Need To Reinstall W7 after Corrupting Installation

[TomG628]

Hi,
I just completed my first homebuilt system but have been having many crashes and bluescreens which as of now, those helping me think is caused by my memory. The crashes occur when I have 6 gig (3 sticks) installed, but so far everything seems stable with only 1 stick (2 gig). I am now testing each stick separately to make sure none are faulty, while someone in a forum is trying to adjust my memory speeds and Bios values.
While testing one stick I had a bluescreen crash while Windows was installing. Now Windows freezes while starting up and the Repair function said it couldn't be fixed. I attempted to reinstall W7 but near the end of the installation the mouse cursor and whole screen froze up. I retried and this time it froze at the beginning of the installation. I chose the new installation with backup of Windows Old option, not the update option. I am not that experienced technically, but would a reformat to a clean drive be necessary here? If so, I could not find a format option during the installation. Could someone walk me through what to do either with or without a reformat? As I said, I am not that experienced. Thanks. Tom

 

[gregrocker]

First resolve the apparent memory issues by running memtest86 CD test for 5-6 passes to eliminate the bad RAM stick: http://www.memtest86.com/download.html

Once your remove/replace the bad RAM stick, try your install with all RAM unless it hangs, then remove all but 2 gb to try install.

If you are not getting the Custom>Drive Tools to repartition/format your HD, it is because you're not booting the installer: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/tipstricks/ht/bootcddvd.htm

Try wiping the HD first, then Win7 installer should autostart: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

 

[TomG628]

Hi Greg,
Thanks for the help. I downloaded Memtest86 and found a tutorial on how to use it. I'm in the process of testing the first stick.I selected the first option for single processor. Do I just boot and let it go? You mention several passes. Do you mean on each single stick or to remove a stick each time till the bad one is isolated? It completed its first pass with no problems detected. Do I hit escape and then just let it start over? Thanks again. Regards, Tom

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hi Greg,
Thanks for the help. I downloaded Memtest86 and found a tutorial on how to use it. I'm in the process of testing the first stick.I selected the first option for single processor. Do I just boot and let it go? You mention several passes. Do you mean on each single stick or to remove a stick each time till the bad one is isolated? It completed its first pass with no problems detected. Do I hit escape and then just let it start over? Thanks again. Regards, Tom

Hello TomG628, welcome to Seven Forums!



Let it run at least 3 or 4 passes to make sure there's no errors, then power down the PC completely and with the power supply unplugged hit the power button several times to bleed off any residual power before you change RAM sticks.
If you forget it will short out the RAM stick, take my word for it. :shock: