Windows won't install!

Souljacker · 1 Mar 2010 at 20:07

Help!

I recently upgraded my computer (new mobo and ram) and started it up to make sure everything worked. I then backed up all of my important data to another drive before formatting and preparing to reinstall windows on the drive.

But...

Windows won't install! Just after it is "completing the installation", it hangs and there is a little flashing cursor in the top right hand of the screen and goes no further. If I reset manually it starts to load windows and as soon as the windows orb stops moving it simply resets itself.

Liam · 1 Mar 2010 at 21:39

Faulty memory? Try it with one stick or different memory all together.

Souljacker · 1 Mar 2010 at 21:52

Damn... I hope not, I just got it. I will try one stick and then the other.

However, I was running Windows fine earlier, it's just that now I have formatted, it won't reinstall.

Liam · 1 Mar 2010 at 21:57

What Windows are we talking about?

Souljacker · 1 Mar 2010 at 22:13

Oh dear... sorry, it's Windows 7 Ultimate x64, but I have also tried my friends Windows 7 pro x64 to no avail.

My specs may help:

AMD Phenom II 955 BE
Gigabyte 790xta UD4
4GB OCZ Platinum DDR3 10666 1333 Mhz
Nvidia 9600 GT 512mb (lol)
2x WD Caviar Blue 500GB
Corsair 550vx PSU

Souljacker · 1 Mar 2010 at 22:19

If I reboot sometimes it will display "Setup Is Starting Windows", and hang.

Taziir · 1 Mar 2010 at 22:34

Could well be your ram. Give memtest a whirl.

Souljacker · 2 Mar 2010 at 12:26

Right, memtest says everything is fine.
Progress with install. It's much quicker in between screens and it hangs on the second reboot instead of the first. Could it be bios settings?!

bledd · 2 Mar 2010 at 12:43

Make sure the ram has the correct voltage.

My Ocz DDR2 ram needs 2.2v, and my board is 1.8, so I have to set it to +0.4v in the bios.

I have no idea what your board or ram should be though.

Souljacker · 2 Mar 2010 at 13:55

Nope, RAM is set to it's correct voltage and SATA is set to AHCI. :confused:

When the SATA was set to IDE it took ages to load the different stages of set up and it failed at first reboot.

I'm pretty stumped.

bledd · 2 Mar 2010 at 13:59

try with just one hard drive installed

try with just one stick of ram installed

Souljacker · 2 Mar 2010 at 14:11

Tried with one stick of ram... will try with one HDD.

Souljacker · 2 Mar 2010 at 15:19

Nope.... I am currently running fedora 11 from a boot CD and it works fine. Might have a rummage for my Vista dvd and try the upgrade path.

bledd · 2 Mar 2010 at 15:36

Is the W7 dvd a burnt one or a retail disc?

TwoSaints · 2 Mar 2010 at 15:41

Do you have any USB devices connected? Or perhaps dual monitors? I was having trouble completing an install until I removed these.

Souljacker · 2 Mar 2010 at 15:54

bledd. said:
Is the W7 dvd a burnt one or a retail disc?

Retail disc.

Do you have any USB devices connected? Or perhaps dual monitors? I was having trouble completing an install until I removed these.

No usb devices except keyboard mouse and only one monitor. Shall I try it with a different gfx card? I also pull the unplug the mouse and keyboard as soon as I don't need them anymore.

Oh dear, this isn't fun. I've waited ages to have my PC up and running again and when I finall have all the components, I can't install Windows!

Wish I never uninstalled it...

bledd · 2 Mar 2010 at 16:00

Try another sata port
Try another sata cable (for dvd and hard drive)

Make sure the disc is 100% clean

Souljacker · 3 Mar 2010 at 14:42

Tried different cables and ports. Like I said, I managed to install Linux... :S

Vista won't install and I got an iso for Win 7 which also doesn't work. All hang at the same place.

Now, can I simply take my HD out and install it using another PC, or does Windows do a lot of hardware specific (drivers etc) stuff when it installs?

EDIT: Tried that - installs, but won't boot. Start up repair can't fix it.

EDIT 2: Going to mates tomorrow, will try install with his RAM.

I'm confused though, surely if the RAM was faulty, I would never have been able to run Windows in the first place or install Linux!

JimboJet · 3 Mar 2010 at 17:37

Try using a USB stick for install and be sure to allow boot from USB in bios. Disconnect all devices possible except keyboard and try that. Also make sure your system is at default OC, sometimes new installs can be iffy with OCd PCS (no idea why, just read several forums which advise the same)

I had exactly the same problem as you describe and it took me 2 days to get it to install properly, I'm fairly sure it was a USB device conficlt/issue.

JimboJet · 3 Mar 2010 at 17:40

I remembered I posted this in another thread:

JimboJet said:
Just spent 2 days trying to resolve this sort of problem. I think I found the the solution...

Setup: Win 7 64bit OEM clean install on New Samsung 1TB F3 hd. Created the 100mb system partition (Win 7 does this automatically) Then a further 100gb (102400mb) Partition for the OS and essential programs (AV etc)

Problem: Installation "freezes"

Solution: I performed a lot of steps to get it to install, but the final step was unplugging all USB devices (including mouse, use the TAB key or Alt+Keyboard shortcut for menu choices). All that is except the USB stick that I used to install.

Link to how to make bootable USB stick: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html

Had a final freeze after the installation update steps when the PC restarted automatically and it went back into the USB stick install process. I simply jumped into the BIOS and set the pc to boot to HDD instead of the USB stick and lo and behold the installation continued as it should have!

I did have a further hang actually, just after I was asked to enter my product key. A simple restart solved it.