Driving me crazy

dhwms · 15 Aug 2016

Several months ago when I shut the computer down the light indicating hard drive activity would go out but the power light would stay on. I turned the power off using the switch on the power supply. When I attempted to restart the computer it would not boot up. I decided to do a clean install using the OEM disk that I purchased when I built the computer several years ago. I went through the steps of doing a clean install and the installation would get to the "completing installation" step and after a couple of minutes the screen would go black. I tried to use the Windows disk to do a start up repair several times. The process would show that Windows 7 was installed and all of the repair sets were successfully. I tried new hard drives and downloaded an ISO file from Microsoft. I read someplace that the ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe, which was the motherboard I was using, would not run windows 7. I had used this motherboard for about 8 years running window 7 but I decided to replace everything except the video card and solve my problem. Now with a new motherboard, new CPU, new memory and a new power supply, I am still having the same problem. The installation is normal until it attempts the last restart and it dies. I have decided it is me that is causing the problem but I do not know what I am doing wrong and must be repeating my error each time I try to do a clean install.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Ranger4 · 15 Aug 2016

Hi dhwms, welcome to the Forum.

Is there a reason you did not change the video card as it may well have been the problem all along. You could try using the video output directly from the motherboard after firstly removing your old video card. If it now works properly you can then decide to continue using that or buy a new video card.

dhwms · 16 Aug 2016

The new motherboard, ASUS M5A97, does not have onboard video. After reading that the A8N- SLi Deluxe motherboard was manufactured before the release of Windows 7, I installed Windows XP Pro which ran just fine which confirmed that it could be the Windows 7 operating system. Am I correct in assuming that prior to changing everything that the OEM Windows 7 operating system should install on the same computer that it was first installed on? I expected to have to call to activate the ISO software file but the installation never gets to the point of asking for the product key. I will try a different video card.

Thanks

Ranger4 · 16 Aug 2016

Thanks for getting back. Let us know if the new video card overcomes the problem.

dhwms · 18 Aug 2016

Okay .....purchased a new video card and after installing the card I made another attempt to install Windows 7 Pro. The installation went fine and now I have my computer back. One thing that I do not understand is the fact that I could install Widows XP pro with the old video card but could not install Windows 7. Not that it matters now but if anyone has a theory on why xp would install but window 7 would not.

Thanks again for your help.

Ranger4 · 18 Aug 2016

You are welcome & thanks for getting back. Glad to hear that the computer is running properly now.

As computers progress, hardware & software changes & eventually some older hardware becomes incompatible with the latest software & will not work. This can be due to old drivers or outdated technology. Also when a new operating system comes out some of the old hardware manufacturers don't bother making it compatible, particularly if they have just released a new version to suit the new operating system.

XP is really completely different to Windows 7. The big change came with Vista which was the forerunner to 7.