Stuck on expanding windows files 0% PLEASE HELP

[Hem23]

Ok, I am not a computer whiz but I had a corrupted hard drive in my laptop.

So, I purchased a new one and installed it into my laptop.

I got one that is 640 GB, I know there is plenty of room for the Windows 7 OS

This is the list of what happens:
I turn the computer on with the 64-bit disc already inserted and it says windows is loading files,
Then the setup language preferences screen pops up, I enter the US settings & click Next,
Then click the Install now button.
Once the Setup is Starting... screen opens it takes forever.
Finally gets to Accept Liscense terms, click on next,
Click Custom (Advanced)
Where do you want to install Windows? pops up with 2 partitions
Disk 0 Partition 1: System Reserved
Disk 0 Partition 2
chose my partition, formatted it, clicked next
Went to the installing Windows screen
Completed the Copying Windows files

And is now just sitting there saying Expanding Windows Files (0%)...

It has been sitting like this for about 30 minutes

I did do a complete wipe of the hard drive before I started.

I don't know what is going on.
So if anyone has any advice for me. PLEASE HELP!!!
It will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[karlsnooks]

Hem,
Wipe the disk clean then try.

You will need to get to a command prompt.

​

[FONT=&quot]GO TO A COMMAND PROMPT USING YOUR WIN 7 DVD[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
■Boot up from your Windows 7 DVD.
■At the first dialog window, press SHIFT + F10 key combo
■You will have a X:> command prompt
X: is a ram drive created by Windows 7.

============================================
===========================================

Now you need to "clean" the disk. A clean all operation is going to write zeroes to each and every byte on the disk and can take a very long time.

Go get a beer at your favorite locale.

You MUST wait for this operation to finish.

Now here's how to clean the disk:

​

[FONT=&quot]WIPE A DISK CLEAN[/FONT]​

· type DiskPart, Enter key
· type List disk, Enter key
note the numeral of the disk you want to clean
for example purposes, I’ll be using the numeral 2
· type Select disk 2, Enter key
· type Detail disk, Enter key
this info will let you know if you selected correctly
· type Clean ALL, Enter key
your entire disk is being overwritten with zeros.
This can take a considerable amount of time
· type EXIT, Enter key (only after Clean is finished)
· type EXIT, Enter key (this gets you back where you were)

 

[Hem23]

???

Ok, just a small bit of confusion.

Probably on my part, like I said I'm not a computer whiz.

Do you mean for me to clean the windows 7 disc or the comp?

Additional info:

I did finally get it to start expanding the Windows files, it is at 19% right now, it has taken about 4 hours to get to this point.

Everywhere I have looked online has said it should take approximately 30 minutes for a Windows 7 installation, including the forums located here.

I guess my other question is, why is it taking so long if it is only supposed to take 30 minutes?

 

[karlsnooks]

Hem,
Since you charged ahead then my advice is of no use to you.

Just be patient and wait for the install to finish.

True, normally the install is much quicker than you are experiencing.

I have a Toshiba Toshiba Satellite L305D-S5940

I run the 32-bit version of Win 7, although the laptop is 64-bit capable.

 

[Petey7]

Some computers can take longer, but that is a ridiculous amount of time, in my opinion. He means for you to clean the hard drive disk. Yes, there is a little spinning disk in there. Has it slowly gotten up to that point, or did it suddenly start going up? Either way you might want to go ahead and try what karl recommends. You'll have a better performing drive if you do.

 

[Hem23]

Karl,

I didn't mean to sound so confusing. I hadn't charged ahead, that's just where the installation was standing from my first post. I haven't touched it.

Would it be better for me to cancel the installation and begin again with the instructions you gave me? If so, how do I do that without damaging my computer?

Petey,

It has very slowly gotten to this point, it is now at 23% from last post 45 minutes ago.

I just want to thank you both for your help, I would be so lost without it.

 

[cluberti]

I used to see this A LOT on Dell Optiplex 7xx models, and the reason was the stock Intel ICH controller was configured for IDE. Changing it to RAID or AHCI would resolve the issue immediately on the next rebuild, and it was pretty much 100% repeatable (we won't go into the ICH controller on these corrupting Vista installs either, but that's another story altogether). Since that is an ICH7 controller in that laptop (according to Intel's specs on the motherboard chipset), you might want to check out how it's configured in the BIOS.

 

[karlsnooks]

culberti does bring up one point. If you have mucked around with the bios settings, then set them back to the defaults.

Please follow precisely the advice I gave. That advice is for 100% cleaning of your hard disk. By doing that you will eliminate many variables. We are having to troubleshoot your system from a distance and we must have a known system to start with.

Yes that means exit from the install. PowerOff your computer. Power on you computer and follow the procedures I gave.

 

[karlsnooks]

Oh yes, If you have anything more than a mouse connected to a usb port then disconnect the device(s) immediately.

 

[cluberti]

Amen.

 

[Hem23]

I have no idea how to set the bios back to the default, I'm not even sure where to find them.

Help please!!!

 

[cluberti]

When your machine first boots, you should be able to press a key (DEL, F2, F10, F12, etc... depends on the BIOS) to enter BIOS setup. If your Sony displays a splash screen instead of verbose BIOS output before Windows boots, you'll probably have to check the manual to see what button(s) can get you into your BIOS setup.

 

[karlsnooks]

if that be the case, then you haven't changed the bios.

 

[electrotune1200]

Another thing you can try is removing all but one stick of RAM.

I have no idea why this works sometimes. It's just one of those unexplainable things in life.

Once the install is complete, you can put your other sticks of RAM back in place.

 

[madtownidiot]

The OP's issue is actually pretty common with older systems. The delay when it gets stuck at 0% is likely the actual partitioning and formatting taking place, and then your system reading and unpacking 3 GB of installation files from the DVD to a temporary file on the HDD before any progress is shown. That can take a very long time on an older system, especially if you're installing to a 640GB or bigger HDD on a computer that has a single core or even anolder dual core CPU (like a pentium d) and a slow DVD drive. It's always better to copy the install dvd to a 4GB flash drive (or SD card if the computer has a built in card reader) and boot from USB. (if you have a computer that can't boot from a USB flash drive, it's probably too old to run windows 7 anyway) The reason is simple.. any computer can read from a usb stick more than 10x faster than from a DVD. Another way to speed up the install process is to create a 100GB partition for the install and leave the rest of the HDD as free space. if you use the command line to zero your HDD before the install, after diskpart is done, type exit, wait for the prompt and then type setup to start the windows installation instead of rebooting.

 

[gregrocker]

Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS.URL

Check also for a newer BIOS version update for your model computer on its Support Downloads webpage.

After clearing CMOS, set SATA controller in BIOS to AHCI first, then IDE mode if install doesn't work better.

 

[Internet Badass]

Looking at your specs, I would use the 32 bit disc.

 

[housry23]

The minimum RAM requirements for Windows 7 x64 is 2GB of RAM. I would just use the 32-bit version and if you upgrade the RAM then maybe use 64-bit, but honestly I don't think you will see much of a benefit using the 64 bit edition. I know we all want the fastest and the best, but I think in your case the 32-bit will give you just that.

 

[madtownidiot]

64 bit win 7 will install at below minimum RAM recommendations, but I would go even further and recommend not installing the 64 bit version unless you have more than 3GB of ram. IME, you don't see any performance gain with 64 bit vs 32 bit between 2-4 GB of RAM and the 32 bit version is much snappier on marginal systems. The big advantage of 64 bit over 32 bit, however, comes into play when running multiple simultaneous applications if you have the memory to take advantage of it.