Installation Problem

[heyniceaddress]

Hi everyone!

I would like to think I know a little bit about computers, but this problem has me confounded. I built my first computer last fall with hardware from NewEgg and installed Windows XP on it. However, a gaming friend bought me a copy of Windows 7, as he thinks it will help me run games more smoothly.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to figure out how to install Windows 7 on my computer. I've formatted and reformatted PCs (and Macs) before without problem, but this one is perplexing to me: I restart my computer and go into the boot menu, and when I select boot from CD drive it takes me to a screen where it tells me to "press any key" to boot from CD, which I do, and then it proceeds to boot from the HD into XP. What?!

So, after having this happen a few times, I went into BIOS and removed my HD completely from bootable objects and turned them all to CD. I went into the boot menu again and went to boot from CD. It proceeded to boot from the HD. What?!

Here are my system specs:

EVGA 012-P3-1470-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express
Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

If any of you have any suggestions, I would greatly welcome them, as I am stumped.

Thank you in advance for your time.

 

[sminlal]

Will the DVD boot if you disconnect all the hard drives? (Obviously you can't actually install this way, but it might tell us if there's a problem with the DVD itself).

 

[heyniceaddress]

While I haven't done this method, I tried it another way before, where I tried reinstalling XP and even Ubuntu with the same results.

 

[sminlal]

Sorry, I don't see how your last comment tells us if there is or isn't an issue with the Windows 7 installation DVD.

 

[geekapproved]

Windows 7 is on a DVD, a CD drive cannot read DVD's. You need a DVD drive to read DVD's.

 

[heyniceaddress]

Oh, sorry: It is a DVD-RW drive, and what I meant is that it shouldn't be an error with the DVD, since the same error occurs with my Windows XP CD and Ubuntu CD. Should I still try disconnecting the HD and seeing if it will boot, though?

 

[geekapproved]

Does the dvd drive work?

What do you mean the same error occurs with winxp or ubuntu cd's? What error?

You never mentioned a error you just said it won't boot to the windows 7 dvd.

 

[heyniceaddress]

Sorry, I misspoke -- the XP and Ubuntu CDs aren't recognized when I select boot from CD when I try to do a reformat.

However, the DVD drive works, because I can play games and install things in the operating system.

 

[pjmelect]

Then how did you manage to install XP in the first place?

 

[heyniceaddress]

The same way that I am currently unable to install Windows 7, or anything else for that matter, which is what makes the situation confusing.

 

[pjmelect]

You could try resetting the CMOS memory and then set the BIOS to boot from the CD. Always reset the CMOS memory correctly that is with the link on the motherboard and the power cable DISCONNECTED

 

[heyniceaddress]

Should I clear it by removing the little jumper from the motherboard and reattaching it, or by removing the battery and reinstalling it?

 

[geekapproved]

I don't know dude, maybe a power cable came loose?

Maybe the drive quit working?

 

[pjmelect]

Clearing the CMOS by removing the battery is not reliable as the CMOS memory on some motherboards can retain their data for days with no battery fitted. You should always clear the CMOS memory by moving the clear CMOS link to the clear CMOS memory position for a few seconds with the power cable DISCONNECTED. The manufacturers of the motherboard provide the clear CMOS link for this reason.

 

[marbski]

try to replace another dvd rom, hope it works......