Can't boot from windows 7 dvd

ganesh · 17 Dec 2011 at 19:23

Hello chaps,

Just upgraded a few bits on my computer (mobo, CPU, ram and ssd), and I can't boot from the windows 7 DVD! Boot priorities are set correctly and the DVD drive worked perfectly before, when it tries to read the DVD it just clicks and whirrs before eventually failing. If I boot into windows (old win xp installation) it still won't recognise the DVD, the DVD itself is fine as It worked perfectly in my girlfriends laptop. And other DVDs work in the drive.

My thinking is that there is just some kind of incompatibility between my drive and the windows DVD, does this sound like a logical conclusion?

Will be off to buy a new one tomorrow I think.

Thanks.

Michaeljcox24 · 17 Dec 2011 at 19:28

Me personally I would see if I could borrow an optical drive off someone for the install, a lot cheaper mate

TNGL · 17 Dec 2011 at 19:30

If you've got a spare and big enough USB drive around, use your girlfriend's laptop to make a bootable Windows 7 USB installation. Eventually, I'd buy a new optical drive though.

j.col · 17 Dec 2011 at 19:32

Tingle said:
If you've got a spare and big enough USB drive around, use your girlfriend's laptop to make a bootable Windows 7 USB installation. Eventually, I'd buy a new optical drive though.

this,

ganesh · 17 Dec 2011 at 19:37

Tingle said:
If you've got a spare and big enough USB drive around, use your girlfriend's laptop to make a bootable Windows 7 USB installation. Eventually, I'd buy a new optical drive though.

How big would it need to be? The largest one I have is 4gb I think. And no one I can borrow a drive from.

d_brennen · 17 Dec 2011 at 19:43

4GB is fine

All you need is the Windows DVD, the 4GB pen drive and this:

http://emea.microsoftstore.com/UK/en-GB/Service-Centre/Windows-7-USB-DVD-Download-Tool

Can't remember if you can just use the DVD as is, you may need to make an ISO of it.

TNGL · 17 Dec 2011 at 19:45

ganesh said:
How big would it need to be? The largest one I have is 4gb I think. And no one I can borrow a drive from.

Yeah, that should do it. I think my Windows 7 .iso is around 3GB.

ganesh · 17 Dec 2011 at 19:52

Arse, biggest one I can find is 2gb. Will have to pick up a bigger one tomorrow, thanks for the advice chaps.

ThePengu1n · 17 Dec 2011 at 19:53

I have this problem, bootable usb F.T.W.! Installs in a fraction of the time

d_brennen · 17 Dec 2011 at 20:03

Also, you can make your USB version into a Windows 7 Ultimate install with a very simple tweak, so able to choose which version to install. Very handy for rebuilding various machines (like netbooks with 7 Starter, machines at work that use 7 Pro etc)

ganesh · 17 Dec 2011 at 20:34

d_brennen said:
Also, you can make your USB version into a Windows 7 Ultimate install with a very simple tweak, so able to choose which version to install. Very handy for rebuilding various machines (like netbooks with 7 Starter, machines at work that use 7 Pro etc)

So I can turn my home premium install into an ultimate one? How do I do that? And surely my product key is for the home premium version.

d_brennen · 17 Dec 2011 at 20:54

Legally you can only install the version you have a coa sticker for. Your coa key will only activate the version it is for ie Home Premium. But if you have multiple machines with different versions

All you need to do is remove the ei.cfg file from your ISO before making the usb drive bootable. But if you don't need this functionality don't bother

ganesh · 18 Dec 2011 at 22:51

Picked up a USB pen from tescos late last night, created my boot drive and voila it worked! Strange that the drive wouldn't read the windows DVD, yet works perfectly with any other disc i put in.

Thanks for your advice guys.

Buchanan0204 · 19 Dec 2011 at 01:37

Always best to boot from USB. The noise of the disc annoys me when whirring about. So prone to problems if it's scratched or whatever. The sooner we see the back of optical media the better.

Roll on the days of 64GB USB3 flash drives for a tenner

lrlcr · 19 Dec 2011 at 01:39

I find I resinstall fairly often. Seriously considering a dirt cheap tiny ssd to use as a win7 disc!!!

Buchanan0204 · 19 Dec 2011 at 06:51

lrlcr said:
I find I resinstall fairly often. Seriously considering a dirt cheap tiny ssd to use as a win7 disc!!!

Try storing an image on an SSD. A hell of a lot easier than reinstalling.

Windows 7 has it's own imaging utility which works very well.

Plumbing007 · 19 Dec 2011 at 09:26

hi,
Nice post thanks for sharing with us.

ganesh · 19 Dec 2011 at 09:38

lrlcr said:
I find I resinstall fairly often. Seriously considering a dirt cheap tiny ssd to use as a win7 disc!!!

Installing windows 7 from a USB pen to an SSd is crazy fast!

Buchanan0204 · 19 Dec 2011 at 18:29

ganesh said:
Installing windows 7 from a USB pen to an SSd is crazy fast!

I agree. An average 52x CD can read at something around 8MBps. An average flash drive is around 10. So slightly quicker.

I wonder what some of these USB 3 flash drives can do with regards to an install!

panyan · 19 Dec 2011 at 21:07

Buchanan0204 said:
Try storing an image on an SSD. A hell of a lot easier than reinstalling.

Windows 7 has it's own imaging utility which works very well.

i have thought about this, but the main reason i reinstall is so that all my core applications are up to date, which they wouldnt be if i were to make an image would they?