MS-6585 motherboard installation

[nsutherland]

I am trying to instal Windows 7 Professional (MS upgrade disc) on an elderly (2002) machine which has an MSI-6585 (aka 648 Max) motherboard. It has 2Gb RAM, Seagate 250Gb hard drive and nVidia 7800GS graphics card. The current OS is XP SP3.

The system passes the Windows Upgrade Advisor tests with no problems.

Having read somewhere that the board is unable to recognise the boot sector of the Win 7 DVD, I followed the suggestion to create a new DVD using the boot sector of a Vista DVD - but all to no avail.

MSI says simply that the motherboard is too old for Windows 7. Maybe I shall have to accept this, but I should be interested to hear of others experiences with this board, which I think was quite common at one time.

All suggestions gratefully received!

 

[gregrocker]

Try running the DVD from the XP desktop, if it will run then overwrite XP or install to a second partition.

What are the exact errors or symptoms you get when you try to boot the DVD and Custom install with formatting?

Try tapping the Fkey given on the first bootup screen for Boot Menu. Or use the Fkey to enter
BIOS setup and set DVD drive to boot first.

 

[nsutherland]

Symptoms

I realise I should have given a little more information about the problem.

On each occasion so far I have attempted to do a custom installation from the XP desktop. Setup copies files, then starts expanding them. It reaches 27% - always 27% - then says it requires a reboot. After the reboot the system tries to load Windows 7 but freezes on the 'Starting Windows' screen at the point where the four windows merge into the Windows logo.

Having researched the MS Technet I suspected that this behaviour was connected to the error 'Code 5 - cannot boot from CD/DVD' which appears briefly. Reports attribute this to an incompatibility between Win 7 and certain MSI motherboards. Unfortunately creating a new ISO image with a Vista boot sector does not solve the problem. MSI simply says the motherboard is too old.

 

[gregrocker]

In that case try booting from the DVD to do a Custom install, using Drive tools to format first.

If you are not prompted to "hit any key to boot from CD/DVD drive" at bootup, then restart and look for F-key given on first bootup screen to enter Boot Menu where you can select DVD drive.

 

[sdigital]

Without offending you in any way, I'd like to insert my personal opinion about MSI boards. I think they are total junk and I would take this as a sign to change it out. Every time I had a computer with an MSI board, I eventually had some crazy problems because random components on the board just unexpectedly died.

Alternatively, you can always try booting from a Flash Drive using the instructions referenced here:

http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/49823-hp-netbook-win-7-starter.html#post463783

 

[nsutherland]

In that case try booting from the DVD to do a Custom install, using Drive tools to format first.

If you are not prompted to "hit any key to boot from CD/DVD drive" at bootup, then restart and look for F-key given on first bootup screen to enter Boot Menu where you can select DVD drive.

OK, so this is what happened:

I formatted the C: drive. I then tried to boot from the Windows 7 DVD, and got a general boot failure. So then I used the DVD I created using ImgBurn, which uses the Vista boot sector. I got 'Windows is loading files', followed by 'Starting Windows' which froze just before the four coloured blobs coalesced into the Windows logo. Big red switch time again. I'm beginning to think that the upgrade to Windows 7 is truly impossible on this machine, so unless anyone has any brilliant new ideas I think I shall have to stick with XP until its dying day. I've been reluctant to give up, having gone to the trouble and expense of installing extra memory, larger hard disk and the best graphics card I could find for the AGP slot - but life's too short.

 

[gregrocker]

What did you use to format the drive? Use booted Win7 DVD Custom Drive tools to make sure formatting is compatible.

Try taking out the extra memory, then video card to see if it will install.

If this fails, then consider putting the HD into another computer to install Win7. I do this when I cannot get DVD or flash to boot and it always works.

It will swap out all the drivers when reinstalled, requesting several restarts, but then is ready to be activated and runs fine normally.

 

[RogerR]

If this fails, then consider putting the HD into another computer to install Win7. I do this when I cannot get DVD or flash to boot and it always works.

It will swap out all the drivers when reinstalled, requesting several restarts, but then is ready to be activated and runs fine normally.

Good tip!!

 

[nsutherland]

Gregrocker,

I don't know why I hadn't thought about installing on another machine. I have a perfectly good Win 7 machine here. From what I recall of the installation process I should be able to instal the old XP drive as a second drive and choose to instal Win 7 to that rather than the C: drive. Whether it works or not, at least it will resolve once and for all whether the old machine can run Windows 7.

Thanks very much for your help - watch this space!

 

[gregrocker]

You can switch out Win7 HD easily enough (so far) but not so much with XP. It requires a full repair install if switched to another machine to even get it to start and may throw activation fits.

If you move a HD to another machine to install Win7, be sure to unplug the extant HD or it will configure a dual boot that will make Win7 unbootable when returned to its home computer.

 

[nsutherland]

So I tried removing the extra RAM and the graphics card and attempted a clean installation - still no go.

So I took the formatted drive out of the offending machine and installed it in my primary PC - having first disconnected the two existing drives. Windows 7 installed from the upgrade DVD with no problems, so with mounting excitement I reinstalled the drive in the original machine along with the extra RAM and graphics card.

On first powering up the 'Starting Windows' text appeared but then the machine rebooted and announced that Windows had failed to load; offering the options of repairing the installation or continuing to load Windows as normal. Choosing the repair option gives 'Windows is loading files ...' followed by a blank screen - the machine is then locked up (no further disc activity and the only control that works is the power switch). Choosing to load Windows as normal results in a reboot and the same boot selector screen.

I'm grateful to Gregrocker for the idea of installing the OS using another machine - but have we now established that the PC is incapable of running Windows 7, or is there something else I could have missed?

 

[gregrocker]

Boot from the Windows 7 DVD select Repair my computer then click through to Recovery tools and run Startup Repair repeatedly until it starts Win7.

Failing that, tap F8 at bootup to try to get into Safe Mode, then run http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html?ltr=R from Win7 desktop in Safe mode to reacclimate OS to the new hardware.

 

[nsutherland]

Still trying ...

Latest news:

The system won't boot from the MS Win 7 disc, nor from the one I created using the Vista boot sector. In the latter case it tries to load files, but then the screen goes blank and the system is locked - though the drive light remains lit.

Next I tried F8 at startup, and selected Safe Mode. A list of loaded files scrolled down the screen, until it stopped at 'Loaded: \windows\system32\DRIVERS\disk.sys'. Then, as usual, the system locked up and refused to respond to stimuli.

I'll see what else I can think of, but at the moment I need a drink!

 

[nsutherland]

Still no progress ...

Well, I was convinced that Gregrocker's technique - moving the target hard disk to an alternative machine and installing the Windows 7 OS there before returning the drive to its home machine - would have to work. In a sense it has, because it has ruled out any possibility that the problems I was experiencing were simply 'installation' problems. I know now that I have a working copy of Windows 7 on the C: drive of my machine, yet the OS still will not start - not even in safe mode - and I cannot boot from the Windows 7 DVD. I am back to thinking that the problem lies in some peculiarity of the hardware on the MS-6585 motherboard that is not picked up by the Windows Upgrade Advisor.

Anyway, on this side of the Atlantic it's time to celebrate the New Year so I'm off to do just that. Perhaps 2010 will bring new inspiration!

Happy New Year to you all!

 

[gregrocker]

I'm not sure you can yet conclude WIn7 won't run on your hardware just by swapping a HD you installed on another machine. What did Upgrade advisor scan say?

There is a tool which my teacher SIW2 just linked that can make it certain, though, by auto-adapting the imported Win7 HD to your hardware.

Read the threads here where he explains it:

http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...sta-4-frustrating-failures-14.html#post474013

http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...dd-installing-2nd-hdd-same-pc.html#post472260

Will PM SIW2 to look at your issue and advise using the Adaptive Restore add-on to get Win7 running on your hardware. .

 

[SIW2]

Nothing will help if the hardware itself can't support the o/s.

Nevertheless, it's worth a try.

 

[gregrocker]

SIW2, which is the free Paragon download he would use to add-on Adaptive Restore?

Paragon Software: Download free partition software for home

Paragon Adaptive Restore (Add-on for Hard Disk Manager 2009 Suite and Pro) - Overview

 

[SIW2]

Greg,

As it says - it an add on for HDM Suite or Pro.

You have to own the products to get it.

They were giving away to anybody a variation of it in RC form, I think it is called Virtualization Manager 2009 RC - don't know if they still are.

 

[gregrocker]

Did you install Win7 on a machine with same number of cores as problem machine? That has what's always worked for me when moving HD to another machine to install.

 

[nsutherland]

Did you install Win7 on a machine with same number of cores as problem machine? That has what's always worked for me when moving HD to another machine to install.

The machine I used to install Win 7 has a Pentium dual core processor, whereas the target machine has a single core Pentium 4. Not sure why that should make a difference ... Naturally I installed the 32-bit version.

To answer your earlier question, the Windows Upgrade Advisor gave the Pentium 4 system a clean bill of health, with the proviso that it wouldn't be able to run the Aero interface (no big deal).