Can't install Windows 7 on Vertex 3 SSD

xEden · 13 Jul 2011 at 22:51

Can't install Windows 7 on Vertex 3 SSD [NEW PROBLEMS]

Having more problems, read latest post for details.

I'm trying to install Windows 7 Ultimate on my Vertex 3, but it keeps erroring me no matter what I do. I have flashed the SSD with the most recent firmware, and even made a partition for installing Windows (which I shouldn't need to do).

However, every time I tried to install it it shows me this: "Windows cannot install required files. The file may be corrupt or missing. Make sure all files required for installation are available, and restart the installation. Error code: 0x80070017"

This is a brand new, legitimate copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. What am I doing wrong?

Cheers

MarkA · 13 Jul 2011 at 23:19

Possibly, find another copy of the DVD, sounds like this one is damaged or was never written correctly.

megalomanic · 13 Jul 2011 at 23:20

have you tried changing the SATA mode to IDE (from AHCI) in the bios?

Not an expert myself but thats would I would try/check if in the same situation, also make sure to unplug any USB devices except keyboard/mouse (unlikely to be causing the issue though).

xEden · 14 Jul 2011 at 01:27

Yup, MarkA was right. Damaged DVD. I tried out the 32-bit one and it ran just fine. Guess I'm gonna have to get my hands on a new 64-Bit DVD then.

Cheers and thanks for the help.

Buchanan0204 · 14 Jul 2011 at 01:54

xEden said:
Yup, MarkA was right. Damaged DVD. I tried out the 32-bit one and it ran just fine. Guess I'm gonna have to get my hands on a new 64-Bit DVD then.

Cheers and thanks for the help.

Did it look scratched or anything? Quite strange that. Just download a x64 copy and use your own legit key. Nothing wrong with that.

xEden · 14 Jul 2011 at 03:00

Buchanan0204 said:
Did it look scratched or anything? Quite strange that. Just download a x64 copy and use your own legit key. Nothing wrong with that.

Yeah, it has a couple of marks here and there, likely due to the sub par Microsoft packaging. They just stack the two DVDs on a single holder that can't even make them stay still. The 64-bit disc was on top, so I assume it spun around enough to render itself useless.

But yeah, I guess I'll look around for a clean image of 7 x64 and use my key on it. I'll get in touch with Microsoft and ask them about this, but I'm definitely not going to wait around till they decide to send me a new disc.

Cheers and thanks a lot for the help

Buchanan0204 · 14 Jul 2011 at 08:49

xEden said:
Yeah, it has a couple of marks here and there, likely due to the sub par Microsoft packaging. They just stack the two DVDs on a single holder that can't even make them stay still. The 64-bit disc was on top, so I assume it spun around enough to render itself useless.

But yeah, I guess I'll look around for a clean image of 7 x64 and use my key on it. I'll get in touch with Microsoft and ask them about this, but I'm definitely not going to wait around till they decide to send me a new disc.

Cheers and thanks a lot for the help

Pretty ridiculous isn't it. Ah well, there's a few decent clean images going around. Shouldn't be too hard to find. Best of luck.

monkeyspank · 14 Jul 2011 at 11:21

USB install is much quicker anyway

If you get the ISO and use the MS USB DVD tool to put it onto a USB stick, you can have it so you can select which version of win7 you want at install by deleting a file off the prepared USB stick,.. Sources\ie.cfg I think

scooby555t · 14 Jul 2011 at 21:46

i had the same issue with my original vertex 60gb windows wouldn't install so i stuck it in as a secerndry drive and did a hd tune scan it had bad blocks so i rmaed it might be worth doing that to see if theres any issues with the drive

xEden · 15 Jul 2011 at 00:09

scooby555t said:
i had the same issue with my original vertex 60gb windows wouldn't install so i stuck it in as a secerndry drive and did a hd tune scan it had bad blocks so i rmaed it might be worth doing that to see if theres any issues with the drive

Nope, I tried installing the 32-bit version and it did so flawlessly. The 64-bit one wouldn't install on my storage HDD either, so it really was a DVD problem.

xEden · 15 Jul 2011 at 05:02

So, there's a lot more going on than what I initially thought.

First, yes, my original 64-bit disc was damaged. I burned a clean image onto a DVD, and found a bunch of other problems. Also, this is a fresh new build, so any component I refer to, is a brand new part.

First of all, my Blu-ray drive seems to be malfunctioning. During the Windows installation process, it suddenly stops reading data (the activity LED stops flashing), it spins the disc at high speed for a while, and then halts. Hence, the windows installation failed yet again, every single time I tried. So, I put the Vertex 3 in my laptop and installed Windows from here. It completed the installation with no problems whatsoever.

And now, I put the SSD back onto my desktop. Windows does start up and all, but I'm getting bluescreens all the time, it won't even let drivers finish installation. Also, it seems to freeze every once in a while for a few seconds, sometimes BSODing me right after it un-freezes.

Now, I'm trying to install Windows on my 2TB storage drive, but the BD drive is doing the same it did with the SSD, it reads data for a while and then gets stuck in limbo.

Do you think I should return these items to OCUK and ask for replacements? Maybe a Corsair Force 3 instead of this Vertex drive?

Also, yes, the SSD has been flashed with the most recent firmware.

Ben Cole · 15 Jul 2011 at 05:59

Have you checked the RAM?

Quite often I've had these difficult to pin down problems turn out to be dodgy RAM.

Recently I refreshed my laptop by upgrading from 2Gb to 4Gb of Ram and added a Vertex2E.

Had similar issues to you, managed to get windows installed but it was never quite right. Had occasional bugs and crashes. The final straw came when I couldn't install Office at all.
After hours of diagnosis I finally resorted to booting into memtest. Sure enough my brand new Corsair RAM was riddled with faults.

Good luck.

xEden · 15 Jul 2011 at 14:25

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll boot it up and run Memtest just to be sure

xEden · 15 Jul 2011 at 16:47

Hello

I've done a couple more tests. Memtest is currently checking all 8Gb of RAM (2x 4GB, Corsair Vengeance 1866MHz). It is currently on pass 2 and has found no errors yet. I will let it run until it hits 10 passes.

I have also tried the SSD out on my Laptop again. I tried installing a couple different programs and games. I got no BSODs, and it installed most of them successfully, however, it sometimes the installer (just the installer, not everything like in my desktop) hung, and wouldn't install the program. It also froze when shutting down.

I did ran dskchk and it found no bad sectors on the SSD.

Anything else I should try while running memtest?

Cheers

EDIT: Also, Memtest states that the RAM is running at 1193MHz, instead of the supposed 1866. The last time I checked in the BIOS, it was running @ 1333MHz. Is this normal?

Bane · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:45

I would have thought the blue screens after transferring SSD to desktop was because device drivers installed were for laptop hardware only. So not compatible with desktop hardware.

xEden · 15 Jul 2011 at 20:36

Okay, this is getting really random. I let Memtest run up to 5 cycles, and no errors were found in the RAM, so I assume that's not the problem.

I put my Laptop' HDD in my PC and updated the BD Drive's firmware. Then, I decided to pick up my copy of Mass Effect 2 and install it to the laptop HDD, with the BD Drive, and it completed the installation successfully.

Theoretically, this means that both the RAM and the BD Drive are working just fine. Also, don't forget that windows did install to the SSD while using my laptop.

And now, I tried to install Win7 again in my desktop, it went up to 21%, and then failed again! So if no component is damaged, what in the world is happening here?

Cheers

Destination · 15 Jul 2011 at 21:38

Bane said:
I would have thought the blue screens after transferring SSD to desktop was because device drivers installed were for laptop hardware only. So not compatible with desktop hardware.

I would be thinking this, you're trying to run windows under a messed up chipset driver install and various third party components.
Bluescreens are to be expected.

Destination · 15 Jul 2011 at 21:38

Are you overclocked?

xEden · 15 Jul 2011 at 22:27

Hikari Kisugi said:
I would be thinking this, you're trying to run windows under a messed up chipset driver install and various third party components.
Bluescreens are to be expected.

Almost certainly. Still, my laptop HDD, running Vista x86, doesn't bluescreen or freeze no mater what I do. Regardless, installing Windows to the SSD through the laptop was just a way of checking if the SSD wasn't faulty.

Hikari Kisugi said:
Are you overclocked?

No, it's a 2600K still running at stock speeds. SpeedStep is disabled as well, haven't tried disabling turbo though.

I will try an USB install next. I suspect it's some kind of random issue with the BD drive, as all the errors it's shown me so far are about corrupted or missing files on the installation DVD.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions so far

xEden · 16 Jul 2011 at 01:51

...and failed yet again.

I had to enable XMP for the flash drive to be recognized. It installed, went up to 9%, then gave me the same old "file corrupted or not found" error. I believe it might have something to do with the motherboard, since I've ruled out the BD Drive.

It's an ASUS P8P67 Deluxe. Any suggestions?