Windows 7: Installation Problem

Hi folks,

I thought that I would try last night to see if I could get Windows 7 to install on my system, before I go ahead with the triple boot. I shrunk my C: drive, and created a blank partition to install Windows 7 on. I didn't format this partition, so in effect it was a blank drive. I restarted the machine and allowed Windows 7 to boot up from the DVD. On the install page, I selected Custom and Windows 7 recognised the RAID array, meaning that there should be no problem driver wise. It correctly saw that Vista was in a partition of 650 GB, and the blank partition on which I was going to install Windows 7.

So far, so good. I then selected the blank partition and Windows 7 proceeded to commence installing. Again, no problems. It went through the first restart and came back to the installation routine with no problems. However, a couple of minutes or so after this restart, my monitor went blank. The mouse was still responding (lighting up when moved) and the keyboard was also responding (NumLock key operating and toggling the indicator). The system was still on, and the HDD activity light was still blinking. I should also point out that I had done nothing procedurally different to any of my previous OS installs - all peripherals except mouse, keyboard and monitor were switched off, although not unplugged. The power supply to my router was also switched off.

I waited a short while, and, because nothing was coming up on my monitor, I decided to restart my system using the Reset button. It then restarted, went back into the installation routine and basically said that there was an error and that it could not continue. This happened a couple of times, at which point I decided to boot back into Vista by pressing F8 during boot up to go to the Windows 7 boot menu and then Esc to go to the OS selection menu. Once back in Vista, I deleted the Windows 7 partition and expanded the Vista partition back to its original size. Vista now boots up as if nothing has changed.

I shall probably have another go at this tonight. What I want to know is this: Is this normal for Windows 7 installation, and if so, how long roughly does this blank monitor phase last? If it is not normal, is it possible that my DVD is corrupted, bearing in mind that it got through the first phase as described above?

Just a thought. Would it matter which port on the graphics card the monitor is connected to?

Hi Dwarf,


It's possible it's a bad iso. Some say burning it at the slowest speed helps. Maybe also format your new partition.

Thanks Aaron. I'l try downloading a fresh copy of Windows 7. As for formatting the partition, well new disks aren't formatted, so I reckon that this shouldn't be a problem, especially as the installation got part way through.

You could try mounting the ISO within Vista and running the setup from there.

We need you to fully join "The Dark Side" Dwarf.

Thanks, John. How do you do that? Also, would I be able to install it to a separate partition using this method?

I had exactly the same problem with the newer builds ever since they included the Nvidia Display driver, earlier builds installed flawlessly, unfortunately the only work around I had for this was to either use a different video card for the install, which worked for me once but still isn't a guarantee and the other method was to leave the partly installed OS there and start the install again and so far that method has worked nearly every time.

I have no explanation for these methods working but that's all I have been able to do to get this build installed, I hope this helps and good luck.

I fully intend to, Aaron, just as soon as I have sorted the installation problem.

Download an ISO mounting app, like ULTRAISO and mount the ISO file as a virtual CD-ROM.

Then open setup.exe from that virtual cd rom drive , from within Windows.

Check out this thread too:
Good Free App that mounts ISO images? Problems burning too.

I have again tried to install Windows 7 as per the method described in the first post in this thread. I am pleased to say that this time it was a SUCCESS! I shall have a little play around with it to find out its capabilities and then, when I have time, I shall set up my system to triple boot Vista Home Premium 32-bit, Vista Ultimate 64-bit (both SP1) and Windows 7. These will be installed in separate partitions. Incidentally, I am also pleased to report that I have no problems in connecting to the Internet with Windows 7. The only thing that seems to be missing is an e-mail program, however I can use the web-based version instead.