Problem booting Windows 7 - Please help! :(

Hey guys. I built my new PC last night (i7-2700k, 16GB RAM etc.), and i have tried installing windows 7 via the optical drive.

I successfully installed it, set up username and password, and it went to the desktop. Everything seemed to be ok, mouse was working fine. Then, after 10-20 seconds, it suddenly said "Logging off" and "Shutting down". The PC shut down, and restarted.

The BIOS flashes up very briefly, then "Press any key to boot from CD/DVD..." very quickly, then the monitor loses its input and goes blank. Whilst this is happening, the fans in the PC are going slow then suddenly fast for a second, and the various POST red LED's around the motherboard turn on and off in turn. It appears that the one for the boot device stays on the longest, but i'm not sure.

It may be hard to understand what i'm saying, so i've uploaded a video so you can see what's happening: (it's uploading now, i'll post the link later today)



I've tried formatting the SSD and reinstalling windows 4 times now, with no success.. If anyone can help, i would really appreciate it. Thanks!

Remove the Windows CD from the drive?

Or... change the boot order back to HDD first.

Then again if you're not pressing the "any" key... it should boot to the HDD.

Graphics driver issues by the sounds of it. Using onboard or a proper card? Did you install those drivers for it?

Tried safe mode (f8).

does it go through the install ok then bork on restart? if it does defo sounds driver problem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3xO8mj8bqw&feature=youtu.be
^ That's the video of it


I've tried taking the boot disk out of the drive and even disabling it as a boot option in the BIOS, same result.

I'm using the integrated graphics for now, so i'll try safe mode, but how can i update drivers from there?

Thanks :/

I can't get safe mode to work either, it comes up with an option to choose boot device or setup, then does the same thing again no matter which device i choose

I would secure erase the SSD before reinstalling Windows 7. I think you need to find a way to access the event log to see what is making Windows shut down.

Sorry, i'm new to this...

Every time i've reinstalled windows i have first formatted both the partitions on the SSD. Is that the same as a secure erase?

How would I view the event log?

Thanks

Nope, quick or full formatting a SSD isn't the same AFAIK. The complex software running on a SSD needs the secure erase command to clear it. I've tend to use OCZ SSDs, so I use the OCZ firmware flashing software on USB to run the secure erase (usually you have to remove any partitions on it first).

You need to be in Windows long enough to access eventvwr or try going into safe mode again (are you pressing F8 too many times?).

Ah ok maybe i can try that from the family pc then.

Yeah i kind of spam F8 because there's no indication of what point i'm supposed to press it

Try disconnecting the Sara cable from your optical drive.

Take it your using achi mode atm in the bios,

Just for the hell of it have you tryed IDE mode to see how far you get?

Just a random guess it might be installing some updated ms achi driver (unless you supplied one during windows install, which is worth trying if you havnt already.) and falling over on the second reboot.

I haven's tried disconnecting the SATA cable from the optical drive but i have tried disabling it completely as a boot option, which didn't work.

Ok i'm trying something new i found on google (diskpart - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html) at the moment, but i will try that after. Thanks

I know it sounds strange but have you tried disconnecting your power switch from the mobo and jumping it with a screwdriver?

Edit: you may aswel try removing reset also whilst your there.

I'm not sure shorting out pins with a screwdriver is a helpful suggestion.

SlugForAButt said:

I'm not sure shorting out pins with a screwdriver is a helpful suggestion.

Click to expand...

Go on?..

Surely this would eliminate any problems with faulty switches etc.

Ohlawll said:

Go on?..

Surely this would eliminate any problems with faulty switches etc.

Click to expand...

But it turns on

We can't see the post messages. Your monitor seems to be delayed in picking up the signalPress pause when it boots to freeze it at post. Should give you a chance to read the messages. Will show you where it's hanging.

Strange error that one. Never seen that before auto shut down. I would try re-installing windows again.
You boot post seems to be working normal, each LED should light up and move onto the next. If they is a problem the LED will stay solid red and wont pass the post.

I've tried reinstalling a few times :/

Ok guys, update: I swapped the SSD for the HDD in my laptop. The install of Win7 on the SSD works perfectly fine on the laptop. I allowed it to do 109 updates, no problem.

The HDD also works in the new PC, so it obviously isn't a hardware problem (i think?).

The only thing that i have noticed is that in the Windows rating index thing (1 - 7.9), both the laptop (with PC's SSD) and the PC (with laptop's HDD) say that the Graphics and Gaming Graphics have a score of 1.0. So now i'm almost certain that it's got something to do with the graphics drivers, but i don't know how to fix that. I tried downloading Intel's newest driver (i think it was the right one) on both setups, but both gave an error that said something like "Your system is not suitable to install this"

Just now, i tried the SSD back in the PC, but with exactly the same result as before...

This is getting really frustrating now :/

Thanks for any answers

Have you tried with only 2 sticks of ram?

Seem to recall someone else had a similar problem and this advice was mentioned (can't remember if it worked or not.)

Also a score of 1.0 on the ratings could indicate the gpu drivers haven't installed right.

Have you tried the drivers that came with the motherboard?