Solved Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit install failure

[Bodders]

I am having problems with a self-build new PC, and I hope somebody can help me out here.
Here is the list of components :
Case Fractal Design R3
PSU Antec True Power 650W
Motherboard Asus P8P67 Pro
RAM Corsair 4Gb DD3 1600
CPU Intel i5 2500k
Cooler Arctic Cooling Freezer 7
SSD 64GB Crucial RealSSD C300
Hard disk Samsung Spinpoint 1Tb
Graphics card Radeon HD 5770
DVD drive Samsung External


I am trying to install Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit edition, which I downloaded from the MSDN website. I have used the Windows 7 USB DVD Download tool to burn it onto an 8Gb USB stick.
The initial problems I had were caused by plugging the SATA devices into the Marvell sockets rather than the Intel sockets on the motherboard. Once I used the Intel sockets, the install went well – it completed successfully, and I then installed all the various m/b & video drivers with no problems.
However, after a couple of hours running I started to hit various BSOD crashes with “Page Fault in nonPaged area” and “Memory Management” issues. Soon the PC became unusable because it was crashing so often & I decided to re-install Windows 7 from scratch.
The problem now is that if I try installing from the USB stick I get crashes on the same error messages (“Page Fault in nonPaged area” and “Memory Management”) even as the install is starting – it will not get beyond that point. This is after downloading another copy of Windows 7 from MSDN & reburning it on the USB stick. I tried burning a DVD & installing from that but the device is not recognised – I am using an external Samsung DVD drive.
I am wondering whether I have faulty components, but then why would I have had a successful install initially.
Any help is greatly appreciated
Bodders

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello Bodders, welcome to Seven Forums!


If you have made changes to the BIOS, set it back to default and reinstall; the best way would be to do a wipe of the entire Hard Disk Drive and use one of the options to create a single 100GB partition to do the install to.

Be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.


After you have copied out or made back-ups of the data you need to save to external media, use Step One of this tutorial at the first link below to do a wipe (secure erase) to the entire Hard Disk Drive / Solid State Drive.

• Then if you do not want to create the new Windows 7 "System Reserved" partition use the outline in Step Two #2 to create, format and mark Active a single 100GB partition to do the installation to.
• If you do want to create the "System Reserved" partition use the outline in Step Two #3 to create, format and mark Active the System Reserved partition and then create and format the 100GB partition to do the installation to.

Either way, running the "clean all" then creating and formatting the partition(s) using diskpart will get you the best possible space to do a clean install of Windows 7 to; you can always extend the Windows partition to include the remaining unallocated space on the HDD / SSD or create additional Primary partitions or an Extended partition after the installation completes if you choose.

SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

DISKPART : At PC Startup

Do a Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

 

[gregrocker]

Test your RAM: RAM - Test with Memtest86+ - Windows 7 Forums

This is not XP - The Win7 installer is driver complete, with newer arriving quickly via optional Windows Updates: Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware

I would not change out drivers given by the Win7 installer unless performance dictates doing so.

Tips for getting a perfect reinstall - use the ones which apply: Reinstalling Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums

 

[TCG]

Test your RAM: RAM - Test with Memtest86+ - Windows 7 Forums

+1 for memtest on this one.

 

[Bodders]

Thanks Bare Foot Kid - the advice about secure erasing the SSD with diskpart was spot on. All problems gone - install completed successfully.

Really appreciated the help

Bodders

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello again, you're welcome; good to see you got it running and thanks for the update.

 

[theog]

It is always worth cleaning Hd first, well worth the time.

 

[Bodders]

Well unfortunately I spoke too soon. Last night I installed Windows 7 & a few updaes. This evening I came home to install Office, etc but I am having loads of BSOD's again - Page Fault in Nonpaged Area, Memory Management, etc. As soon as I had 1 crash, the whole system has become unusable again. I am really disappointed as I had secure erased the SSD.

Any suggestions as to where to go now ?

Thanks again for your help

Bodders

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

That's too bad, click this link to start a new thread over at the crashes/debug sub-forum to see if they have any ideas for you over there and be sure to keep us posted back here if they do.

 

[gregrocker]

What were the results of the memtest?

Have you considered a clean reinstall accepting the installer's drivers updated by optionale Windows Updates to test performance?

I'm not sure you saw this post as there was no response:

Test your RAM: RAM - Test with Memtest86+ - Windows 7 Forums

This is not XP - The Win7 installer is driver complete, with newer arriving quickly via optional Windows Updates: Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware

I would not change out drivers given by the Win7 installer unless performance dictates doing so.

Tips for getting a perfect reinstall - use the ones which apply: Reinstalling Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums

 

[Bodders]

Gregrocker

I downloaded Memtest86+ & the results showed the memory failing on every test - I stopped it at about 1 million errors.

Does this mean the memory sticks are bad, or are there any settings on Memtest I should change ?

Thanks for your help

Bodders

 

[gregrocker]

Use Part 3 of the excellent tutorial Jonathan has written to isolate the stick(s) or slot(s) which are bad. It is a process of elimination.

I would then call Corsair tech support as some RAM manufacturers (like Kingston) will replace bad RAM. Either way you can get squared away about replacement options and assuring you have the correct RAM for the mobo - double and triple check this when replacing.

Let us know how it goes.