Windows 7 failed to install - Missing driver

[Malzie]

I have just recently built a new computer due to my old laptop freezing now and then while using Windows 7. After putting together the build I first loaded Windows XP and then shortly there after installed Windows 7 RC1. Trouble was I was getting random BSoDs that related to the memory. So I ran memchk and everything was fine. This lead me to believe a random driver was causing the problem. So instead of trying to figure out which I decided to take an offer from my University that allowed me to install Windows 7 RTM a day early.

First thing I did was burn the ISO to a CD using imgburn at 8x burning speed the verification said it was good. So I go to install from in Windows RC1 and first thing I notice is that the option to format the drive and set up new partitions was missing. So I figured okay, that's MS' way of getting people to upgrade/completely reformat.

So I restart my computer and it loads everything from the CD and looks like Windows installation is about to start when random it stops and goes to a screen that has the following:

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. 
To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Windows installation disc and restart the computer.
2. Choose your language settings and click next.
3. Click "repair your computer


If you do not have this disc contact your system administrator or system manufacturer for assistance.


file: \windows\system32\DRIVERS\lsi_sas2.sys


Status: 0xc0000098


Info: Windows failed to load because a critical system driver is corrupt or missing.

I am truly at a loss as to what or where to start with this. I don't think it's a faulty hardware as I am able to run XP just fine.

Anyway I am truly perplexed any and all help would be appreciated.

 

[Dave76]

... So instead of trying to figure out which I decided to take an offer from my University that allowed me to install Windows 7 RTM a day early.

First thing I did was burn the ISO to a CD using imgburn at 8x burning speed the verification said it was good. So I go to install from in Windows RC1 and first thing I notice is that the option to format the drive and set up new partitions was missing...

I am truly at a loss as to what or where to start with this. I don't think it's a faulty hardware as I am able to run XP just fine.

Anyway I am truly perplexed any and all help would be appreciated.

We have seen many problems with burning the ISO to DVD at higher than 2x speed. You will get errors, then somewhere in the install process it will fail.

Re-burn at max 2x speed.
Or, use a 4GB USB memory key, there has been a lot of successful installs this way and it's fast.

USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive - Create

There are two sticky threads that give you some help with installing Win7 and links to tutorials.
Tutorial quick reference list for Installing Windows 7
Questions to use for help with Installation Issues

Have you ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor this might help to find any existing problems before you start the install.

Let us know how it is going.

 

[wallyinnc]

Malzie, can you give us details about your system (if possible fill in the system specs)? There are severa things that mighg cause that. First one to try is indeed to burn the disc at a lower speed.
And, welcome to the forums!

 

[Malzie]

my specs are

mobo: GA-P55-UD3L
Processor: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz
Mem: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB
GPU: GeForce GTX 260


hah! Here is my build on newegg still

Newegg.com - Once You Know, You Newegg

talk about convenient

 

[DocBrown]

Nice custom build from NewEgg

Gotta love them

Almost bet it is a corrupted file from the 8x DVD burn, try 2x or 4x

" Doc "

 

[Malzie]

thanks! yeah i was on a budget and i think i didnt pretty good. I too thought it may be a burn issue and just tried mounting it and going from there but after the restart it kept expanding files til about 40 -50+ % the came up with a missing or corrupt file. I know its not the ISO because i watched my teacher use it.

also i did some research and lsi_sas is a so called "massRAID" driver... or something along those lines. Why is it looking for a raid driver when i only have one drive?

 

[bobkn]

thanks! yeah i was on a budget and i think i didnt pretty good. I too thought it may be a burn issue and just tried mounting it and going from there but after the restart it kept expanding files til about 40 -50+ % the came up with a missing or corrupt file. I know its not the ISO because i watched my teacher use it.

also i did some research and lsi_sas is a so called "massRAID" driver... or something along those lines. Why is it looking for a raid driver when i only have one drive?

At a guess,

Windows installers may load (temporarily) many drivers for use during the install process. If memory serves, the list of drivers was displayed as they loaded by the XP installer, but not by Vista or 7. (Most of them aren't need by a specific set of hardware.) If your install DVD is corrupt, the install may fail while it's trying to load those unnecessary drivers.

I don't know about burning speed. I burned the .iso of a variety of Win7 betas (including the legitimate ones) to DVD using Nero. I let it use its default burn rate, 16X. I also had it perform a verification after the burn. Every burn passed verification, and every disk worked as a Win7 installer. A lower burn speed may help you, but maybe not.

If you can find the hash codes for the .iso you have, you'd do well to verify it.

As an alternative, you could create a bootable 4GB USB flash drive, and install from that:

Use a USB Key to Install Windows 7—Even on a Netbook

You'd need a utility that can mount an .iso, so you can copy the files from it to the flash drive. I use MagicIso. It's shareware, but I think that there are free utilities that can do it.

 

[Malzie]

thanks! yeah i was on a budget and i think i didnt pretty good. I too thought it may be a burn issue and just tried mounting it and going from there but after the restart it kept expanding files til about 40 -50+ % the came up with a missing or corrupt file. I know its not the ISO because i watched my teacher use it.

also i did some research and lsi_sas is a so called "massRAID" driver... or something along those lines. Why is it looking for a raid driver when i only have one drive?

At a guess,

Windows installers may load (temporarily) many drivers for use during the install process. If memory serves, the list of drivers was displayed as they loaded by the XP installer, but not by Vista or 7. (Most of them aren't need by a specific set of hardware.) If your install DVD is corrupt, the install may fail while it's trying to load those unnecessary drivers.

I don't know about burning speed. I burned the .iso of a variety of Win7 betas (including the legitimate ones) to DVD using Nero. I let it use its default burn rate, 16X. I also had it perform a verification after the burn. Every burn passed verification, and every disk worked as a Win7 installer. A lower burn speed may help you, but maybe not.

If you can find the hash codes for the .iso you have, you'd do well to verify it.

As an alternative, you could create a bootable 4GB USB flash drive, and install from that:

Use a USB Key to Install Windows 7—Even on a Netbook

You'd need a utility that can mount an .iso, so you can copy the files from it to the flash drive. I use MagicIso. It's shareware, but I think that there are free utilities that can do it.

Yeah like I had said I thought it may be the DVD causing the trouble and so I tried just mounting the original image file and installing that way. When it got to the part where I can control the drive once again there are no options to format or setup a new partition. Just simply load driver and next.

I also tried installed from a Flash Key and same thing.

I also considered just downloading the driver but I have no idea which driver I need, or even where to get lsi_sas2.sys. I am so very frustrated!

 

[Adrian]

I also tried installed from a Flash Key and same thing.

I also considered just downloading the driver but I have no idea which driver I need, or even where to get lsi_sas2.sys. I am so very frustrated![/QUOTE]
As has been stated in this thread there have been numerous issues with DVD installations, the most crucial being burn speed.
This issue started being visible in the RC-1 7100 build and manifested itself in the RTM release. As has been suggested in the Installation Sticky use the slowest speed possible! Also many members have had greater success using the bootable key drive option.
My experience was extremely challenging over a 3 day period where I went from RC-1 to RTM, my installation bombed after installation progressed up to: "Unable to continue, missing CD/DVD drivers".
I utilised both install methods which we successfully concluded using the "Upgrade" method vs. a clean install.

Regards,
Adrian

 

[Tews]

If you wish to avoid the DVD image problem, try extracting the contents of the DVD/ISO to a separate drive/partition and run the setup.exe file from there...

 

[Malzie]

Adrian, as I said in my previous post, I tried installing right from the ISO as well as from a USB Flash Key. Neither worked. I also tried the upgrade, but it wouldn't allow me to do that, and when I tried a clean install over top of the current partition I got a missing or corrupt driver error.

Tews, I am trying that now. Just transfering the ISO to my desktop again.


Also I noticed that gigabyte had a bios update for my board and I flashed the bios with it. Noticed a few changes in bios but once again I got the same driver missing error.

Anyway, trying to install from extracted ISO now... Hopefully it will work.

 

[Malzie]

Sorry to double post but:

So I tried extracting the ISO and install from within Windows... same thing corrupt or missing file error.

So I figured okay lets see if I can get the RC build to work... and again I get a corrupt or missing file error.

Now I am peeved because I already had the RC build working fine on this computer! GRR!

Could it be a faulty piece of hardware? And if so, why does XP work fine with it? Also, perhaps a bios setting is wrong? I am sooo frustrated right about now.

 

[wallyinnc]

Could it be a faulty piece of hardware? And if so, why does XP work fine with it? Also, perhaps a bios setting is wrong? I am sooo frustrated right about now.

Malzie, it could, or just some incompatibility. Have you tried without the Video Card (if you can, I haven't looked up your board), and with only 1 memory stick. I agree these shoudln't influence a file corruption, but it is worth trying, they are common causes of bad installs
Regaridng BIOS settings, what are your HDD settings (SATA?)
Also, I just had an experience with Biostar BIOS. My Video card was acting up (feeezing etc). I installed the same BIOS I had installed a couple of weeks ago and it solved the problem.

 

[Adrian]

If you do not have this disc contact your system administrator or system manufacturer for assistance.


file: \windows\system32\DRIVERS\lsi_sas2.sys

Malzie, this appears to be a driver setting for mass storage.
" DriverPack MassStorage 7.09.1 LSI_SAS.SYS could not be found
The file lsi_sas2.sys could not be found".

Please check your settings for your hard drive.

• Ensure bios setting is SATA
• Ensure Storage config in bios set to IDE

Regards,
Adrian

 

[Malzie]

If you do not have this disc contact your system administrator or system manufacturer for assistance.


file: \windows\system32\DRIVERS\lsi_sas2.sys

Malzie, this appears to be a driver setting for mass storage.
" DriverPack MassStorage 7.09.1 LSI_SAS.SYS could not be found
The file lsi_sas2.sys could not be found".

Please check your settings for your hard drive.

• Ensure bios setting is SATA
• Ensure Storage config in bios set to IDE

Regards,
Adrian

What do you mean ensure bios setting is SATA? When I look at how the drives are handled in Bios, it shows my HDD attached as an IDE slave drive and my DVD drive also as an IDE slave drive.

When I go to look if I can switch it to SATA since both are SATA only it only gives the options of IDE, ACHI, and RAID. No SATA option. When I select the IDE one it's defined as "SATA > IDE" but still the drive shows up as IDE. Currently it is all set to IDE, I have tried ACHI and still a no go. Also I assume that RAID would not work as I only have one drive.

 

[Adrian]

Also I noticed that gigabyte had a bios update for my board and I flashed the bios with it. Noticed a few changes in bios but once again I got the same driver missing error.

.

Malzie, somthing changed when you flashed the bios with the update.
If you have the optical and hard drive set as IDE slaves and they should be recognised as SATA connections in the bios that could possibly where the conflict is coming from.
I suggest the following changes to the BIOS.
Set your optical drive to boot priority: "1" in SATA mode.
Set your Storage configuration to IDE.

regards,
Adrian

 

[Malzie]

Well nothing worked. Soo I started pulling Hardware.

Started with the memory and surprise! One of my memory sticks was bad.

*sighs* I guess I get to RMA some memory back to newegg.


Thank you very much all who helped! It was the only thing that kept me sane through all of this!

Strange how memtest didn't throw up any errors after an hour of running.:sarc:

 

[Adrian]

Well nothing worked. Soo I started pulling Hardware.

Started with the memory and surprise! One of my memory sticks was bad.

*sighs* I guess I get to RMA some memory back to newegg.


Thank you very much all who helped! It was the only thing that kept me sane through all of this!

Strange how memtest didn't throw up any errors after an hour of running.:sarc:

Malzie, were you able to complete the installation?
Also, system stress tests are unreliable in short durations.

regards,
Adrian

 

[Malzie]

Yes I was able to complete the installation with the good memory stick. Unfortunately I have to send them both back as they came in the same package.

As for the memtest, I would have thought an hour would have at least presented something. And when it didn't since I was able to easily run Windows XP I figured that was good enough.

Live and learn... heh it's always the memory!