the setting on the BIOS after you've finished the install anyway

Out of curiosity, what BIOS do you have? Name/Version

p5b deluxe bios version 1238, newest one asus has released

Sorry, been sorting other issues

What settings do you have available to you under this setting (while enabled)?