Can't boot Windows 7 intallation disk

sparky05084

sparky05084

sparky05084

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4 Sep 2011
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596
Hey all
I'm in a bit of a pickle here and I'm not sure what the solution is. Ok, I have inserted the Win 7 installation disk into my DVD-RW drive (reason being my DVD-ROM drive is locked but that’s a separate issue I'm working on).

I have gone into BIOS and set my first boot priority to that drive. Also, a point worth mentioning, boot from device is set to "enable” so I think I have it right this far.

As I said the DVD-ROM drive is faulty but I set it to boot from the DVD-RAM drive as I have full use of it and it reads disks no trouble.

Now, I saved to CMOS and exited BIOS and the boot sequence started up as normal. Went through POST and then said ""press any key boot from DC or DVD".

Not a problem me thinks and hit Enter. Next thing a grey loading bar comes up at bottom of screen and fills up. All seems good like disk is loading up.

Uh oh, takes me to the "please select Operating system to start" screen which like gives you less than 2 seconds to select and Win XP (current O/S installed) is second down the list below "Recovery Console" and a separate selection that is something about "Debugger?"

Anyway I'm not sure but this screen came up on it's own as it used to just boot straight into Win XP. Also, like I said before it just boots straight into Win XP as you don’t have time to react. It happens very quickly so not much chance to read screen.

Had massive balls up with my PC a few weeks back but managed to fix it. I think this boot screen that asks you to select what O/S you want is a result of the fix. Everything else is fine but this screen is something I am unfamiliar with.

Now, I have a secondary hard drive installed and I want to put Win 7 on that. But, why is it booting into XP?!

Surely it should take me straight to the Win 7 install wizard or what ever it does regardless of XP and allow me to format my secondary hard drive (brand new) and install fresh from there. I am not doing an upgrade but a fresh install.

It even takes you to Win XP logon screen and I can log in to my XP account and the bloody disk is still spinning up. Going into explorer shows that the disk is there and you can look at its contents.

Don't want to do an install over XP. I won't have it that it’s the only way to do it.

Help guys why is my pc booting into XP and not from the disk?

Thanks.
 
have you tried disconnecting the primary hdd? if you are installing windows to the 2nd hdd it shouldn't need the 1st attached at all. You may wish to wait for more gurus but that is what i'd do :)
 
Ok thats a fair point but surely I don't need to disconnect it. What would that achieve? If I set the boot priority to boot from the DVD-RAM drive with the disk in place, then by rights it should boot from the disk and into the Win 7 installation environmnet.

There I imagine it would ask what HDD I wish to install to. I would simply select the secondary HDD and do a clean install.

Am I missing something here?
 
sparky05084 said:
Ok thats a fair point but surely I don't need to disconnect it. What would that achieve? If I set the boot priority to boot from the DVD-RAM drive with the disk in place, then by rights it should boot from the disk and into the Win 7 installation environmnet.

There I imagine it would ask what HDD I wish to install to. I would simply select the secondary HDD and do a clean install.

Am I missing something here?
Click to expand...

For some reason the bootloader you put on is muscling in over the install media.
 
I haven't disconnected the faulty DVD drive. Again, this would have no relevance as BIOS allows you to boot from any hardware connected device including my DVD-RAM drive. That is a serperate issue.

I can still watch DVD's and play games through the RAM. That is why I have asked it to boot from that.

Yes I think your onto something there. Although I didn't personally add a boot loader or boot sequence I have no idea how to remove it. Perhaps that would be a starting point. Advise please.
 
Hey guys. Think I've managed to track down the issue. Going into Msconfig > BOOT.INI This is what I see:

[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons
UnsupportedDebug="do not select this" /debug
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I think something is wrong here and perhaps this needs repairing. Is this my problem?
 
Nope - if it gets as far as reading that menu then its already too late to boot from other media.

You have already been given a solution. How about trying that?
 
Ok guys I will remove the Win XP HDD and then run the disk.

To MilanoChris, well I'm sorry if I've rubed you up the wrong way but I'm not as tech savy as you and as you said earlier, that boot loader is affecting the way the installation goes.

And yes you would have told me a third time:) I can take a hint.

Incidentally, do you agree that my BOOT/INI file has something wrong with it?
 
The boot INI looks normal to me but I don't really know what to look out for.

You haven't rubbed me up the wrong way, just you ask for a solution, I provide one (there may be better ways, I'm no expert) and then you ask again for a solution lol.

If you ain't fussed about the XP build then just get on with it. :)
 
Fair point mate. If it ain't broke don't fix it. I will get back to you and let you know how I go on. Wondering how my system will run in Win 7. Been running XP for the last 6 years. It's time to get with the times :)
 
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