Windows 7 Won't Boot :(

manic111

manic111

manic111

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I finally got round to installing my retail version of Win 7 64 bit on Sunday night. I got in last night, and it wouldn't boot. It gets to the "microsoft corporation" flash screen, in which the picture of the Windows logo forms from four coloured balls. It then becomes unresponsive, and the hard drive stops doing anything.

It does boot into safe mode, and passes memtest. I am running an i5 (which I've reset to stock clocks) on an MSI GD80, with an ATI 3850 (I know :p), and 4GB Gskill Ripjaw RAM.

If anyone has any ideas I'll be very grateful, if not I'll reinstall!! Thanks in advance :)

EDIT: I'm at work now so can't try any of your suggestions, but can't get online at home due to being computerless, so will try suggestions tonight and let you know what happens!

EDIT: The problem has now developed. Please read to post 12 for my latest woes. Thanks :)
 
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I've tried all of the above, nothing happens - I was considering re-installing; as you say, it doesn't take long...just a bit of a pain :(
 
Yep, you may well be right. The problems started after I had been playing with power settings, trying to stop my wireless card turning off when I put the computer to sleep, so this coupled with all the drivers changing may have confused it. Boo :(
 
I need some more help with this :(

I've now tried re-installing, and it freezes on "Completing Installation"; the entire PC crashes, mouse isn't recognised, and needs to be hard reset.

Based on what I've read on the net, this isn't an uncommon problem, but naturally there are tonnes of different opinions on how to fix it, from enabling PnP OS in the BIOS (which, judging from my extensive exploration, mine doesn't have), to installing with only 2GB of RAM.

I've had a tinker with the BIOS and am currently trying again, and will subsequently try removing some RAM, but following that will be at a loss.

Can anyone help further?
 
_Jimlad_ said:
i would install on bios defaults
Click to expand...

Tried it :(

I had a media partition on my hard drive which I've just wiped, seeing if that helps now. I've also unplugged the keyboard (reports have said that running a usb keyboard can cause it to do this; unfortunately I've only got a USB one, so I've ditched it instead!) If this try doesn't work I need to go to bed. Royal pain in the backside!
 
Just spent 20 minutes trying to work out why I couldn't boot from the CD, then realised that I had reset the BIOS to its fail-safe defaults - I must be more tired than I thought :rolleyes:

On the advice of random forums I have now tried starting the install on its way, then unplugging everything - keyboard, mouse, the works. If this doesn't work I really must go to bed. However, many users have recommended enabling AHCI in the BIOS - does anyone know where this option is on the GD80? I can't find it!
 
_Jimlad_ said:
well i always have AHCI enabled, and IDE disabled. I use AMD award bios's but must be an option and that could be where your issue lie
Click to expand...

The only place in my BIOS where there is mention of AHCI is in the RAID settings. Is this the correct place to switch it on? It was previously set to IDE, but I assumed that this was irrelevant as I'm not running a RAID setup...
 
Fair enough, if that doesn't work I'm going to sleep on it as I'm stumped, and then pinch a PS2 keyboard from work tomorrow...

EDIT: Still nothing, still frozen at the same place. No idea what to do from here :(

Mods, if you happen to see this I don't suppose you could change this thread title to "Windows 7 Crashing on Install"? Cheers :)

Thanks for your help tonight Jimlad, off to bed now and playing football tomorrow evening, so it may be a job for another time :(
 
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Yup, the wireless card is going to be my next port of call - it's some cheapo brand on the Atheros chipset. Unfortunately the inside of my PC is hard to get at without moving a chest of drawers and my desk, and I'm not sure my flatmate would appreciate that at 11:15, but that's going to be the first thing I try when I next get the time. If that doesn't work though, I'm really stuck - it's about the last thing I can remove!
 
YESSSS!!! It's installed! I ended up clearing CMOS, yanking out 2GB RAM and the wireless card, and borrowing a PS2 keyboard and mouse, and at least one of them did the trick! Hopefully it won't start freezing on boot again.

Thank you both for your help and advice :D
 
Turns out it was the wireless card after all. If I put it into a PCI slot, the PC won't boot. If I take it out, it boots happily. Crazy!
 
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