Common Installation Problems and Their Solutions

[rustyHO]

Hey guys, i recently installed windows 7 ultimate in 32 bit then realized after that my computer is operational on 64 bit. i cannot do a clean install and load 64 bit it keeps loading 32 bit. it does not give me the option to instal 32 or 64 it just installs 32!! any ideas? I been hearing something about my bios or my I/O storing the activation key so somehow i have to delete it from there! im so lost, i have tried everything!! HELP lol

 

[jasin]

For all the people who tried to upgrade from Vista and their PC froze or got stuck at 62%... Microsoft has released a fix... http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/36351-microsoft-fixes-62-upgrade-hang-issue.html

I had that problem myself. I just ended up doing a clean install.

 

[jasin]

Hey guys, i recently installed windows 7 ultimate in 32 bit then realized after that my computer is operational on 64 bit. i cannot do a clean install and load 64 bit it keeps loading 32 bit. it does not give me the option to instal 32 or 64 it just installs 32!! any ideas? I been hearing something about my bios or my I/O storing the activation key so somehow i have to delete it from there! im so lost, i have tried everything!! HELP lol

My windows7 home premium box came with two discs, one for windows7 32bit and another for windows7 64bit. Perhaps you are not using the 64bit disc?

 

[Jonathan_King]

Hey guys, i recently installed windows 7 ultimate in 32 bit then realized after that my computer is operational on 64 bit. i cannot do a clean install and load 64 bit it keeps loading 32 bit. it does not give me the option to instal 32 or 64 it just installs 32!! any ideas? I been hearing something about my bios or my I/O storing the activation key so somehow i have to delete it from there! im so lost, i have tried everything!! HELP lol

The 32 and 64-bit versions come on a different disc. It will not ask you which one to install.

You will need to obtain a 64-bit copy. Contact Microsoft, and they should send you a DVD to you for a small fee.

Or find a friend with the 64-bit version and borrow their disc.

 

[pirate8]

what to do??

when i tried to install/format my laptop, it said that my partitions does not contain enough space that is requiered to install windows seven..how to correct this error??

 

[Darryl Licht]

when i tried to install/format my laptop, it said that my partitions does not contain enough space that is requiered to install windows seven..how to correct this error??

After backing up all your data, choose a custom install, then delete any partitions and continue with install. That is depending on how large your laptop HDD is... which you didnt tell us, but I am assuming it is large enough (16GB for 32 bit / 20GB for 64 bit).

 

[soulform]

hey folks,

I'm trying to install windows 7 with a copy my friend burnt for me. The copy of windows 7 is essentially an iso image and has been written onto dvd. I currently have windows server 2008 and cannot upgrade from this so fresh install is necessary and preferred anyway. When trying to install all I seem to get to is the "Preparing Windows" screen with the flashy new windows logo. Left it over night thinking it might just take a while but after 7 hours...same screen. tried another 3 times this morning and nothing. My friend is an IT tech and has used the same image to install on many computers..

Any help would be damned well appreciated.
Cheers,
Trent

 

[Jonathan_King]

Welcome Trent!

Have you followed all the tips, like disconnect video cards, remove all but one stick of RAM, etc?

 

[soulform]

No I haven't, is this a problem commonly fixed by such modification?

 

[Jonathan_King]

No I haven't, is this a problem commonly fixed by such modification?

Yes, it is. Give it a try, you never know what will work.

Let us know how it works out.

 

[zapp22]

Will install fail because of USB KBD/Mse ?

Optiplex GX620. this system has no old-school kbd & mouse ports.
Tried backup/restore to new drive for a week and all failed.
Now trying fresh clean install with Windows 7 Ultimate on DVD, fresh 500gb drive that I have checked for errors.
Install bails ~20% of "expanding, or less.
Error 0X80070001 "Windows cannot install required files.

Is there something about a USB-only system that makes it difficult to install, upgrade, restore from backup, etc? Prior to trying this install I tried about a dozen times to restore to a new drive using a clean backup image [using Image For Windows], which backup I had validated byte-for-byte. it would fail to validate on the Restore, citing "stream error".

only thing I have not checked is a thorough overnight memory test. The system was up and running for a week solid with the original Win7 Pro on a small hard drive... no issues that I could see.

thx for any advice.
z

 

[DocBrown]

zapp22, Have you dis-connected all extra USB devices other than KB & mouse ?

Only 1 monitor, NO TV card installed.

What video card do you have or is the video on the MB ? VGA, DVI, or HDMI ?


Have you looked at our Questions list ?

http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...-use-help-installation-issues.html#post300660

 

[zapp22]

I'll try dropping the vid card on next retry. the pcix16 is a common nvidia card.it defaults to plain jane vga

took a tip from somewhere on the forum to dump memory; pulled all but one stick. nothing in usb except keyboard dongle.

i had high hopes for win7....

zapp22, Have you dis-connected all extra USB devices other than KB & mouse ?

Only 1 monitor, NO TV card installed.

What video card do you have or is the video on the MB ? VGA, DVI, or HDMI ?


Have you looked at our Questions list ?

http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...-use-help-installation-issues.html#post300660

 

[zapp22]

p.s. is it "normal" on an install from DVD for the "Expanding Windows Files" section to just stay on "0%" for a long time, or is that telling me something evil?

 

[DocBrown]

p.s. is it "normal" on an install from DVD for the "Expanding Windows Files" section to just stay on "0%" for a long time, or is that telling me something evil?

Yes that can be typical of it getting hung up on a hardware problem, video, ram, etc.

 

[zapp22]

Doc, is there a way to verify/validate the DVD itself?
are some DVD/ROM/RW units suspect?

p.s. is it "normal" on an install from DVD for the "Expanding Windows Files" section to just stay on "0%" for a long time, or is that telling me something evil?

Yes that can be typical of it getting hung up on a hardware problem, video, ram, etc.

 

[DocBrown]

Doc, is there a way to verify/validate the DVD itself?
are some DVD/ROM/RW units suspect?

p.s. is it "normal" on an install from DVD for the "Expanding Windows Files" section to just stay on "0%" for a long time, or is that telling me something evil?

Yes that can be typical of it getting hung up on a hardware problem, video, ram, etc.

Yes, Sony DVD drives were a problem in the Beta testing installs.

What make & model is your DVD ? IDE or SATA ?

 

[zapp22]

one more question: on each of these repeated reboot/retry/fails, I note that the drive shows the boot partition having been established, but the bigger partition I assume has little/nothing, and the install routine wants to default to "installing Windows 7" on the Partition 2. Shouldn't I be deleting those failed partitions each time?

 

[zapp22]

TSS Corp. I'll have to check the exact model on the next fail, which should be just any moment now. These are the standard units dell put in a bunch of Optiplex machines.
It is IDE, position Zero, and has a companion CD-only on the same IDE bus, position 1.

Doc, is there a way to verify/validate the DVD itself?
are some DVD/ROM/RW units suspect?

Yes that can be typical of it getting hung up on a hardware problem, video, ram, etc.

Yes, Sony DVD drives were a problem in the Beta testing installs.

What make & model is your DVD ? IDE or SATA ?

 

[DocBrown]

one more question: on each of these repeated reboot/retry/fails, I note that the drive shows the boot partition having been established, but the bigger partition I assume has little/nothing, and the install routine wants to default to "installing Windows 7" on the Partition 2. Shouldn't I be deleting those failed partitions each time?

Win7 usually makes a smaller & a larger partition on a freash install, unless you have pre-formatted the HD. So it should overwrite the failed installs. Worst case you might have some windows.old folder to delete later on.