RC 64-bit Install: BSOD, Corrupt Kernel/Registry, etc.

[tcoesterle]

Brand new computer, nothing on the hard drives:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0Ghz LGA 775
ASUS P5Q SE/R LGA 775 Intel P45 MOBO
EVGA Geforce GTX 285 Video Card
4 Gigs (2x@GB) G Skill 1066 MHz RAM
Two hard drives and a CD-RW all SATA

Had problems from the start, the install from DVD froze, and after hard-reset I continued to reboot, a new error came up each time. First it was corrupt kernel, then missing registry files, then missing bootmgr, a BSOD, etc.

Somehow the install finally worked. I booted up and started loading drivers; loaded the GTX 285 Windows 7 specific driver.... and all hell broke loose again: on restart, it froze, hard-reset right back into the earlier problems.

I cannot boot from my hard drive, or my DVD, both will continue to bring up the "please boot from repair CD" or EMS mode with a different error each time.

I just slow burned a hash-verified RC 7100 64 bit .iso, which I will try out. Failing that I'm going to use linux fdisk to clear my partitions and try to start from there. (I'm at work now, so I have 8 hours to ponder this.)

Any idea of what's going on? Any ideas?

 

[snifferpro]

When you say it froze, was there disk activity? What was on the screen?

Where did you download the drivers from? Windows Update or EVGA?

If it says boot from repair CD did you put the install DVD back in?

 

[tcoesterle]

When you say it froze, was there disk activity? What was on the screen?
The HDD light did not indicate disk activity; there was a blinking cursor on the screen for over 10 minutes.

Where did you download the drivers from? Windows Update or EVGA?
Updated drivers came from NVIDIA.

If it says boot from repair CD did you put the install DVD back in?
Yes, I attempted to use the install DVD and still received those errors, they seemed to loop. First kernell, then corrupt/missing registry, then missing bootmgr, once time had a missing netio.sys.

I want to do another clean install from the DVD but I never get the option.

 

[snifferpro]

when you boot the machine, immediately start tapping f8. You should get a Bios boot manager screen. Select your DVD drive (assuming you have the DVD in there) and
press enter to see if it will boot from the DVD. If it does, select clean install.

I would also disconnect 1 of your drives and only have 1 connected to eliminate
problems. Also, check your bios and see if it is set for AHCI or IDE

 

[tcoesterle]

I have my BIOS set to boot from the DVD drive first, and a message will come up "Press any key to boot from CD drive..." so I've been doing that much.

I'll check my BIOS settings again when I get home but I'm pretty sure I have the drives configured as IDE.

 

[snifferpro]

Ok, if they are SATA drives, set the bios to AHCI.

If the install starts, do not stop it - it takes a while to get to the first prompted
screen. Again, disconnect all but 1 hard drive, disconnect any USB devices.

the prompt you got "Press any key to boot from CD drive..." is the standard prompt
you get at boot when a bootable Cd/DVD is in the drive.

If you keep tapping f8 at boot you should get a BIOS boot manager screen - not the one you got.

Your system is almost exactly the same as mine (check my specs - left hand corner of reply).

Only issue I had was with the Nvidia card. Got around that by usig a CRT (old style monitor with D-SUB connector).

 

[tcoesterle]

Issue resolved.
RAM is 1066 MHz, Processor wants 667 MHz, MOBO forced as DDR2-800.

Setting RAM frequency manually allowed me to get a clean install and reboot without memory failures.

Also used a clean, slow burn DVD.