Windows 7: windows 7 professional install failure

I have just received an alienware m17x, and for my school network we need windows 7 pro installed. I used my action pack dvd and tried upgrading. It failed. I then wiped my main drive my booting into the dvd, and fresh re installing windows. I've done this multiple times, and everytime it comes up saying it needs to restart, then upon restart says 'completing installation' - but then it comes up saying 'windows setup could not configure windows to run on this computer's hardware' then restarts and says 'windows could not complete the installation. To install windows on this computer, restart the installation' - then restarts, shows me a boot option of four windows 7's and a windows setup rewind or mething, then shows the windows could not complete message again. I need this computer! Any help or ideas much appreciated...

What OS and version came with the Alienware PC on the day you got it?

What is an "action pack dvd"?

Do you have an ordinary Windows 7 Pro installation disc?

I assume you are trying upgrade installs rather than clean installs?

You say you "wiped my main drive". Do you have non-main drives? How did you do this "wiping"?

A screen shot of Windows Disk Management would help.

I got the laptop today, and it came with 7 home premium. Its a dvd from a microsoft action pack subscription, just a normal windows 7 disk tbh. No, only home premium disk which came with the laptop, and even a fresh install from that repeatedly fails. I'm now trying clean install, where I boot into the windows dvd, and in the install menu it says clean install or something, and shows my main hdd and a 9gb recovery hdd - I wipe my main hdd then continue with the install. All goes smoothly until the end. How do I get to disk management?

Type disk management into the start button search box.

More clarification needed on "wipe my main hdd". I assume you mean C, but "wipe" is not Windows terminology. What specific menu choices did you make?

Post the screen shot.

What I perhaps haven't made clear is I have erased my main hdd, and thus have no operating system installed on it - that is what I am attempting to do now. And when I was in the install windows menu, I selected my harddrive, and clicked the button underneath saying wipe or erase - I forget which. I am on my blackberry so don't think I can upload photos?

I assume you did not receive "recovery" disks with this PC?

It's difficult to tell what type of a mess you have made of things without the screen shot.

You say you are attempting a clean install. With the Windows 7 Premium disc you said you had in post 3? Or are you using some special Alien-branded disc?

How many physical hard drives in this PC? If you have more than 1, you should disconnect any discs other than the one you want to put Windows on before you begin.

I'd never heard of a Microsoft Action Pack, but it appears to be a subscription-based service for IT specialists, teachers and students.

Microsoft Action Pack Subscription

The subscription comes with what is termed internal-use licences including Windows 7 Professional.

https://mspartner.microsoft.com/en/u...criptions.aspx

I think David, you need to be getting support from your school IT Admin by the sound of it.

No, only the alienware branded home premium disk and some resource disks. And I have tried with both the normal pro disk, and the alien branded home premium disk. And just 1 hdd, a 750gb hdd.

Okay, but still, surely the windows disk should be the same?

I'm guessing you had a System Reserved partition, C, and 1 or more other partitions.

If you have deleted or otherwise mangled C, you may still be able to do a repair install from your Alienware-branded home premium disc.

Or you may still be able to access and use a recovery partition if the PC originally had one.

Any useful titles on these "resource disks"? Tjey may have a recovery mechanism, but I know nothing about Alienware.

I'd at least try to get into Diskpart and find out what partitions the thing has if you have no bootable C drive.

I'd also go to Alienware support site and see what they say about recovery.