Windows 7 fresh installation on new hardware

Seyeco · 07 Jan 2011

Let me start off by saying that I have seen several similar posts in these and other forums, but none have exactly the same symptoms as I have with this problem.

Backstory :
I previously had windows 7 dualbooting with Ubuntu on my barebones computer kit (with a Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT video card upgrade)
The specifications of this machine were as follows:

Motherboard - Evga 7050/610i
Processor - Intel core 2 Quad Q6600 (at about 2.4ghz)
Memory - (2x2gb) 4gb DDR2
Power - 450W
HDD - 500gb Sata

details beyond this, I either don't know or can't find.

I decided to upgrade my computer in the hopes of expanding it further later this year, so the changes I made were :

Motherboard -> Gigabyte GA-H55M-USB3
Processor -> Intel Core i5 655k (at 3.2ghz NOT OVERCLOCKED)
Memory -> (2x4gb) 8gb DDR3 (at 1333)
Power -> 600W

I planned on keeping the HDD the same and doing a system repair to recover the Windows7 and Ubuntu installations on this hardware. Basically....I was putting the old harddrive in a completely new computer.

I tried to run the computer with the video card, but quickly found out that the mobo wasnt set up for it yet. I started off only using 1 stick of ram as well. The bios and post run exactly as they should, I made sure the bios settings for the HDD were set to Sata IDE (like the old mobo settings), I set my cd drive and HDD as first and second boot order, respectively, and I tried to start up windows 7 from GRUB (like normal). 7 started to load, the windows animation started, and then after a few seconds, the entire system abruptly turned off - waited a few seconds - and turned itself back on.

I searched many forums and found similar reactions for hardware changes, and tried their solutions. First I tried a system recovery (the suggested option when loading the OS after the restart). It said it couldn't fix any problems. Then I tried to use a restore point, but this had no effect. I put the Win7 install cd in, but it takes 5 full minutes to load, then another 5 to setup after the language select, then it only asks to reinstall or repair. Repair has the same effect as the OS's suggested repair (cannot fix problems). I tried windows memory test and it said the ram was working fine.

So I decided to backup my info on flash drives, and wipe the HDD and try a clean install (wiping both ubuntu and 7, formatting half the drive for 7, and leaving the other half untouched). The installation process seemed to be working fine until windows does the first mandatory restart. When the computer restarted, I first tried to boot from CD again (I couldnt remember if the install needed to finish from HDD or if it picked back up on CD), but it asked to install (so i started over with that and wiped the previous info). The second time around, I let it boot from the HDD. It went through the windows animation, displayed a message saying it was editing registry values, then abruptly cut off - waited a few seconds - restarted itself, and gave me a message saying windows cut off unexpectedly and asked how I wanted to try starting windows.

Safe mode as well as Normal mode have the same load-off-on-load-off-on-etc... effect.

Any Ideas?
Sorry for the book...and all the "i tried/decided/searched"....and thanks in advanced!

[EDIT]: safe mode stops on loading drivers .../disk.sys and then off-on-etc...

1Bowtie · 07 Jan 2011

My suggestion is with Win 7 dvd start the install, go to the point where it shows the hdd to install too, you will see at the bottom right of that screen you'll see drive options click that and do delete volumn then do the same to the second partition and leave the whole drive unallocated and x your way all the way out of the install. Shut down with the dvd in the drive and start back up and it should start the install. Have any other hdd's unplugged and sound card removed, also make sure in bios the other hdd's are turned off and if you have onboard sound it's turned off

gregrocker · 07 Jan 2011

It may need a more thorough cleaning of the HD especially if it has remaining GRUB code which can corrupt Win7 when on the same HD. Use Diskpart Clean All to write zeroes to the HD: SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

The best arrangement for any multi-boot is using separate HD's, booted via BIOS Boot Order or one-time BIOS Boot Menu instead of GRUB or Windows-managed. To achieve this, unplug the other HD during install.

Check also you have the latest BIOS version update. If so, reset the CMOS: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

In BIOS setup set the SATA controller to AHCI first, then IDE if necessary.

Seyeco · 07 Jan 2011

I'm currently trying 1Bowtie's method, and I will post any changes. The last bit of information i should have mentioned is that between early solution-tests and actually wiping the hard drive, I reconnected the HD to the old computer to backup the important files. It loaded up fine and had no errors, problems, or irregularities.

-be back with an update-

[UPDATE]:

Installation complete!

ok, so I am going to describe exactly what i did.

I booted from cd-drive Windows 7 installation disk.
- deleted partitions
- X-ed out of install and Force-shutdown.
I then turned it back on
- hit <delete> to enter bios
- selected Integrated Peripherals
- set Onboard USB 3.0 Controller to <disabled>
- turned HPET Support to <disabled>
- <F10> save BIOS to CMOS
Computer restarted (as it should)
- hit <F12> to choose device to load from
- booted from Windows 7 install CD
- went through the installation as usual.
Computer then auto-restarted (as per windows installation requirements)
- took install CD out before BIOS even started
- it booted from HDD (and no grub now because of the wipe)
->>>>>FINISHED INSTALLATION!<<<<<

now i'm going to shut it down, try to install the second ram-> run it -> if successful, shut down, try to install original graphics card -> run -> add Internet and update.

Thank you 1Bowtie and Gregrocker!