what on earth is wrong???? win7 still wont install

Reaper 392 · 5 Mar 2011 at 23:31

ive been trying for ages to get windows 7 to install on my new PC.

i have downloaded windows 7 x64 from my university, unzipped the file, and copied it straight to a DVD+RW. both my laptop and my dads computer recognise this DVD as a boot disk* but i get a message saying something like please insert bootable media when i try and use this disk in my new PC

*i havent actually tried to boot windows onto any of the other computers because i dont want to lose anything

the files on the DVD are:

(folder) boot
(folder) efi
(folder) sources
(folder) support
(folder) upgrade
(setup information file) autorun (1kb)
(file) bootmgr (375kb)
(efi file) bootmgr.efi (653KB)
(application) setup (105KB)

this is the exact specs of my computer:

Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (heard this could be the problem)
Asus M4A88T-M AMD 880G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
AMD Phenom II X4 955BE
BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply
graphics card is currently not in the machine

the ram is in the two blue slots of the motherboard (these are definitely different channels)

i have used the motherboard boot disk to get the motherboard working. it asked me if i wanted to do something about RAID and win x64, or a free DOS operating system, so i went with the raid system, and it said insert bootable floppy into drive A. i dont have a floppy, so i turned off the computer from that point

i have tried:
- moving the samsung DVD to sata slot 6, and sata slot 2. the motherboard recognises the DVD drive in both locations, and accepts it as a boot device in each locations. it was set to first boot priority in all tries
the computer did not recognise the disk as proper boot media in any of the tries
- using an ancient ADI DVD drive and setting that to first boot priority. still didnt recognise the disk as proper boot media

i am going to try after i post this:
- putting the DVD drive into SATA slot 1. doubt it will make a difference, but its worth a go
- installing windows from USB. i cant do this for a couple of days because my USB is at Uni, and i cant find a way of transfering my copy of windows to the USB in a bootable format

has anyone got any ideas, because both me and my dad are truely stumped

Emphacy · 5 Mar 2011 at 23:41

I'm confused, what do you mean it won't install. If it recognizes it as a boot disk, then it should go to 'Loading Windows Install Files' or something similar, then begin installation.

At which point will it not install, does it not read the disk or anything. I would burn it to another disk on 4X speed and try again.
ALSO: If you can see if you can get an ISO (.iso file) of Windows 7 instead of the extracted ZIP. They always work for me.

Pighardia · 5 Mar 2011 at 23:48

yeah, i'm not really sure if i'm following this properly, but i have a few of the same components.
when you turn it on, do you get the "please insert bootable media" message(orsomething like that)?

d_brennen · 5 Mar 2011 at 23:54

Burn the ISO with an ISO authoring program like IMGburn (free and awesome) or Nero. Copying right to DVD won't do it, unless I'm reading this wrong?

Reaper 392 · 5 Mar 2011 at 23:56

Emphacy said:
I'm confused, what do you mean it won't install. If it recognizes it as a boot disk, then it should go to 'Loading Windows Install Files' or something similar, then begin installation.

At which point will it not install, does it not read the disk or anything. I would burn it to another disk on 4X speed and try again.
ALSO: If you can see if you can get an ISO (.iso file) of Windows 7 instead of the extracted ZIP. They always work for me.

my laptop and my dad's computer recognise the disk as a boot disk. my new PC does not. (info added to the OP now)

how would i go about converting the extracted file to an ISO file

Pighardia said:
yeah, i'm not really sure if i'm following this properly, but i have a few of the same components.
when you turn it on, do you get the "please insert bootable media" message(orsomething like that)?

thats the message i get (also edited into the OP)

i have now tried the DVD drive in sata slot 1, with no luck (all the boot priorities were ok)

Pighardia · 6 Mar 2011 at 00:00

if you get that message and it doesn't work when you then put the disc in, i would think it must be the way the disc has been prepared. You might need to make an ISO.
There are lots of programs that can do that, but i'm not sure if one comes with windows?
I use Nero which came with my odd drive(same one as yours)

Reaper 392 · 6 Mar 2011 at 00:24

d_brennen said:
Burn the ISO with an ISO authoring program like IMGburn (free and awesome) or Nero. Copying right to DVD won't do it, unless I'm reading this wrong?

copying right to dvd is what i did, but i dont have an ISO filetype anywhere that i can see.

any idea on how to convert my unzipped windows 7 download to an ISO?

Tomtom3989 · 6 Mar 2011 at 01:09

just google lost windows 7 disc
i'll edit a link in later when i have time
and download the iso of your windows edition, it'll be about 3gb
just right click on file and burn to dvd

make sure number 1 boot-up in bios in set to your optical drive
doesn't matter what sata-port its connected to

insert disc press any key to bootup from disc

and follow the instructions, just make sure you have your key

otherwise i do not understand what your having trouble with,

freddie64 · 6 Mar 2011 at 08:16

Think this is what Tomtom is refering to, windows 7.

I would use imgburn though to burn it to disc.

hlennie · 6 Mar 2011 at 08:32

Check your boot settings and that boot from cd is your first option

paradisiac · 6 Mar 2011 at 08:44

is this not the 3rd or 4th thread about this problem??
basically, dragging the files from HDD to DVD WILL NOT copy the boot files, so it will only work from within windows. you need to either download an iso and burn to disc or usb stick with either imgburn or the win7tousb software i posted in one of the other threads you started.
are you sure the file you downloaded was a zip file and not an iso, if you dont have an isoburner, or you set your zip app to open iso files, then thats what it will do. i would look at that first as you might already have the iso.

ns400r · 6 Mar 2011 at 10:20

As the last post.

Reaper 392 · 6 Mar 2011 at 13:25

paradisiac said:
is this not the 3rd or 4th thread about this problem??
basically, dragging the files from HDD to DVD WILL NOT copy the boot files, so it will only work from within windows. you need to either download an iso and burn to disc or usb stick with either imgburn or the win7tousb software i posted in one of the other threads you started.
are you sure the file you downloaded was a zip file and not an iso, if you dont have an isoburner, or you set your zip app to open iso files, then thats what it will do. i would look at that first as you might already have the iso.

OMG i am so dumb. that is almost certainly the problem. thanks
although in my defence, in my documents it said the file was of a type winzip, that it opened with winzip, and its symbol was also the winzip file. only in the properties could i see that it was an .iso file

*edit*
this is all working now. thanks so much for pointing out my incredibly stupid mistake paradisiac

sorry for making 3 threads about this problem, but the problem had taken a completely different direction, from what the original thread title was in the other threads, and since i cant change its title, i made a new one with a more appropriate title