Install of Windows 7 hangs

I would disconnect any USB devices other than mouse and keyboard.

I would also try installing it with only one stick of ram at a time to rule out the ram being the problem. Mind you, this might take two tries.

Hi  

Haven't i seen this thread before ?

All the best Brett  

Let it sit for a little while? I have a computer in the computer that runs fast most of the time, but takes an hour between each screen when reinstalling windows, without fail.

Yep!!

Does the install hang at the splash screen? - the blue screen with the flower-scrawlings. If so, that's a common issue, and the install tends to continue normally if you wait it out (it can take a while, though).

No, it hangs late in the game, at the "Setup is Starting Services" screen, and then any further installation or repair attempts result in a BSOD (usually an index mismatch, but sometimes other things). I only have the keyboard and mouse plugged in, btw, no other USB devices have been near it.

I'll try replacing the RAM sticks one at a time--I've also had the advice to up the RAM voltage by one increment in the BIOS, but that sounds like it could have scary results... I'm not used to messing with the BIOS yet. ;-)

Thanks, quliciri, I'll try that next!

Well, okay...now that I've done due diligence and spent a ton of time on the memtest site, where they offer newsletters, recipes, past histories of how the outdated version of memtest came to be, etc., etc., and then wasted more time on their Forum just to try to find instructions for how to use Memtest, I will ask you guys here.

To create a "bootable" USB stick: do I just copy the file "memtest86+-4.10.bin" onto a USB drive? Does it matter if I have other folders on that USB drive? Or do I do something else to make it "bootable"?

I do at least know how to set the BIOS to boot from CD or HDD, but when I got into the BIOS to "Set First Boot Device" and want to set it to USB, I get four choices: USB-FDD, USB-ZIP, USB-HDD, and USB-CDROM.

Any thoughts appreciated..!

And Merry Christmas, where appropriate!  

copy the binary to the root of your USB stick. I don't believe it matters if there are other files on it. You may have to go into the BIOS and change the boot order so it looks for the USB first.

merry christmas!

Awesome quilciri, thank you. Should I set boot order to first look for USB-FDD? Or one of the others?

Ho Ho Ho!

Update on Windows 7 install (not solved, unfortunately). I should mention that during the first half of this series of steps, I was using a converter to run the DVI signal from the video card to a VGA cable, going into a VGA port on the monitor. I also have been formatting the HD regularly (long format, not quick format) for a clean install.

Q-flashed BIOS from version F5 to version F9. Still get BSOD on Windows 7 install. Generally it’s an APC INDEX MISMATCH but sometimes other things.

Ran Memtest overnight. RAM is fine, no errors.

Reset CMOS, loaded Optimal BIOS defaults, fixed date. No help.

Booted into Safe Mode during Win 7 install to get to Device Manager and disable video driver. No help.

Diabled USB 3.0 support in BIOS. No help.

Disabled USB 2.0 support in BIOS, switched to a PS/2 keyboard, no mouse. Had high hopes for that one, since this all started after ONE successful Win 7 install when I stuck a USB thumb drive into a front port on the PC to load drivers, and all hell broke loose. Never been able to complete an install since that time. Disabling USB 2.0 no help.

Switched the video cable to pure DVI-to-DVI connections. Loaded BIOS Failsafe defaults, reformatted HD to get rid of any video driver disabling (my impression is that if I disable the video driver, it will revert to VGA only, which I assume wouldn’t work with DVI to DVI connections…)

Switched all IDE settings to SATA in BIOS, made things worse. Changed BIOS back to Optimized defaults.

Tried installing XP, since that worked once… now even XP won’t install. Perhaps because the BIOS is too new, or perhaps I need to start using the VGA cable plus converter instead of DVI to DVI in order to install XP. (That was the set up when XP installed successfully.) I’d rather not reflash the BIOS back to the old version—I’d rather just install Windows 7. Any ideas at this point mucho appreciado!

-Heather

This method works for XP. You will need 2 or more copies of the OS you are trying to install. if you only have one go download a copy of it from tpb or something. Whenever the installation fails, try just taking the cd out and putting the secondary cd/dvd in. It should start from right where it left off and install everything perfectly. like i said it worked on xp. idk if it will work for 7 but its worth a try. Good luck  

Thanks jtechnoob...I'll give it a shot. Er... I assume tpb is a torrent reference...can I really download Windows 7 from that?

You should be able to get a legit copy from the microsoft site. I wouldn't trust a non legit copy. People can add stuff into the installs that you do not want on your machine.

I'm closing this one even though it's not solved...it'll be several weeks before I can get back to it. I'm thinking of installing Linux instead.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!
-H

Best answer selected by realdasein.