Solved New rebuild... cant boot or run any OS

[etek44]

I have upgraded my computer in stages... I had a gateway from 2007. Then two weeks ago I upgraded to:

Graphics card: GeoForce GTX550 Ti
Power supply: 550W
OS: Windows 7 (upgrade from Vista)

After that, every time I booted the system I had to select Windows Vista or Windows 7. I always chose Windows 7 and never saw a problem.... except until I started to play Diablo 3 and other graphics intensive games where I was only getting about 10 fps and massive screen tearing. By processor was a 2.4Ghz Quad core with 3G of memory... so I assumed that it was just bottle necked with the new graphics card. Therefore I went and upgraded to:

ASUS 5A97 Mobo
AMD FX 4100 processor
8G DDR3 1600 MHz

Then when I booted up it would start windows then instantly go to a bluescreen for a split second and turned off. I dont know what to do. I have tried booting off the Windows 7 install disk and it has:

Disk 0 Partition 1 11.0 GB (total size) 10.9 (free space) Primary (type)
Disk 0 Partition 2 454.7 GB (total size) 311.1 GB (free) System (type)

and the next arrow is grayed out and when I click on one I get the error:

Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks.

I am not super tech savy and dont completely understand all the jargon but I can normally figure things out. But this... I am very scared because I dont want to delete the available Disks because I dont want to have to buy Windows 7 again (because I already installed it once). I am at a loss of words and ideas on how to fix this so I can use my "new" computer

Thanks, and sorry if I am being vague or unclear. Please ask if you need any additional information.

In advance... any help is much appreciated.

(I am writing on forum from my laptop because I cant run anything on my desktop)

 

[Technologic]

Do you currently have a backup of all your personal files? if so boot into the windows install disk> click install now> custom install> delete both partitions> make new partition> format> install windows 7. should solve the problem unless you have a faulty h.d.d. and to clarify further you WILL loose all data on the drive following my instructions so i'd wait a bit to see if someone has a "Quick Fix"

I am very scared because I dont want to delete the available Disks because I dont want to have to buy Windows 7 again (because I already installed it once)

You should have a cdkey for windows on the side of your case. even with OEM versions of windows 7 you can install it on the computer again even if hardware has been changed you cannot however have it on two systems at once as it breaches the license agreement.

 

[bobkn]

You tried to switch a hard drive with Windows installed to a new system, and it wouldn't boot? Is that correct?

(Sometimes you can get away with that, but not always.)

The manual for your M5A97 doesn't give the details, but I hope that the boot menu (brought up by the F8 hotkey during startup) would offer the choice of booting from the Windows DVD either in EFI or not.

I didn't realize that EFI required installing to a GPT drive; I thought that it permitted GPT.

If you want to keep your MBR, use the non-EFI boot option.

See this:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...e-firmware-interface-install-windows-7-a.html

And this:

http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

 

[etek44]

I have not swapped hard drives yet because I did not see the need. I am only going to use this for gaming.

But in response to Technologic, I have heard to delete those partitions but I am scared that I wont be able to create a new one (because that currently is not an option). And, I dont know what you meant by "format"
Also, I do not have any files that I am scared of losing since I did this reboot wipe two weeks ago.

Bobkn, Yes the M5A97 had its own "boot menu" and I was able to select what data source the system was to use. I guess I have to go into advanced and check more settings.

Will post back in an hour after I get home. Thanks for the help, we shall see how it goes.

 

[etek44]

Thank you both very much. The links and what Technologic said helped out a huge deal and it works like a charm! Thanks again guys!