Failing Install (unlike the others

[S1ip9]

Originally had Vista on the machine working fine. Purchased Win 7 Ultimate retail disks.

First attempt was to do an upgrade from Vista 64bit to Win 7 64 bit.
Vista read the disk fine it went through it's normal activity, choose Upgrade and than it said it was ready to reboot.

Reboot > BIOS boots up > disk starts spinning, it says it's loading data > screen changes to "Starting Windows". It's at this point the lights on my usb Keyboard and mouse go out, HD activity stops. 10 seconds later HD activity lights starts flashing for about 5 seconds and than flat lines. Hangs like this for hours.

Steps i've taken so far.

• Tried 64 bit disc & 32 bit disc: results same
• Getting ps2 keyboard/mouse :results same
• getting new video card with VGA out : results same
• unplugging all peripheral devices: results same
• made usb boot of win7 64 bit: results same
• tried my vista disc: boots fine
• confirmed DVD drive is Master : results same
• numerous Bios changes and complete resets: results same.

No matter what I do I can't get past "Windows Starting"
It doesn't make sense. A friend of mine has almost the exact same hardware in his computer. We bought the same parts at the same time. He had no problems at all upgrading from vista to win 7

Any suggestions or help

 

[stevieray]

A shot in the dark here...

I couldn't get Seven to load on one computer until I went into the BIOS and disabled legacy LAN.

 

[S1ip9]

Hi Steveiray,

Thanks for the reply, I just tried your suggestion, but I still get the same result.

I'm about ready to put my foot through this machine

 

[stevieray]

Wow, this is a puzzler. You did all of the usual tricks already. Tell me... when you used the PS/2 keyboard and mouse, did you also disable legacy USB in your BIOS? Sometimes that'll work.

Also you could try to use your friend's disc to install, just put in your own key # if it works. Its very rare, but even a disc from MS may be bad sometimes.

 

[gregrocker]

Did you run the Win7 Upgrade Advisor?

Try a clean boot: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

There is something blocking a successful in-place Upgrade. I would consider a clean install. It is a much better install without corruption paths. Failure is an omen here.

 

[S1ip9]

@Stevieray: No I didn't try disabling . Will try that now and post results. The thing about the bad disc is,the retail box came with 2 discs. 32-bit / 64-bit. Both of which don't work. Plus i made a USB boot drive from the disc.

@gregrocker: I did run the advisor and the only thing that would cause an issue was Itunes and AMD CCC, both of which I removed. But like i said above, after the upgrade failed. I panned on doing a format and complete re-install. But no matter how I try. I can't get past "Starting Windows"

 

[S1ip9]

So i disabled USB all together. Plugged in PS/2 mouse and keyboard. Reboot
Disc spins up - "Windows is loading files" > "Starting windows" Stall same result after about 10 seconds sitting at this screen there's a little HD activity than the power lights on the keyboard go out and I can't even do a CTRL + ALT + Delete . Same result as before

 

[pebbly]

to qoute a fellow member zigzag3143 boot into safe mode by pressing the f8 key ,if it loads then its your graphics driver, reinstall the the latest driver

 

[theog]

Check your ram.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/715-memory-diagnostics-tool.html?ltr=M

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

 

[myzr7]

Originally had Vista on the machine working fine. Purchased Win 7 Ultimate retail disks.

First attempt was to do an upgrade from Vista 64bit to Win 7 64 bit.
Vista read the disk fine it went through it's normal activity, choose Upgrade and than it said it was ready to reboot.

Reboot > BIOS boots up > disk starts spinning, it says it's loading data > screen changes to "Starting Windows". It's at this point the lights on my usb Keyboard and mouse go out, HD activity stops. 10 seconds later HD activity lights starts flashing for about 5 seconds and than flat lines. Hangs like this for hours.

Steps i've taken so far.

• Tried 64 bit disc & 32 bit disc: results same
• Getting ps2 keyboard/mouse :results same
• getting new video card with VGA out : results same
• unplugging all peripheral devices: results same
• made usb boot of win7 64 bit: results same
• tried my vista disc: boots fine
• confirmed DVD drive is Master : results same
• numerous Bios changes and complete resets: results same.

No matter what I do I can't get past "Windows Starting"
It doesn't make sense. A friend of mine has almost the exact same hardware in his computer. We bought the same parts at the same time. He had no problems at all upgrading from vista to win 7

Any suggestions or help

Above you say you have tried leaving it hanging for hours? Try leaving it that way all night and see if it has continued by morning. I have seen this work. and might work for you, Good luck to you with this problem.

 

[gregrocker]

What is the SATA controller setting in BIOS? Try ACHI. Then try IDE emulation.

Try resetting CMOS: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

Try booting from Vista DVD until you get to "Where do you want to install" screen, then switch DVD to Win7.

 

[S1ip9]

@theog I have ran that using Windows Memory check tool and memtest86+. No errors
I have also tried just using 1 stick, swapping both in different slots. No go

@Myzr7 I have tried all night as well. From both the 32-bit CD, the 64-bit CD and USB Drive

@gregrocker I've tried both modes. I have also reset Bios all 3 ways. Tried each disk again. Same outcome.


Now after all this. I'm starting to see a small pattern.

*SOMETIMES* After multiple reboots of hitting the reset button. After the 10 seconds of HD in-activity I'll get the usb power back on the mouse NOT the keyboard. But it's a step further than i've gotten thus far. So when the light on the mouse comes back on i'm filled with a little bit of joy. Thinking maybe this is the reboot where it'll keep going.

 

[S1ip9]

@gregrocker. Great suggestion to use VISTA disk which works fine and boots perfect. I didn't think I could use the win7 disk. But I will give that a go.

Going on a Business trip for the next 5 days but I will try this as soon as I get home and update the thread.

Thanks so far for the suggestions from everyone

 

[S1ip9]

So unfortunately trying to use the Vista disc up to the "Where do you want to install" trick doesn't work. It just says to "please insert install disc 1" every time I make the switch

Starting to think nothing is going to work. I'm thinking i'm going to get burned for $300 or i'm going to have to spend more to get new hardware.

 

[gregrocker]

Sorry that trick didn't work for you, as it sometimes doesn't.

On machines wasting too much time troubleshooting failed install, I remove the HD to another machine, install Win7, then return the HD to the problem machine.

If it will start (and all of them have so far - about a dozen) then it switches out all of the drivers, requesting several restarts, with no performance hit at all.

This is not supposed to work on a machine with a different number of cores, but last week did one from single to dual core and it works great.

The other option is to make a system image of another Win 7 installation and apply the image to your HD from an external by booting from reimaging CD.

 

[S1ip9]

Update: Thought I had the latest BIOS rev. I did not. I was on Asus 0404 for my board. I flashed bios to 0701 and sure enough the Install went through. I still can't get it to load the windows Desktop it still hangs on "Windows is setting up your computer for the first time" But that's a different issue and i'm much closer than I have been. I can now at least get into the repair screen

Below are the changes made in the different BIOS rev. I figure it may help someone focus in on something with a similar problem

[ 0701 ]
----------------------
Fix Cool and Quiet cannot function under Windows Vista.



[ 0602 ]
----------------------
Support both AC'97 and Azalia front audio panel.



[ 0602 ]
----------------------
Latest beta BIOS.



[ 0502 ]
----------------------
Fix ASUS PC Probe will display incorrect PWR fan reading.



[ 0502 ]
----------------------
Latest beta BIOS.



[ 0404 ]
----------------------
Support new CPUs. Please refer to our website at: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Support-