Windows XP to 7 failure

[Jer]

Hi there
My name is Jeremy, This is my first post and unfortunately its not a happy one.
SORRY for the long post... I just wanted to get all the details in here first, so that things are clearer.


I tried intalling WINDOWS 7 Ultimate on my Windows XP Home edition laptop, an ASUS W3J... which meets all the requirements of Windows 7. I backed up all my files onto an external HD, and decided to go ahead with it all.

The installation process within windows XP went fine, and files were copied then expanded... so i left the computer for a bit... when i came back i saw that the installation process had restared my computer, and that it seemed to be going in a reboot loop. The laptop would start, show the asus welcome screen/play the POST sound, then it starts booting from the CD, with the message "press any key to boot from CD or DVD"... Of course then i would press any key... but within a few seconds, the system would shut down, and restart all over again with the Asus welcome screen/POST sound.

I then went into F2 and tried making the hard drive the boot priority... but then the system would hang after the POST sound/Asus logo, and show a blank, black screen with a flashing underscore on the top left corner... without any further action.
The same thing happens if i just take the DVD out... it just goes to the black screen with the flashing underscore.

So then i decided to just recover windows XP and maybe i could start over again.
Usually Asus has a recover section in their laptop Hard drives and u'd just have to press F8 to initiate it... but I think the Windows 7 Installation may have wiped it out cos its not working anymore.
Out of ALL the F buttons from 1-12, only F2 and F4 work... F2 being the BIOs settings, and F4 being AsusTek BIOS ROM easy Flash Utility.
So since i think the recover partition may be wiped out, i had to resort to the Asus recovery CDs.
Everything goes well with the installation... CD1, then CD2, then the drivers CD.
The drivers CD would install the drivers in an XP professional preinstallaion environment and then once its finished it would restart the computer... but when it restarts, it goes into the same process of loading the preinstallation environment then only after a few steps of installation, a message would pop up saying...
"System does not ready for preinstallation, Please recover Pure OS first. Please eject CD from the device, and press OK to restart the system"
So I'd then do what it says and take out the CD and press ok... next, the system would restart, then again, hang at the blank, black screen once again, with the flashing underscore.

OH, btw... I have no idea how to get into the recovery console on the Asus recovery CDs... when you boot from the recovery CD1, it just gives u options to
1. MS-DOS with CD-ROM support
2. Recover Windows XP to first partition only
3. Recover Windows XP to entire HD
4. Recover Windows XP to entire HD with two partitions
F5 for safe mode (which doesnt work), Shift+F5 for Command prompt, and Shift+F8 for Step by step configuration


Does anyone have any idea whats going on here?
I cant seem to get into the windows splash, loading screen or whatever its called...
I cant even recover XP anymore...

I was thinking IF the Windows Ultimate DVD was able to be read and was able to initiate the installaion process under windows XP, then it shouldnt be a bad DVD right? Its an actual CD from microsoft. I didnt burn it.

Thanks in advance
Jeremy

 

[richc46]

Are you able to stop the loop? If so we can get you going again, I will help.

 

[Minotar]

The laptop would start, show the asus welcome screen/play the POST sound, then it starts booting from the CD, with the message "press any key to boot from CD or DVD"... Of course then i would press any key... but within a few seconds, the system would shut down, and restart all over again with the Asus welcome screen/POST sound.

When it restarts during installation and the screen comes up (Press any key to boot from CD" ,do NOT press anything.

Try a re-install again doing the above.Then if it fails to start,load the Win7 CD or press F8 during start up- go to start up repair and run it 3 times.

 

[Jer]

um... It does the same thing if i dont press anything... It just restarts the computer... sometimes it restarts within a second... (u know how when its waiting for u to press any key... full stops appear after the "press any key to boot from CD or DVD"... it doesnt even get to the second full stop... and it restarts...)

I have no idea how to prevent a restart... cos i cant seem to press anything for it to work.

F8 doesnt work at all...

Thanks

 

[richc46]

um... It does the same thing if i dont press anything... It just restarts the computer... sometimes it restarts within a second... (u know how when its waiting for u to press any key... full stops appear after the "press any key to boot from CD or DVD"... it doesnt even get to the second full stop... and it restarts...)

I have no idea how to prevent a restart... cos i cant seem to press anything for it to work.

F8 doesnt work at all...

Thanks

Go into bios make sure it is set to boot from hard drive and not CD

 

[Jer]

ok.. So I've tried set it to boot from hard drive as first priority with CD/DVD next, then Network... I've also tried setting all to Disabled OTHER than Hard drive... and it still does the same thing... it just restarts automatically, going into a loop.

 

[Minotar]

ok.. So I've tried set it to boot from hard drive as first priority with CD/DVD next, then Network... I've also tried setting all to Disabled OTHER than Hard drive... and it still does the same thing... it just restarts automatically, going into a loop.

Can you boot from the Windows 7 CD to access start up repair?

 

[Jer]

How do i get into Start up repair?
I cant boot from the windows 7 DVD... its not letting me... it would just restart right after it says "press any key to boot from CD or DVD" whether or not i press any key.

Im already so disappointed with 7.

 

[richc46]

How do i get into Start up repair?
I cant boot from the windows 7 DVD... its not letting me... it would just restart right after it says "press any key to boot from CD or DVD" whether or not i press any key.

Im already so disappointed with 7.

I know that you are unhappy, but this can happen with any OS, its just who has the bad luck. We will stay with you until we can get this going. Believe it or this was a common problem. I will check out what the outcome was. We wlil not let you down.

 

[fillup]

Download the Partition Wizard bootable CD: Free Download Partition Wizard

Go into bios and set to boot from CD first. Boot with Partition Wizard. Delete all partitions.

Follow these instructions to do a clean install of Windows 7: http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp

 

[Jer]

Thank you so much for the reassurance, and the fast replies. Good to know that I have solid help.
Ure absolutely right, this couldve been the problem with any other OS. Unlucky for me.

BTW, Ive tried booting with other DVD ROMs, ie, external ones, but to no avail. same loop.

 

[Jer]

Download the Partition Wizard bootable CD: Free Download Partition Wizard

Go into bios and set to boot from CD first. Boot with Partition Wizard. Delete all partitions.

Follow these instructions to do a clean install of Windows 7: http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp

I'll be on this tonight.
Thanks.
Off to the pool now for some laps... been on this nearly all day, need to get away from this for a bit.
Will be back with the details later.
Thanks again.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Sounds kind of like a BIOS problem to me. Can you download the latest BIOS for your motherboard and follow the instructions for creating a bootable floppy?

 

[Jer]

Ok Im back.

Things are going wrong here... dont seem to want to work out for me.
I burnt the Partition wizard onto DVD, and now when i chose to boot from DVD... something called Caldera DR DOS would load instead of Partition Wizard.

Basically what i did was I burnt the DVD with Nero, and chose the "burn a bootable DVD" option... the second step of preparing for the burn process, it asked to select boot image. I didnt have any bootable floppy disks so i chose the Nero standard bootable floppy image, and set it to English(United States).
This DVD lead me to the Caldera DR DOS thing

After this I decided NOT to choose the "burn a bootable DVD" option in Nero, and just made a Data DVD....But this DVD just gave me a restart loop again...

Is there a Region Code for the Windows 7 DVD btw?

 

[Jer]

I just found this:
W3J (Windows Vista Capable) Unable to inst ... ... I just purchased this brand new pack of Vista Ultimate and I can't install it on my W3J with Windows Vista Ca ...

Looks like what Im going through, Jonathan King you may be right!
The BIOS version i have now is 207
I might have to look into a BIOS update.
Maybe the problem for Vista will apply for 7 as well.

 

[fillup]

Ok Im back.

Things are going wrong here... dont seem to want to work out for me.
I burnt the Partition wizard onto DVD, and now when i chose to boot from DVD... something called Caldera DR DOS would load instead of Partition Wizard.

Basically what i did was I burnt the DVD with Nero, and chose the "burn a bootable DVD" option... the second step of preparing for the burn process, it asked to select boot image. I didnt have any bootable floppy disks so i chose the Nero standard bootable floppy image, and set it to English(United States).
This DVD lead me to the Caldera DR DOS thing

After this I decided NOT to choose the "burn a bootable DVD" option in Nero, and just made a Data DVD....But this DVD just gave me a restart loop again...

Is there a Region Code for the Windows 7 DVD btw?

Use ImgBurn instead of Nero: The Official ImgBurn Website

 

[gregrocker]

Make sure you have the latest BIOS version.

The DVD should be booting to correctly install from boot if prompted to press any key. You will need the DVD to boot for future repairs.

It probably won't complete install from XP because it is incompatible formatting.

Instead create a second partition formatted Primary NTFS using Partition Wizard and install to there from XP. You can install PW to XP since you're backed up; but be aware Resizing can fail. View attachment 44212

If the install to second partition fails, then you need to concentrate on getting the DVD to boot: take Network out of boot order list (why is it there anyway?), set DVD drive first, then HD. Confirm correct BIOS version and check what SATA controller setting is, try AHCI.

Do you have a 4gb+ flash stick?

 

[Jer]

Fillup, ure a genius.
I used imgBurn and Partition wizard worked. However, After deleting my recovery partition and formatting the rest, the Windows 7 DVD was still unbootable... whenever it says "press any key to boot from CD or DVD", the system would restart again regardless of what I do.

I didnt even know I still had the recovery partition prior to using Partition wizard... since the recovery F8 option does not seem to want to work! So I have no idea whats going on there.

The next step for me I think is to update my BIOS.
Does this sound like a good idea? from the previous link I posted... here it is again
W3J (Windows Vista Capable) Unable to inst ... ... I just purchased this brand new pack of Vista Ultimate and I can't install it on my W3J with Windows Vista Ca ...

IM COMPLETELY NEW TO UPDATING ANYTHING TO DO WITH BIOS.
Can someone give me a comprehensive, easy to understand guide I can follow?
On the W3J asus support, theres a utility to update BIOS called AFlash for updating under DOS... I think I will be needing this one since I am now unable to use WinFlash (which needs a working OS from what I understand).
HOW do I make a bootable floppy if I dont have a floppy disk drive? I've only laptops... I can make DVDs tho.
Any help for this BIOS noob would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jer]

GregRocker.
Nope, I dont have a 4Gb+ flash. I'll ask around tmw, maybe my friends may have one. What will I need it for?

I've already deleted the Recovery partition on my HD... but i didnt format the whole thing to be in NTFS. I'll get on that now.
Maybe I should try to reinstall XP since my HD is now clean, and I can update my BIOS through XP if the OS recovery doesnt fail on me again.

 

[gregrocker]

Its safer to update BIOS from windows. There should be such an option.

You are right to concentrate on getting Win7 DVD to boot since it is needed for critical repairs.

However, some are able to get a flash stick to boot when DVD won't: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html