Windows 7 install freezes in Asus Eeepc 1005HA, Help please!

[totta]

Hello

I have an Asus Eeepc 1005HA netbook, which came with WinXP previously installed. I later changed it to diferent instalations of Ubuntu, until one day, suddenly, the ubuntu didn't boot and i thought the disk had died. After some experimenting, i figured out the disk was ok and successfuly installed WinXP - after many attempts, this was the only OS i could install and only in "Standard PC" mode (f5 trick), which caused other problems with ACPI. But i stuck with it for a while.

No, Win XP is no longer supported, and I would really like to update to Windows 7, but everytime i try to install win7, the installation goes through "Windows is loading files" then it freezes on the "Windows is starting up" Logo. With no disk or usb activity signs. Just the little "bar" of the Windows logo freezed.

If someone could help me I would be super grateful, since this netbook is really important to do my school works and everything.

Best regards.

 

[totta]

Can someone please help me? I've spent days reading foruns and sites talking about similar issues, but none of them seems to be exactly the problem i've been having in Windows 7 install... actually, it seems in general a lot of people could install the Win7 in their Asus netbook..

 

[gregrocker]

Hi Totta, sorry for the wait.

If you still have XP onboard then run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor which will tell you how Win7 will work with your hardware and installed programs. If you'll paste back the results we can advise you further and better.

The thing I first notice looking at the specs at Notebooks & Ultrabooks - Eee PC 1005HA (Seashell) - ASUS is the weak Atom processor with only 1gb RAM. So consider RAM upgrade possibilities by running the Crucial System Scanner to see how much RAM you have now and in what slots, how much more it can take. I see 2gb RAM upgrades for that model on Amazon for $25, but if it only takes 2gb and already has 1gb with an empty slot you'd want to pair it with a 1gb for half that cost.

Keep in mind that when netbooks of that power ship with WIn7 they usually come with Basic to cut out graphics overhead, but Home Premium will also default to no-Aero and you can edit Visual Effects of sliding, fading, dragging intact and animation to save resources.

If you decide to go ahead then work through these steps to Troubleshoot Windows 7 Installation Failures - Windows 7 Help Forums which overcome most all installation failures.

 

[totta]

Hello gregrocker,

Thank you so much for your reply, i've already read your great guide about Windows 7 install problems, i'm going to take your advice and i'll post the results as soon as possible. I've very grateful for your trouble in helping me.

See you soon!

Sara

 

[totta]

Hello,

I've just ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and the results say this pc can run the operating system, surprisingly even Aero passed and could be used, although it never passed through my mind, since prefer the classic.

The only thing it didn't detect in the result was that this pc uses ACPI drivers, but it's normal since the only way I could install the Windows XP was by disable ACPI in they installation process, and choose "Standard PC". But I know it works fine for in my previous Windows XP install, after some really obsessive experimentation and forum reading, I managed to install the ACPI driver and it functioned nicely. Now, if I try to install it, I'll get a very annoying error, constantly popping and telling me the driver is missing and must be installed.

If you guys have any suggestion on how should install the Win7, I'd be really grateful, because I've already tried the "normal" way a lot of times with no success. By the "normal way" I mean making a USB bootable pen through WinToFlash (and through the Windows DVD to USB application too), the pen is perfectly bootable. I go to BIOS and choose AHCI first in IDE configuration, it boots nicely to "Windows is loading files" then when it finishes it freezes in the moment when the Windows logo is showing, but without the logo showing or the bar, just the "Microsoft Corporation" underneath.

I then choose IDE in BIOS configuration, and the exact same thing happens, but this time it will freeze after the first round of the "bar" in the Windows Logo, when is loading for the first installation part, you see?

Any suggestions please?

Best regards,
Sara

 

[totta]

Sorry, I forgot to tell you that the possibility of a pen or installation image fail is less likely since I've recently installed Windows 7 (with the exact same USB and Windows installation DVD) in a Toshiba netbook and a Sony Vaio laptop.

Thanks!

 

[gregrocker]

Do you have a UEFI BIOS? Set Secure Boot to disabled and CSM or Legacy BIOS to enabled or both.

Is there are BIOS update available?

Did you complete all steps in Clean Reinstall Windows 7 including trying a new ISO, written with tool provided to DVD and flash stick?

You also didn't reply to the suggestions about RAM upgrade. What amount of RAM is installed now?

 

[totta]

Hi and thanks for the quick response!

About the UEFI Boot and Legacy, that's another thing that have been bugging me, because I don't seem to find any of those options on my BIOS. The one I'm using is the latest update available in the Asus drivers website. The only options that it has that stand out is "Quiet Boot" (which is disabled) and one "Max Limit something" which is disabled for XP. But nothing that could suggest UEFI Boot and Legacy.

I've already read the Clean Reinstall guide and the only thing I haven't already done, and it's probably this issue, is to format the Windows partition in Command Prompt with all thoses steps. I'm going to try that and report back soon.

All the best!
Sara

 

[gregrocker]

Please follow all of the steps as these almost always resolve installation problems.

It doesn't look like you have UEFI if you see no UEFI boot choices.

Try both DVD and flash stick install.

 

[totta]

Hello again,

I've read the Clean Reinstall guide and tried to put it to practice with my netbook, which doesn't have UEFI BOOT, so I followed the steps to bypass the UEFI install. But unfortunately I couldn't do so, since it is required to get to the first installation panel to run shift+f10 and get the command line and my problem is exactly that it freezes before it gets to the first panel

The only way to get there is opening the ISO with daemon in WinXP, but then I won't be able to format, because the partition is in use.

Any suggestions?
Thanks !
Sara

 

[gregrocker]

Daemon isn't even supported by Win7 and is not one of the steps to Troubleshoot Windows 7 Installation Failures - Windows 7 Help Forums.

Did you download the new ISO for your licensed version at Win7 Home Premium x86 SP1 English Official ISO download and burn to disk with Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool.

Then if disk doesn't work try flash stick install, a step I gave you in my last post but not acknowledged and perhaps ignored.

Did you reset the BIOS to defaults? Check now for a newer BIOS version to update it while XP is still on the drive.

 

[totta]

Hello Gregrocker,

I've been using a Flash stick all along, since my netbook (and most of them) doesn't have a DVD/CD drive. I've tried Daemon to mount the Windows instalation ISO and see if it worked and it does, in fact is the only way i can reach to the first installation panel as I've told you. So, since i cannot get to that panel through booting from the flash stick, I cannot proceed to the "Bypass UEFI install Win7" step in the troubleshoot guide:

When prompted Press Any Key to Boot Disk.
6. At first installer screen Press Shift + F10, or enter System Recovery Options to open a Command Box, type:
DISKPART
LIST DISK
SELECT DISK 0 (after confirming Windows 7 target HD #)
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
FORMAT FS=NTFS LABEL="WINDOWS 7"
ACTIVE
EXIT
EXIT

- This is my main problem, when it boots from the USB, it loads the windows files and then freezes just before this First installer screen...

I'm going to read again the troubleshoot guide, maybe there's something I haven't tried yet..

I'll report as soon as I have more results that can help to define the kind of failure my netbook is having.

Thanks for everything!
Merry Christmas

 

[gregrocker]

You must boot the stick and not mount it from an OS.

Then boot into System Recovery Options on the Disk from the Repair My Computer link on second screen, to open the Command Line to do the Diskpart Commands.

 

[totta]

Hello again,

I think i'm giving up on the Win7 installation, I guess I'll have to stick with Windows XP. I just can't reach even the "first panel" of installation, it freezes everytime, so I can't access Recovery Console or whatever actually. Every step on these guides pressuposes you can load at least the first installation step and my installation process always freezes before.

I really thankful for all your attention and dedication Greg.

Best regards
Sara

 

[gregrocker]

Sara -

We don't give up that easily, and hope you won't either. We've never had anyone fail to get installed who works with us, in tens of thousands of installs helped with here.

A problem I see in reading back over the thread is that you may not be using the correct tool to write the flash stick. You'd want to download a fresh copy of your ISO from Clean Reinstall Windows 7 Step 1 and use the tool provided there to write to stick Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool

Then if it won't boot so you can delete all partitions, what I would do is try running it from XP, to overwrite C. If the stick won't autoplay then click on Setup inside it. Be sure to select C partition for the install. It will create a Windows.old folder of the contents of C you can delete using Disk Cleanup once you have everything needed.

Once you get it installed if you'll post back a screenshot of Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image we can help you delete any other partitions and absorb their space into C, or create a separate data partition wherever you want it.

 

[totta]

Thanks for the support and cheering up Greg! I've tried using Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool, WinToFlash and Rufus, and the same installation freeze happened with those three softwares. I've also tried with an Windows 7 DVD and a Windows 7 certified ISO. As I've said before, in the last month, using WinToFlash, I installed Windows 7 in two netbooks (Sony Vaio and Toshiba) from the DVD copy.

I've tried to run the install through WinXP, the installation first panel shows up only this way. I'm going to try that again see what happens. I'll report soon with more info.

Thanks for everything!
Cheers