Cannot install Windows 8.1 OEM OS

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Trigmaster15

Honorable
Sep 27, 2012
16
0
10,510
Desparate - any advice welcome at all.

I just got done performing a system upgrade on my personal build. I bought an EVGA X79 Dark mobo, i7-4930k processor, and a rosewill 1000W PSU. I resused my old SSDs, GPUs (GTX 780 Hydro Copper Classified) and RAM (G. Skill Trident X 2400 16GB) and water cooling loop. I got everything in, got it to POST no problem, and then started trying to install Windows 8.1 with a clean OEM CD disk. It would get to the Windows 8 logo, start the spinning loading thing at the bottom and the screen, and then freeze. Every. Single. Time. Called Microsoft, spent the entire day (literally) on the phone with them. Removed one component after another, exchanged things, nothing, absolutely no luck. Reset CMOS, changed BIOS settings, nothing. Tried installing from a USB stick, still would freeze at logo screen. Tried removing all SATA connections to mobo except CD drive with windows install disk. Still would just go to the logo and freeze. Everything seems completely normal except for the fact that I can't install the OS. Microsoft recommended returning the motherboard and exchanging for a different one. Anyone have any insight? This is driving me CRAZY!
 
Solution
J
If you are installing onto a SSD and formatted it. Boot into BIOS, leave the SSD powered but do not attempt to copy files on to it for a few hours or overnight. There are conditions where the drive can get backed up on doing its trim and gc fucntions and the drive will stop responding. If you continue you can get your drive basically bricked depending on the version of the firmware in the drive. Anyway that is my guess, and a real fix will be to update your firmware but don't do it while your drive is in that condition or the firmware update will also brick your drive.

I would also have to assume that your BIOS is not protecting you from a unauthorized booting of a OS. (secure boot not enabled in BIOS and checking for a...
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Trigmaster15

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Sep 27, 2012
16
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10,510


Yeah I completely understand what you're saying - when I troubleshooted this part, I got a friend to give me his Windows 8.1 version on the USB stick, so the two were unrelated (not that it ruled out the disk being faulty in the first place). The disk was an OEM copy I bought off Amazon.
 
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Trigmaster15

Honorable
Sep 27, 2012
16
0
10,510
I'm going crazy now guys - I sent back the motherboard, got a brand new ASUS Rampage IV Black Edition, sent back the windows 8 CD, got a BRAND NEW FULL VERSION disc, SAME THING. It tries to load on the install screen, the thingy spins once and then freezes cold. EVERY SINGLE TIME. What is wrong?????????!??!?!?!??!???/
 
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gbambo

Honorable
Feb 2, 2013
2
0
10,510
I have seen this kind of problem a couple of times. One concern is did you confirm that the mobo's expressly support 8.1? I have been surprised to discover current motherboards that did not support current OSes even from top-notch makers.

Another thing I have seen is that while Windows might have top-notch hardware support, this is not equally true of the installer. You may have hardware compatible with 8.1, but incompatible with the 8.1 installer/setup! Further, a new mobo that expressly claims not to support a given OS may actually not support the installer (setup.exe) while being fine with the OS.

The solution is to install the OS to the boot drive on a different machine and then install the boot drive in the new machine. This has gotten me out of impossible situations at least twice. Good luck!
 
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johnbl

Polypheme
Nov 4, 2012
10,072
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67,090
If you are installing onto a SSD and formatted it. Boot into BIOS, leave the SSD powered but do not attempt to copy files on to it for a few hours or overnight. There are conditions where the drive can get backed up on doing its trim and gc fucntions and the drive will stop responding. If you continue you can get your drive basically bricked depending on the version of the firmware in the drive. Anyway that is my guess, and a real fix will be to update your firmware but don't do it while your drive is in that condition or the firmware update will also brick your drive.

I would also have to assume that your BIOS is not protecting you from a unauthorized booting of a OS. (secure boot not enabled in BIOS and checking for a uninitialized OS signature)
 
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dactyllic

Reputable
Apr 3, 2014
1
0
4,510
Hey, I am in the same exact spot. Only for me I bought a brand new barebones system and a full copy of Windows 8.1 Pro and it's doing the same thing... that is, it gets to the Windows Logo, then the spinning wait cursor spins and spins without stopping. This is brand new hardware. The memory is tested and works. Other CDs can be loaded on the thing. I wonder if Windows' own installation and setup is just broken?
 
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