Installation Story/Question(s)

[Ad B]

Hi, this is my first post so apologies in advance for any questions that are obvious...

I have purchased a download from digital river and converted that into and ISO and burnt that file to DVD.

I then attempted a clean install of Win 7, however this did not work. My PC eventually went on standby after displaying a blank screen for approximately 15mins.

I have since reinstalled Vista to find that I am running a 32 bit version and I have downloaded a 64 bit version of Win 7.

I thought about using another HDD to install Win 7 on so I can continue to use Vista if installation fails again.

Will this work? If it does, once installed how do I tell my PC to boot from the HDD that Win 7 is installed on?

If not, what can I do next?

Thanks in advance,

Ad

 

[torrentg]

The easiest way, without becoming all technical, to do what you want is to disconnect the Vista hard drive from the system when going to install 7 on a new hard drive.

Once Windows 7 is installed and running good, you can reattach the original Vista drive.

To choose between 7 or Vista, you can go into bios when booting (usually delete key, keep pressing it) and choose which hard drive is your default first boot device.

If you have both operating systems running well, we can then help you have a screen when you start your pc to choose either without going into bios.

Or we can get rid of Vista and reclaim its hard drive space.

That's all later on though, in your instance. Let us know if and when you need help.

 

[Ad B]

All done now! Thanks!

Turns out, it was installing... when I had a blank screen on my monitor, the display was actually on my TV (I had forgotten my TV was connected ).

Works great, updated and running well.

Last question, what is the best value anti-virus as my current one is not compatible?

Thanks again

 

[ickymay]

glad you got it running , and for AV and spyware I am quite impressed with Microsoft security essentials

 

[Ad B]

Thanks

Will download that when I get home...

 

[Dave76]

Welcome to Seven Forums Ad B,

Glad you got Win7 installed.

Microsoft security essentials has many excellent reviews on Seven Forums, It's a very good choice.

If your looking for any other programs check these two Seven Forums threads for Win7 tested free programs.

FREE Great Programs for Window 7

Free Native 64-bit programs

 

[Ad B]

The easiest way, without becoming all technical, to do what you want is to disconnect the Vista hard drive from the system when going to install 7 on a new hard drive.

Once Windows 7 is installed and running good, you can reattach the original Vista drive.

To choose between 7 or Vista, you can go into bios when booting (usually delete key, keep pressing it) and choose which hard drive is your default first boot device.

If you have both operating systems running well, we can then help you have a screen when you start your pc to choose either without going into bios.

Or we can get rid of Vista and reclaim its hard drive space.

That's all later on though, in your instance. Let us know if and when you need help.

I installed Win 7, however I did not disconnect the Vista drive when I did. How do I go about removing Vista? I have tried formatting but it won't let me...?

Also, if I disconnect the Vista drive and try to run 7, it won't let me. Does this mean some of the Win 7 files are on the Vista drive?

Ad

 

[torrentg]

Your boot files are on the Vista drive (system partition.) Post a screenshot of disk management. We could move them.

 

[Ad B]

I am at work at the moment, so it will be later when I can post a screenshot. There is no partition on the drive as far as I am aware. I removed the vista recovery partition last night.

 

[torrentg]

How do I go about removing Vista? I have tried formatting but it won't let me...?

Your boot files are on Vista drive and also what I quoted. There is at least one partition on the drive, for sure.

 

[Ad B]

what information will you need in order to sort it? just so i know so i can get hold of it as soon as i get home

 

[torrentg]

Only a screenshot of disk management. That's all. Simple copying of file/folder plus a command to run, then simple bios adjustment will fix this up for you.

Then you could format Vista HDD to make all of its space ready to use.

 

[Ad B]

sorry, but how do i get to screen management... i'm not totally clued up on things like this so steps to do things (especially fixing it) would be greatly appreciated

Ad

 

[torrentg]

Type disk management in the start menu search.

 

[Ad B]

BOOT (D) is the Vista drive
(C) is the Win 7 drive

 

[torrentg]

Rt click the C: drive as in your screenshot and set the partition as active.

Ensure you can view hidden and protected files. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/394-hidden-files-folders-show-hide.html

Copy bootmgr from D: to C:
Copy boot folder from D: to C:, ignoring the warning about not being able to copy bcd and bcd.log. Tell it to skip over these.

Open an elevated command prompt. Copy and paste the following command into it and run it by pressing enter.

bcdedit /export C:\boot\bcd

With Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\boot to see if the folder now contains bcd file.

If yes, reboot to bios. Set the C: drive as the computer's default first boot device. Reboot to Win 7.

Open disk management as you've done before and look at C:. It should now own the status of being the "system" drive.

If so, you may use that same screen to format D: to NTFS. You can use the quick option.

Before that though, please have a look around the D: drive for any valuable files to you that you don't want to lose. Copy files/folders you want to C:

Please let me know how this went for you. Feel free to pm me when you reply here to ensure I won't miss it.

 

[torrentg]

Based upon your pm, open command prompt, type bcdedit, hit enter. Post a screenshot of this please.

 

[Ad B]

i ran the original command as administrator and it said it was successful. there is a bcd file in the boot folder on (C)

how do i reboot to bios? i have tried hitting delete but nothing. what should i see if i do this correctly?

sorry to e such a pain, your help is greatly appreciated

 

[torrentg]

F2 perhaps? Esc maybe?

I'd need to know motherboard model to tell for sure. Or you can Google it and look at owner manual.