Windows 7 Installation Failure - Overcome

Windows 7 Installation Failure - Troubleshoot

   Information

These steps cover most of the current installation failures encountered. They do not cover hardware issues which can be tested separately from Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7.

1. Back up your files, power down to unplug all other Hard Drives and peripherals except keyboard, mouse and ethernet cable (which increases chance it will start up connected so you can get most of your other drivers via Updates).

2. Boot into BIOS setup, reset to defaults, set SATA controller to AHCI, Hard Drive first to boot, Save changes and Exit. An SSD may have newer firmware to install on its Support Downloads webpage.

3. Search all tabs in BIOS setup for evidence of an EFI BIOS, including settings choices for UEFI, CSM, Legacy BIOS, Secure Boot, or UEFI Boot choices in BIOS Boot Priority menu. If EFI is enabled then proceed to Install Windows 7 with UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). If you don't want a UEFI install you can Bypass UEFI to Install WIn7. This video can help you decide: UEFI BIOS vs. Legacy BIOS - YouTube

4. The problem is often bad media. A prompt for drivers during booted install almost always means bad installation media. Confirm or download the latest ISO for your licensed version and burn to DVD or flash stick as discussed in Step One here. You can test your media in another PC to see if it will boot and queue up correctly. If not replace it. If DVD fails even after replacing, try flash stick install and vice versa. For UEFI install you'll need to create a UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows.

5. Boot the media by tapping the BIOS one-time boot menu key below for your PC brand. Select DVD or for flash stick choose USB, Removable or HD choices which might need to be expanded to choose your stick. If you have a USB3 stick use USB2 port since SP1 does not support USB3 drivers. Asus - F8
HP/Compaq - Esc
Sony - F2
Acer - F12
Gateway - F10
eMachnes - F10
Toshiba - F12
Dell - F12
IBM/Lenovo - the blue Thinkvantage button

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, typeISKPART
LIST DISK
SELECT DISK 0 (after confirming Windows 7 target HD #)
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
FORMAT FS=NTFS LABEL="WINDOWS 7"
ACTIVE
EXIT
EXIT
7. Next click Install Now, then Custom install to Clean Install Windows 7 to the partition you created. If it fails then report back at which step and the verbatim error message.

8. In addition read over these steps to understand the tools and methods which work best to get and maintain a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7. The steps are the same for retail.

9. After install you can adjust partition size or Create new partitions for data, etc. in Disk Mgmt. You are creating the partition here for the purpose of wiping the HD and marking partition Active which overcomes certain install failures. If necessary to test the hard drive, Disk Check will also work best on a full disk partition.

10. If the above steps don't help test your RAM and hard drive from Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7.

You may start a separate thread in Installation forum or ask in the Comments section below for more help. Please identify the exact failure point, any error message or behavior, include pictures if possible attached using the paper clip icon in reply box.

 

[Britton30]

Good tutorial Greg. Hopefully it will solve some issues.

 

[gregrocker]

Thanks, it was a template for way too long. Now others can link it.

Shawn said he'd sticky it in Install forum. Older issues like removing a stick of RAM strangely have faded out over the years so must have been hotfixed.

Any edits or adds are most welcome, e.g unplugging all other drives needs a video link which I can't find yet.

 

[Britton30]

It may help to add image of first install screen in step 5. I've seen some people not recognize it as the first screen.

 

[Brink]

Shawn said he'd sticky it in Install forum. Older issues like removing a stick of RAM strangely have faded out over the years so must have been hotfixed.

If you meant to sticky this tutorial there, then I can't since it's a tutorial and not a thread in that forum area.

 

[gregrocker]

Actually it was to update the Install forum sticky Common Installation Problems and Their Solutions which Jonathan agrees is dated now since most of those (e.g. remove RAM stick) are no longer needed.

 

[Brink]

It'll probably be best to just unstick that one, and just link this tutorial instead.

You wouldn't want to have this one in both locations.

 

[gregrocker]

What other location is that? Sorry if I'm being lunkheaded.

Whatever you think is best.

 

[IownAmoneyPit]

Excellent tutorial Greg that is very short and concise as to be not to confusing to newcomers and contains any additional tutorial links if needed.

 

[2xg]

Another great tutorial Greg. Keep up the good work.

 

[Urthboundmisfit]

Good stuff, bookmarked.

Good tute Greg, thanks for your continued invaluable contributions!

 

[CamperD]

Thanks Greg - I meant changing 1 to 3 in the Setup.exe file in the HKLM/SYSTEM/STATUS/Child Completion area of the Registry. Will print these instructions and have them available if the Windows 7 installation gives me trouble again.

 

[gregrocker]

Thanks Greg - I meant changing 1 to 3 in the Setup.exe file in the HKLM/SYSTEM/STATUS/Child Completion area of the Registry. Will print these instructions and have them available if the Windows 7 installation gives me trouble again.

What is the intended purpose of this reg edit? We're we discussing it in another thread where I referred you to this tutorial? Please post in that thread for continuity.

 

[CamperD]

Windows 7 Installation Failure - partition problems

It may be necessary to use a program like fdisk to delete all the partitions and create a new one. You can get an iso copy of this at a site like: My BootDisk - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com

Partition magic is also a good program for deleting,adding and creating partitions.

 

[gregrocker]

Yes, you can use another boot disk intended for the purpose of wiping the HD, but why would you need to do that when the Win7 installation media http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/668-system-recovery-options.html Command Line can be used to run Diskpart Clean Command as shown in tutorial which is all that's needed to clear the boot sector code that interferes.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/52129-disk-clean-clean-all-diskpart-command.html

 

[PeterJamesJones]

Replaced hard drive with new one, "Reboot and select proper boot..."

Hi gregrocker,

Firstly thanks for posting these in depth tutorials, they certainly make solving computer problems a lot less daunting. I have a quick question. Similar to the guy on this thread that you answered before I have a problem booting my laptop following replacing a hardrive.

I was following the steps you outlined in the Overcoming Windows 7 Installation Failures tutorial but ran into some trouble on step 3.

The problems with following step 3 consist of
1. Unsure whether I have legacy or UEFI setup-This video provided suggested if your laptop has a
version 8.xx.xx = Legacy Bios
if it is version 4.6.x.xx = UEFI bios

However, my BIOS Version on my Dell Inspirion is : A06 (I assume this is a UEFI setup) based on Google searches.

2.Bypass UEFI to Install WIn7 is not possible - I tried to follow your advice here on how to bypass UEFI without success. It says "Boot into BIOS setup, if this is a new Win8 PC look for a setting to disable Secure Boot. Then enable Legacy BIOS or Compatibility Support Module (CSM)." But I believe I have windows 7 previously installed on the laptop hence these options aren't available, and I couldn't find anywhere else online what to do next.

Any advice on solving any of these issues would be appreciated

Thanks in advance.

 

[gregrocker]

What UEFI, CSM, Legacy BIOS, and Boot Priority settings choices are available in BIOS setup? If you have EFI the DVD should show up as an EFI device to boot as well as a legacy one. Try install booting both.

Is the HD detected anywhere in BIOS setup?

What exact error are you getting? The one quoted in title means its not even booting the DVD. Are you? What happens?

 

[PeterJamesJones]

Thanks for your quick reply

The exact error is the following on booting up:

"Reboot and select proper boot device, or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key"

When you press a key you get the message

"PXE E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE- MOF: Exiting PXE ROM"

Image of error upon booting in full shown below

In terms of "What UEFI, CSM, Legacy BIOS, and Boot Priority settings choices are available in BIOS setup?"

UEFI settings = N/A
CSM settings = N/A
Boot priority settings = Hard drive, diskette drive, USB storage device, cd/dvd room, and network

Advanced settings tab in case helpful (where the first word in the brackets is the current settings)
is the following >
1. Powernow! (enabled, vs disabled)
2. Integrated NIC (enabled vs disabled)
3. USB Emulation (Enabled vs disabled)
4. USB wake support (disablled vs enabled)
5. Sata operation (AHCI vs ATA)
6. Adapter warnings (enabled)
7. Function key behavior (function key vs multimedia key)
8. Charger behavior
9. Miscellioneous devices > external USB ports (Enabled vs disabled)

Hard drive is detected

 

[gregrocker]

I see No evidence you have UEFI BIOS.

I'll repeat that the error means the disk is not booting. Obviously there will be an error when trying to boot a blank HD and that is it. Will the disk boot in another PC? If not do it over until its bootable. You must follow the tutorial precisely.

 

[PeterJamesJones]

Completely agree, to follow instructions precisely.

I don't actually have a Windows 7 XP disk, because I was under the impression from a previous thread that all the relevant Windows 7 XP files were available in the iso link you provided? Or is it because I don't have a UEFI that I will now need a windows CD and to make that the Boot priority?
That is assuming copying the iso onto a USB, and then making the USB drive the priority would do nothing.