Processor Core fatal hardware error on install is probably not good

This probably is a stupid question. If I was doing a clean install of Win 7 Pro with SP1 and on the reboot right before the "setup is preparing your computer for first use" display, when the machine restarted the screen was black for some hours and I had to do a hard reboot and when it came back up, the "windows did not shut down properly" message displayed and I started Windows normally and checked the system logs to find

Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-WHEA-Logger
Date: 5/17/2013 9:23:25 PM
Event ID: 18
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords:
User: LOCAL SERVICE
Computer: computer1
Description:
A fatal hardware error has occurred.

Reported by component: Processor Core
Error Source: Machine Check Exception
Error Type: Unknown Error
Processor ID: 1

and even though it seemed to be acting normal, this is one error you probably dont want to see at installation time and I should probably consider the whole installation as not to be trusted and should reformat and reinstall, no? I'd rather do that then having it choke after it does all the updates (88) and I install all the applications etc.

Does the installation complete when you start it up now?

If not reboot into DVD, delete all partitions using Drive Options as shown in Step 7 of Clean Install Windows 7, create new as you wish to format for reinstall.

Do you have an overheating problem that could have shut down the processor? I'd run Core Temp in the system tray to monitor it for awhile. YOu may need to blow out dust or repaste the processor.

gregrocker said:

Does the installation complete when you start it up now?

If not reboot into DVD, delete all partitions using Drive Options as shown in Step 7 of Clean Install Windows 7, create new as you wish to format for reinstall.

Do you have an overheating problem that could have shut down the processor? I'd run Core Temp in the system tray to monitor it for awhile. YOu may need to blow out dust or repaste the processor.

It was a clean install. When I did the hard reboot and chose 'run Windows normally', Windows started - the installation was complete. I logged on to Windows without problems. Like I said it runs normally so far. Did an sfc /scannow it found no integrity violations. Its a laptop

Look over the steps for Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 to stick with the tools and methods that assure a perfect install. If you've varied much from them already then I'd do it over.

Right up through #8, I did nothing different. There is no data to worry about. The disk was PGP encrypted, I ran DBAN on it, did a custom install, deleted all partitions, booted to the Win7/SP1 iso I downloaded from MS and burned to DVD at 1x. Up to the point I outlined in my first post, there was nothing else to do. I can re do it, its no big deal, I havent even run the post SP1 updates yet, just wanted to know if that particular error was as bad as it sounded, making doing it over a MUST.

I'd proceed and do all rounds of Important and Optional Updates, with reboots, after enabling Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware (Step 3).

Then import any drivers missing in Device Manager from the PC's Support Downloads webpage.

Keep with the setup steps and you'll have a perfect install. Watch the logs, monitor CPU temps to see if the fatal error was more than an anomaly.