Windows 7 Cannot install SP1 in Win-7

[n2b]

I can install all updates in Win-7 successfully except the SP1. Whenever I try it I finally get an error message (Error #80004005). I've tried the automatic fix but that doesn't do any thing. I have also tried to format my C Drive and load a Win-7 (Pro) with SP1 using a DVD from Microsoft. After going through half of the installation I get a message saying that the installation failed with no clue as to why it failed. I end up restoring everything from my back up
I assembled the computer myself from components and was successful in installing Win XP and a few years later upgraded it to Win-7 (pro) with no problems at all. The following hardware are installed
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo CPU E6750 @ 2.66 GHz
RAM : 4.00 GB
32 bit OS
Appreciate any clue as to why the SP1 won't load. Without the SP1 I cannot load IE 11 or get the free upgrade to Win-10

 

[RichM]

It may be time to replace the hard drive but it certainly is time to reinstall Windows and moving to 64 bit as kemical
explained would be better for your system.

 

[n2b]

Taking the cue from Kemical I downloaded a 64 bit Win-7 from the link he suggested. I presume it will come with SP-1 & the latest updates. It is in the ISO format. I downloaded IMGBURN to do this conversion. Fortunately, I scanned it with Malwarebytes before running it. It detected a Trojan Horse which got promptly deleted
Whats the safest way to convert the ISO into a reliable DVD.
Thanks for any suggestions
By the way, anybody have an opinion about upgrading to Win-10 instead. I've read both strong pros and cons about the new OS. The window for a new and free Win-10 is only 4 weeks away. Is it worth it or shall I stick with Win-7. The latter does everything I need to do, except that MS will most likely stop supporting it in a a year or two like they did for Win XP

 

[kemical]

Whats the safest way to convert the ISO into a reliable DVD

Pop a DVD in the drive (thats clean), right click on the iso and click 'burn disk image'. Look for a checkbox to verify the files after burning as this saves a lot of messing about especially if the iso didn't burn correctly. click ok and you good to go. The process will take about 25-40 minutes depending on hardware. Once the files have been verified the drive will open meaning the burn has completed.

 

[n2b]

Hi kemical
I'm still having problems getting the win-7 updated to win-7 SP1. I've tried SFC Scannow a couple of times and it always stops at 39% with a message that it found a problem that was not repairable. I repeated the SFC Scannow in Safe Mode and that also stopped at 39% with the message that I should run it under safe mode and to make sure that :
"Pending Deletes and Pending Rename folders exist under %WinDIr%winSxS\Temp"

I looked under C:\windows\winsxs\temp and found a folder Pending Rename. However I could not find Pending Deletes folder.
I don't know where to get it from in order to add it under the winsxs\temp folder.
What do you suggest I do. Can I just create and empty folder with the name Pending Deletes and place it the winsxs\temp folder?
Thanks for any help

 

[kemical]

Hi,
have you tried running the system update readiness tool? It's specifically for sp1 so give it a try:
Link Removed

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Looks like the hard drive is toast! Nowhere in this thread did the OP respond with any kind of a hard drive test such as the free SEATOOLS. Without running a manufacturer drive diagnostic or something like ISOLinux GSmartControl, you just don't know. With all the software solutions and windows repair utilities attempted, it seems pretty clear that the hard drive needs to be tested or replaced by a brand new drive. OP also mentions that he successfully installed W7 SP1 on 2 different machines. Sounds like his install media is ok to me.

Fastest way to get to the bottom of this problem is to buy a small capacity HDD, 100GB-200GB capacity, available on ebay or amazon for under $30 US, reinstall W7 SP1 and it either works or not. If it still fails, then most likely the Mobo is bricked. That Mobo is several years old; probably 6-7 years old; it's quite likely it's bad. Testing and or replacing the hard drive or both will give you the answer you are looking for which is to identify the problem and fix it. Bad hardware cannot be fixed by any software on the planet!!

<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[kemical]

Looks like the hard drive is toast!

It Does?

You came to this conclusion because the user didn't run Seatools?

It's worth a try:

n2b,
Please run Seatools to check on the HDD
SeaTools for Windows | Seagate

 

[n2b]

Thanks Kemical & Bigbearjedi. I took your suggestions and ran the Seatools. The detail sector by sector scan showed no bad sectors at all. I reformatted the HD and tried to install Win-7 SP1 32 bit DVD (received from MS) I got an error message. This happens after it goes through expanding about half of the files. i.e. "Windows cannot install required files. The file may be corrupted or missing. Make sure all files required for installation are available and restart the installation. Error code 0x80070570".
Just for a confirmation I installed a brand new hard drive. I got the same error message as above. How can I have corrupted files from a new DVD and installing on a new hard drive ?
I talked to ASUS for help, thinking that I may have an out of date BIOS. Their tech help confirmed that even though the motherboard is about 7 years old the BIOS is up to date. I am speculating that maybe - just maybe - some chip in the mobo is failing.
Is there a diagnostics to check the mobo ?
Yet I can restore the existing Win-7, all its applications and data from my backup. One other clue may tell you something. The SFC/Scannow; done in both the normal & safe modes; hangs up with a message that windows could not repair it. Yet the Win-7 restored from the backup runs OK
Its very frustrating to not be able to find out why it cannot update to Win-7 SP1 -- which stops me from upgrading to Win-10 !!
Appreciate any other ideas guys.

 

[kemical]

Thanks Kemical & Bigbearjedi. I took your suggestions and ran the Seatools. The detail sector by sector scan showed no bad sectors at all. I reformatted the HD and tried to install Win-7 SP1 32 bit DVD (received from MS) I got an error message. This happens after it goes through expanding about half of the files. i.e. "Windows cannot install required files. The file may be corrupted or missing. Make sure all files required for installation are available and restart the installation. Error code 0x80070570".
Just for a confirmation I installed a brand new hard drive. I got the same error message as above. How can I have corrupted files from a new DVD and installing on a new hard drive ?
I talked to ASUS for help, thinking that I may have an out of date BIOS. Their tech help confirmed that even though the motherboard is about 7 years old the BIOS is up to date. I am speculating that maybe - just maybe - some chip in the mobo is failing.
Is there a diagnostics to check the mobo ?
Yet I can restore the existing Win-7, all its applications and data from my backup. One other clue may tell you something. The SFC/Scannow; done in both the normal & safe modes; hangs up with a message that windows could not repair it. Yet the Win-7 restored from the backup runs OK
Its very frustrating to not be able to find out why it cannot update to Win-7 SP1 -- which stops me from upgrading to Win-10 !!
Appreciate any other ideas guys.

The only thing I can think of is that somewhere on your machine must be a component that's either broken or incompatible but that's only a guess. I'm so sorry we couldn't help you in time for W10.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

It's most likely a Motherboard hardware-based incompatibility. I have 2 Dell machines built in 2007 & 2008 (Vista-era hardware) that both wouldn't let me upgrade via W7 upgrade. I get the dreaded 8007000E error message. I had to Clean Install both of them AND THEN Activate them with the key. When the W10 installer program asks you for the Product Key; do NOT enter it, but rather press the "SKIP" button, let the W10 installer complete, and this could be anywhere from 6-24 hours; once the W10 has been successfully installed, you can go to "Windows Activation" in System and enter it there--and it will work!!

Edit: fyi, I flashed the BIOS on both of these machines to attempt to fix the W7 upgrade failure, and updated to latest and greatest BIOS VERSION downloaded directly from dell support site. Still didn't work!

Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[n2b]

I finally got the SFC /scannow working with no errors, but I still.had the usual problem as before. i.e. halfway through the installation I would get a message that the update to SP1 failed.

I went through the motions of trying to install Win-10 directly like Bigbearjed. But it would not let me since it needed my computer to be at least a Win7-SP1

As a last resort I booted the computer with the DVD and during the installation I chose to format the HD with the reasoning that any corrupted file or registry that may be stopping the installation will be wiped out and I will do a clean install. Half way through the "files expansion" phase I got an error message saying that the installation could not be done due to an unknown reason. Now I was really stumped. I had cleaned up the file system to work flawlessly and it still gave out an error message during the update., the HD was reformatted and the installation still hung up. I was unable to either update the Win-7 to a SP1 or do an clean install from a DVD.

Then I read in one of the other forums a comment that if the SP1 installation consistently fails then the problem COULD be due to the RAM and motherboard interaction. Particularly if the mobo is 6 or 7 years old. The suggested possible approach was to reduce the RAM capacity, install the OS and then bring the RAM up to the original capacity after everything is running. So I did that. I reduced the RAM from 4GB to 2 GB and the installation sailed through flawlessly. I've brought the RAM up to its original 4GB and am now in the process of adding my applications. My data is on a separate partition and also backed up, so I'm OK there. My mobo is an ASUS P5N E-SLI and has their latest BIOS driver

I am not knowledgeable enough to understand the mechanism of how the RAM and the mobo interact. Maybe somebody at this forum may have an explanation as to why less RAM interacts flawlessly during installation of an OS whereas the higher capacity RAM would hang up, and yet with the higher RAM capacity the OS runs fine and faster during normal operations and other updates.

I appreciate you all sticking with this issue which turned out to have an unexpected solution. Thanks again

 

[kemical]

I am not knowledgeable enough to understand the mechanism of how the RAM and the mobo interact. Maybe somebody at this forum may have an explanation as to why less RAM interacts flawlessly during installation of an OS whereas the higher capacity RAM would hang up, and yet with the higher RAM capacity the OS runs fine and faster during normal operations and other updates.

Hi n2b,
I think the reason less RAM worked was because you were installing a 32bit os rather than a 64bit one. A 32bit operating system can only use around 3GBs of RAM:
Why can't 32-bit Windows access 4GB of RAM?

 

[RichM]

I look at it a bit differently. Marching ram to a motherboard today really is not done properly and in so many cases 1 stick of ram will run fine on some motherboards but double it and the system won't run and I believe that's because the higher the amount used, the more likely incompatibility will show up. I never use ram on a board that has not been tested and reported for it so I never have these issues but before I did things that way, I used to see it all the time. Properly matching ram involves knowing density, cas latency and ecc factor which is so hard to find on any given stick of ram these days. Speed is the least important factor, yet it is the only standard most people apply.

 

[kemical]

Properly matching ram involves knowing density, cas latency and ecc factor which is so hard to find on any given stick of ram these days.

Well most moBo's have a compatibility list and of course for RAM details (timings ect) some are present in the little SPD chip attached to the side.

 

[n2b]

When I put this computer together years ago, The RAMs I used were twin Corsair 2X2048-6400. 800 MHz as called out in the ASUS P5N E-SLI mobo handbook. I didn't know enough to look deeper for matching them. My computer properties show a 4.0 GB RAM with 3.50 GB useable.

Now that Win-7 SP1 is running I have a different problem. In the past whenever I tried to do a Windows update, it would search for the updates, download them and install them. ( Except for the SP1 update it would hang up in the middle of the installation phase). Now when I search for updates it always hangs up in the search phase with an Error # 8007000E.

Any ideas what might be causing this

 

[kemical]

Any ideas what might be causing this

Yes..
Microsoft has made a change in the way windows SP1 and 8.1 receive updates. You will still get the odd security update up until 2020 but for the rest you now have to access Microsofts download centre. MS have made it easier by rolling all recent updates into one cumulative update. All details can be found in this sticky:
Microsoft update changes for Windows 7 and 8.1

 

[n2b]

Kemical
I am thoroughly confused. I opened the MS Update Catalog. It was a blank blue page with only the update logo and nothing else. I am using IE ver 11.0. and opened Active X and am running as an Administrator. How do I select the updates from this convenient roll up?

 

[nmsuk]

Kemical
I am thoroughly confused. I opened the MS Update Catalog. It was a blank blue page with only the update logo and nothing else. I am using IE ver 11.0. and opened Active X and am running as an Administrator. How do I select the updates from this convenient roll up?

You can get it from here

 

[n2b]

I went to the link you pointed to and go down to the Update Catalog link and get the same blue color page with the earth globe as a logo and nothing else

 

[RichM]

Yeah I have the same issue. I see where to download but then once downloaded I can't seem to figure out how to access it, this seems like all smoke and mirrors to me so I gave up on it weeks ago and no longer do new installs of Windows 7 myself. If you move power options to "never" on both settings and leave "Check for Updates" go 24-48 hours the updates eventually come in as installable when you shut down and I got tired of playing with this myself so I did the few I had to do and then decided from here on to use Windows 8.1 which is still working normally for updates.