no installation method works?!

It appears that the DVD drive is not reading the DVD correctly. This is not uncommon.

The clue here is: "So when I try to install windows 7 from a burnt dvd i get an error that there are files missing, yet using the same DVD I was able to successfully install it on my laptop"

If you booted from the DVD, all BIOS settings were fine when you started out.

Replace the DVD drive on the target machine. The laptop DVD drive is a known working drive - use it.

If you are not comfortable with disassembling your laptop, buy a new DVD drive (rated to read your DVD type). You can return the drive for a refund if you are sufficiently sinister.

What model DVD drive do you have, and what controller is it connected to if it is a SATA drive?

writemaster, i think thats samsung? don't know model exactly, its getting old though and it doesn't have litescribe. It's plugged directly into the motherboard sata ports

That's interesting, because your configuration is similar to mine, and I mostly can't run the install either. I did get it to run once, but the installed version of Windows 7 can't find the cdrom device.

In my case, I have a Samsung SATA DVD connected to the JMB363 controller on the motherboard. So far, I've tried updating the DVD firmware and that hasn't helped. The next two tests I plan to try are to flash the BIOS to get the most recent JMB363 firmware and to try recabling the computer to connect the DVD to one of the ICH7R (or TX4302) ports instead of the JMB363 port.

I've seen suggestions to replace the drive. For anyone who has done this, I'd like to know if replacing a SATA DVD drive with another SATA drive, using the same controller, has been successful. If successful, what model drive did you install?

I think that's the same as using a portable harddrive? cause i've already tried that. I upgraded from vista to windows 7 and seems to run fine now, the vista i had was only on for a few days so it wasn't bogged down or anything

skyedemon said:

I upgraded from vista to windows 7 and seems to run fine now...

So, I take it - the task is accomplished and the "problem" remains unsolved. Two point conversion is good!

Zidane24 said:

I am not entirely innocent with that last statement...

Did you put the old gear in the return box? Sinestra Maximus.

I am getting the message during install of W7 RTM about a missing CD/DVD driver. I have not had this problem on previous W7 installs. I am on a Dell Inspirion 5100. BIOS has no settings for the CD/DVD drive. Starting the install from within the current W7 installation seems to be my only option.