clean install over XP Pro

[trevor shaw]

I'm trying to install W7 on my wife's PC that currently has Windows XP Pro SP3 32 bit. The PC is a year old and has AMD II X250 cpu's on an ASUSTeK Computer INC. M3N78-EM motherboard with 4 Gb RAM and a 500 Gb hard disk, a NVIDIA GeForce 8300 display adaptor and an Iiyama 17 " monitor.

When it first failed I thought it was due to only having 1.85 Gb free of 60 Gb on drive C, so I used Easus to delete drive E with 437 Gb and increase drive C to be the whole 500 Gb. Still no joy, so I looked at the installation guides on the web and realised I had to change the boot sequence in the BIOS so that the CD drive came bvefore the hard disk.

If I try to boot from the W7 Home Premium family pack CD I get the option to boot from CD or DVD, which I accept by hitting a key. The screen then displays "Starting Windows" with a progress bar, after which the Microsoft logo is displayed and then finally the Windows 7 splash screen is displayed. After this, nothing further happens. The mouse cursor moves with the mouse but the keyboard doesn't appear to be active. The CD continues to spin for a while before it too gets bored and shuts down.

If I start running XP and then use Windows Explorer to start the setup.exe on the CD I get an error message telling me that I have the incorrect version for the PC.

I've tried looking for a solution on the internet but so far have drawn a blank, all instructions have the belief that at the stage I reach I should be seeing the installation dialogue.

When I installed W7 on my PC I didn't get the dialogue that I expected about formatting the hard disk, but at least the installation started and succeeded, that was on a Vista Home Premium and I guess it was an upgrade install as there is a windows.old file on the PC now.

If anyone can please help me with this I'd be very grateful.

regards,
Trevor

 

[thefabe]

Try using your DVD of home premium and make a bootable USB drive and install it that way.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91798-install-windows-7-usb-pen-drive-using-grub4dos.html?ltr=I

Or you could try doing a repair install http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

The one thing n your post that is throwing me is not getting the ooption to format the disc., and getting a windows .old file usually means it was an upgrade install.
BFK bet me to how to do a clean install while I was searchingf my bookk,arls +1 for him.
Fabe

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello trevor shaw, welcome to Seven Forums!



There are a couple issues that the method outlined in this tutorial at the link below may sort using the Windows 7 installer to do a wipe (secure erase) to the Hard Disk Drive then using Step Two #2 in the tutorial to create a single 100GB partition to do the install to; have a look at the info below and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.

   Information

After you have made backups of everything you care to save and you want to do a real wipe "clean all" to the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) have a look at this tutorial at the link below, it over-writes everything, all the old Windows code including all the old Windows drivers, giving you the best possible space to install Windows 7 to; it goes hand-in-hand with a clean install.

SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

How to Do a Clean Installation with Windows 7

​

 

[gregrocker]

While XP is still on machine, update the BIOS to latest version. If it's current then reset the CMOS: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

If you're using a SATA HD, while in BIOS setup set the SATA controller to AHCI first, then later to IDE if it fails.

Remove all but 2gb of RAM to try install.

backup all files externally. Wipe the HD using tutorial posted above by BareFootKid.

Unplug all other HD's and peripherals.

 

[grss1982]

I'm trying to install W7 on my wife's PC that currently has Windows XP Pro SP3 32 bit. The PC is a year old and has AMD II X250 cpu's on an ASUSTeK Computer INC. M3N78-EM motherboard with 4 Gb RAM and a 500 Gb hard disk, a NVIDIA GeForce 8300 display adaptor and an Iiyama 17 " monitor.

When it first failed I thought it was due to only having 1.85 Gb free of 60 Gb on drive C, so I used Easus to delete drive E with 437 Gb and increase drive C to be the whole 500 Gb. Still no joy, so I looked at the installation guides on the web and realised I had to change the boot sequence in the BIOS so that the CD drive came bvefore the hard disk.

If I try to boot from the W7 Home Premium family pack CD I get the option to boot from CD or DVD, which I accept by hitting a key. The screen then displays "Starting Windows" with a progress bar, after which the Microsoft logo is displayed and then finally the Windows 7 splash screen is displayed. After this, nothing further happens. The mouse cursor moves with the mouse but the keyboard doesn't appear to be active. The CD continues to spin for a while before it too gets bored and shuts down.

If I start running XP and then use Windows Explorer to start the setup.exe on the CD I get an error message telling me that I have the incorrect version for the PC.

I've tried looking for a solution on the internet but so far have drawn a blank, all instructions have the belief that at the stage I reach I should be seeing the installation dialogue.

When I installed W7 on my PC I didn't get the dialogue that I expected about formatting the hard disk, but at least the installation started and succeeded, that was on a Vista Home Premium and I guess it was an upgrade install as there is a windows.old file on the PC now.

If anyone can please help me with this I'd be very grateful.

regards,
Trevor

You did not do an upgrade installation. You actually did a custom installation of Windows 7 on top of your Windows Vista installation. The thing is Windows.old is only created when you do a custom installation (http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html). No such folder is created when doing an upgrade installation (http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1818-upgrade-install-windows-7-a.html).

 

[trevor shaw]

I managed to install Windows 7 64 bit with everyone’s help and a bit from Microsoft. Here’s what happened to provide feedback and to maybe help someone else in future.
First I tried to format the hard disk, but that doesn’t work too well, I approved the dismount of drive C but there were still handles in use so that failed. I probably had Format on a copy of Hirens CD but I’m not very familiar with this. I chose to follow the procedures given by bare Foot Kid.
The secure erase/partitioning and the installation steps were all as laid out in the two links provided by Bare Foot Kid, and all went well until I was asked to enter the product code, which returned an Invalid Code message – odd as it worked ok on the first installation on my PC. I wondered if it was because the Family Pack is an upgrade installation maybe it was expecting an XP Pro product code but that gave the same error message. I decided to sort it out later and so allowed the installation to complete without activation. At this stage Windows 7 was up and running and I stated installing the other software required.
I phoned Microsoft Support and eventually got through their phone menu to an activation person. After explaining the problem I was instructed to carry out a repair installation, at the end of which I entered my product code which was now accepted.
Once again, my thanks to everyone who responded, particularly bare Foot Kid.

regards,
Trevor

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello again Trevor, glad to help!



Good to see you got it running and thanks you for the update.



Here's a tutorial you may find useful in future.

Do a Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

 

[gregrocker]

You only needed to keep the thread current and we could have shown you the workarounds described in the tutorial BFK posted just above, including a much easier Registry edit workaround which takes seconds.

Glad you have it up and running now.