Windows 7 BSOD at boot up

[darcw0lf]

Ive been playing around with windows 7 since the first beta, and every few builds after that up to the current RC. I keep having the same problem with EVERY version though.

I will install windows everything goes fine, it boots up and runs fine, until I install 1 of the updates, so I just choose to leave that 1 update alone. Other than that it works fine, but usually after about a week when I boot it up it will just blue screen, I can attempt to do a repair and that will usually fix it once, but after the second time nothing helps, and then I can't even reinstall windows 7, it will bluescreen before it can even get to the option to install to a hard drive.

From there I have to put in vista delete the partition install windows, then I can go back install windows 7, its like the MBR is getting corrupted or something. I have run this thing on Vista for 6 months without a single problem, but its kind of strange I keep having this problem over an over!

Anyone else having this issue? Im running this on a Toshiba laptop with an AMD 1.9GHz Dual core cpu, don't remember which model, 3 gigs of 800MHz ram, 120GB HD.

 

[whoosh]

Ive been playing around with windows 7 since the first beta, and every few builds after that up to the current RC. I keep having the same problem with EVERY version though.

I will install windows everything goes fine, it boots up and runs fine, until I install 1 of the updates, so I just choose to leave that 1 update alone. Other than that it works fine, but usually after about a week when I boot it up it will just blue screen, I can attempt to do a repair and that will usually fix it once, but after the second time nothing helps, and then I can't even reinstall windows 7, it will bluescreen before it can even get to the option to install to a hard drive.

From there I have to put in vista delete the partition install windows, then I can go back install windows 7, its like the MBR is getting corrupted or something. I have run this thing on Vista for 6 months without a single problem, but its kind of strange I keep having this problem over an over!

Anyone else having this issue? Im running this on a Toshiba laptop with an AMD 1.9GHz Dual core cpu, don't remember which model, 3 gigs of 800MHz ram, 120GB HD.

I dont know why you are constantly suffering the same series of problems . Only thing comes to mind are you burning your disks at a slow speed ?

 

[Radenight]

This is indeed a very odd problem.. what makes it even more confusing is how it's happening with every single build you've installed.. That makes me think it's either a hardware related issue or a driver issue.. Let's just start at the beginning and work our way through one step at a time..

I'm going to ask you a few different questions just so I can get a solution formulated in my head based on your replies..

Which app did you use to burn the ISO to a DVD? How fast did you choose to burn it? Are you using 32 bit or 64 bit versions of Windows 7? What is the gpu in your laptop? What is the model number? (Usually located on the bottom of the laptop on a sticker)... I'm wondering if maybe it's your gpu.. It shouldn't be since you said Vista worked fine for 6 months.. but stranger things have happened..

So when you reinstall are you doing a clean install or just an upgrade? When you reinstall I would suggest deleting all partitions (BACK UP ALL YOUR PERSONAL DATA FIRST OF COURSE!!) then create a new partition (or multiple based on how you set up your HDD) then clean install Windows 7..

Just an observation, you said your putting your Vista disk in to format then you put your 7 disc in to install.. why? You can format/delete/create partitions with the Windows 7 installation disc too..

 

[whoosh]

This is indeed a very odd problem.. what makes it even more confusing is how it's happening with every single build you've installed.. That makes me think it's either a hardware related issue or a driver issue.. Let's just start at the beginning and work our way through one step at a time..

I'm going to ask you a few different questions just so I can get a solution formulated in my head based on your replies..

Which app did you use to burn the ISO to a DVD? How fast did you choose to burn it? Are you using 32 bit or 64 bit versions of Windows 7? What is the gpu in your laptop? What is the model number? (Usually located on the bottom of the laptop on a sticker)... I'm wondering if maybe it's your gpu.. It shouldn't be since you said Vista worked fine for 6 months.. but stranger things have happened..

So when you reinstall are you doing a clean install or just an upgrade? When you reinstall I would suggest deleting all partitions (BACK UP ALL YOUR PERSONAL DATA FIRST OF COURSE!!) then create a new partition (or multiple based on how you set up your HDD) then clean install Windows 7..

Just an observation, you said your putting your Vista disk in to format then you put your 7 disc in to install.. why? You can format/delete/create partitions with the Windows 7 installation disc too..

Yes good point when you install go to the advanced features in windows 7 install . There you can delete format do almost anything you desire

 

[darcw0lf]

This is indeed a very odd problem.. what makes it even more confusing is how it's happening with every single build you've installed.. That makes me think it's either a hardware related issue or a driver issue.. Let's just start at the beginning and work our way through one step at a time..

I'm going to ask you a few different questions just so I can get a solution formulated in my head based on your replies..

Which app did you use to burn the ISO to a DVD? How fast did you choose to burn it? Are you using 32 bit or 64 bit versions of Windows 7? What is the gpu in your laptop? What is the model number? (Usually located on the bottom of the laptop on a sticker)... I'm wondering if maybe it's your gpu.. It shouldn't be since you said Vista worked fine for 6 months.. but stranger things have happened..

So when you reinstall are you doing a clean install or just an upgrade? When you reinstall I would suggest deleting all partitions (BACK UP ALL YOUR PERSONAL DATA FIRST OF COURSE!!) then create a new partition (or multiple based on how you set up your HDD) then clean install Windows 7..

Just an observation, you said your putting your Vista disk in to format then you put your 7 disc in to install.. why? You can format/delete/create partitions with the Windows 7 installation disc too..

Well to answer your questions, Im using imgburn to burn it, and I use auto which is max I believe, which would be 8-16x depending on the disc. Im using 64bit, My cpu is an AMD ql-60 and my gpu is an ATI 3100, which is the reason I bought the laptop to begin with cause its a decent card for a 400 dollar laptop.

When I install Windows I completely delete the partition so there is nothing. The reason I put the vista disc in is because like I said I CAN'T get to the section to delete/modify my hard drive or partition with windows 7, it blue screens before it gets here. I have to completly wipe it with Vista first.

I think thats all the questions you asked. The only thing I could think is that it could be the ram or hard drive, but I ran memtest and nothing came up, and prime 95 and orthos both run fine in vista, never tried it in windows 7. I am convinced there is something wrong here with windows 7 and its somehow corrupting the hard drives MBR.

 

[Radenight]

I doubt it's a problem with 7 unless like I said it's a bad burn.. meaning you'd have to re-burn the ISO to another DVD.. maybe try using Nero to burn it instead.. I use it for all my burning needs and have NEVER had a problem..

If it's not a bad burn than it may be hardware related.. It's odd though that it's blue screening before you even get to the installation process.. that makes me think it's a bad burn..

Ok, let's try this...
1- Re-burn the ISO using a different burning program.. Nero is free to try, which is all you need it for in this case..

*If the re-burn doesn't work and the same error is happening than we know it's not the DVD itself.. which means it's either hardware related OR it's a corrupt ISO which is entirely possible.. there was a copy of the RC leaked that contained Malware and a Trojan or two... It could be that you got that one..*

Have you checked your BIOS settings to make sure they are all 'correct'?

 

[darcw0lf]

ok, not to be un greatful for the the help, but a bad burn is NOT going to cause these kind of problems. Unless your trying to say that through 5-6 builds I got bad burns EVERY time. And I burned it on more than 1 pc. A bad burn would either not install, or at the worst I would be a data reduncy check bsod during installation.

And this newest one I got from a MSDN subscription. Only thing I can think of is the sata controller doesn't have the proper driver yet and is leading to corruption in the hard drive.

 

[cmn]

ok, not to be un greatful for the the help, but a bad burn is NOT going to cause these kind of problems. Unless your trying to say that through 5-6 builds I got bad burns EVERY time. And I burned it on more than 1 pc. A bad burn would either not install, or at the worst I would be a data reduncy check bsod during installation.

And this newest one I got from a MSDN subscription. Only thing I can think of is the sata controller doesn't have the proper driver yet and is leading to corruption in the hard drive.

And this newest one I got from a MSDN subscription. Only thing I can think of is the sata controller doesn't have the proper driver yet and is leading to corruption in the hard drive. [/QUOTE]

Since darcw0lf says the system gets installed normally on a freshly formatted partition and runs normally for a few days before the "Blue screen" happens, I tend to put less weight on a Badly burned DVD. Since
darcw0lf has not posted the Exact model of this Toshiba laptop, it is hard to know about its hardware. But if it runs ok in VISTA we expect it to run ok in Win 7. If the problem is happening more often lately , I will entertain a high index of suspicion about the health of this particular hard disk. Is it showing signs of early failure? Was there any S.M.A.R.T warnings or cautions from the BIOS?

Like Radenight said I too have not seen reports of Boot sector virus transmission via Windows 7 Beta downloads from Torrents but Trojans have been reported. Unless the system was unprotected with good Antivirus and infected downloads, infected diskettes/discs or flash drives were used , I will discount that theory. Since the latest download is from the best source the image is clean.

If the System boots to its original VISTA OS then its BIOS has already recognized the SATA drive. You may verify that in BIOS Setup.

I am surprised as Whoosh mentioned why you had to do a Formatting of this partition through Vista's Disk Management when you can actually do it using your Win7 Bootable DVD when it boots all the way to the setup. Your answer to that was to the effect that the disc was not giving the option for a new Disk. That really surprised me. Then the mention of the Blue screen before even reaching to the setup optioin is even more puzzling. Details of that BSOD by making Windows VISTA not to boot automatically on all errors or even looking at the EVENTS log Of VISTA might provide a clue to this bizarre behavior.
Is it only this partition that is not visible at setup? Or were you able to see the partition containing Windows VISTA the very first time before you chose the option to use VISTA to do the formatting? The answer to that if positive will lead me to my next step. Pending that data using available information, i have the following suggestions:

1. In Vista , just do the partition and give the partition a drive letter and make it ACTIVE partition.
2. Do not Format the partition
3. Reboot with Win 7 7100 DVD disc in the DVD drive
4. Access the BIOS setup pressing appropriate Key.
5. Ensure that the SATA drive is seen and configured with the right size etc.
6. Go to Boot options/ Boot Sequence and make sure DVD boots before HDD.
7. Save settings and Reboot
8. When the screen displays "Press any key to boot.. immediately press any key, I often ask people to keep a finger on the "key lightly and press as soon as the message is displayed.
9. ......... Use the Custom option
10. Point to this new partition and let Win 7 do the rest.

I hope this fixes the issue .

 

[darcw0lf]

Well I have determined it is a driver issue or one of the updates. I purchased another toshiba laptop, pretty much the same, just a little faster cpu, it does the SAME THING! Yet I went ahead and installed windows 7 on my desktop and it works fine. Hopefully this is something Microsoft fixes before RTM.