Windows 7 BSOD while installing SP1 x64

[TimothyVermeire]

Hello all,

I am trying to install SP1 for W7 on an x64 machine, but run into a BSOD during the process (one of the times the machine reboots to install the SP). The stop code is the classic 0x7B, but there is no "title" for the error.

W7 ran fine for a few days, as I was gradually installing updates. However now, while installing SP1 I can't finish the installation or even boot into safe mode. I'm guessing this is a pretty common problem, but I can't seem to find the cause of it anywhere on the internet.

Anyone who can help?

Thank you!

 

[Trouble]

Tim:
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Common enough stop error but it has any number of complex root causes, (hardware, software/drivers, virus, etc.,)
Without the actual dump files it will be difficult to determine. You're kinda stuck now without being able to even boot into safe mode you will likely need to boot from the install media and choose a startup repair or a system restore to an earlier point in time, or of course a system image if you are lucky enough to actually have one.
Since that error is normally associated with an inaccessible boot device I would suggest double checking the system BIOS and making sure that your drive is recognized and that nothing has changed in the drive controller configuration (AHCI to Native IDE or vice versa).
If you have any reason to suspect a virus you can use this Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper Beta | Microsoft Connect to boot the system and scan the drive for infections (assuming of course the drive is being recognized by the BIOS) just grab the program and a blank CD. Double click the program and it will create a disk that you can boot your system from.
As a last resort you might want to use a Linux Live CD (Download | Ubuntu) to boot your system to backup (copy off) your critical data to an external media resource (USB drive) and or grab the .dmp files from the C:\Windows\minidump folder, zip them up and attach them here and we'll take a look for any glaring problems that might help.
Regards
Randy

 

[TimothyVermeire]

Tim:
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Common enough stop error but it has any number of complex root causes, (hardware, software/drivers, virus, etc.,)
Without the actual dump files it will be difficult to determine. You're kinda stuck now without being able to even boot into safe mode you will likely need to boot from the install media and choose a startup repair or a system restore to an earlier point in time, or of course a system image if you are lucky enough to actually have one.
Since that error is normally associated with an inaccessible boot device I would suggest double checking the system BIOS and making sure that your drive is recognized and that nothing has changed in the drive controller configuration (AHCI to Native IDE or vice versa).
If you have any reason to suspect a virus you can use this Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper Beta | Microsoft Connect to boot the system and scan the drive for infections (assuming of course the drive is being recognized by the BIOS) just grab the program and a blank CD. Double click the program and it will create a disk that you can boot your system from.
As a last resort you might want to use a Linux Live CD (Download | Ubuntu) to boot your system to backup (copy off) your critical data to an external media resource (USB drive) and or grab the .dmp files from the C:\Windows\minidump folder, zip them up and attach them here and we'll take a look for any glaring problems that might help.
Regards
Randy

Randy,

Thank you very much for your reply! I have found a possible cause of the problem... I had my BIOS set to AHCI for the hard disk drives, and it worked fine, until this SP1 update. Changing it back to IDE was the solution to be able to boot again, but this is not really a good fix... AHCI shows better performance for the SSD I have, unlike IDE. Does anyone have an idea as how to circumvent this annoyance?

Thank you!

 

[Trouble]

Since that error is normally associated with an inaccessible boot device I would suggest double checking the system BIOS and making sure that your drive is recognized and that nothing has changed in the drive controller configuration (AHCI to Native IDE or vice versa).

Randy,

Thank you very much for your reply! I have found a possible cause of the problem... I had my BIOS set to AHCI for the hard disk drives, and it worked fine, until this SP1 update. Changing it back to IDE was the solution to be able to boot again, but this is not really a good fix... AHCI shows better performance for the SSD I have, unlike IDE. Does anyone have an idea as how to circumvent this annoyance?
Thank you!

There are several references regarding converting to or perhaps back to AHCI from IDE (post install of windows7) which you can likely find by Googleing the keywords, but for the most part it involves adding (or making sure they are present) the appropriate chipset drivers and then editing the Windows 7 registry (which I would not necessarily recommend).
If you decide to pursue this then please make sure that you have a good, recent, valid and verified system image as a strong fall back position in case things do not go as planned. I would also suggest making sure that all your critical data is safe on external media of some sort (DVDs or USB Drive(s)) before doing anything.
I wouldn't suspect that the installation of Sp1 would have produced this type of problem but in searching your issue I've found that others are reporting similar problems, it seems if they are using the native Microsoft AHCI drivers rather than the specific ones for their chipset.
Glad to hear that you are at least up and running for now. Good luck and keep us posted as to how you progress.
Regards
Randy

 

[TimothyVermeire]

There are several references regarding converting to or perhaps back to AHCI from IDE (post install of windows7) which you can likely find by Googleing the keywords, but for the most part it involves adding (or making sure they are present) the appropriate chipset drivers and then editing the Windows 7 registry (which I would not necessarily recommend).
If you decide to pursue this then please make sure that you have a good, recent, valid and verified system image as a strong fall back position in case things do not go as planned. I would also suggest making sure that all your critical data is safe on external media of some sort (DVDs or USB Drive(s)) before doing anything.
I wouldn't suspect that the installation of Sp1 would have produced this type of problem but in searching your issue I've found that others are reporting similar problems, it seems if they are using the native Microsoft AHCI drivers rather than the specific ones for their chipset.
Glad to hear that you are at least up and running for now. Good luck and keep us posted as to how you progress.
Regards
Randy

Yes, it was definately the IDE <> AHCI problem. I tried changing BIOS settings, registry settings were as they should, but I still get a blue screen when using AHCI. Windows is convinced the latest drivers for the chipset are installed. However the difference in performance using IDE is not that big, so I will settle with this solution for now...

Thank you again for your help!