Windows 7 clean install: last reboot goes into black screen/white blinking _

[roynorb]

Hi !

Another 'lost' soul found his way to the forums. Pleased to meet you.

So, Im doing a clean windows 7 install. Here are the facts:

Disk is 2TB, partitioned into 3 (in this order): 1480GB, 300GB & 105GB. (Partitions also show in this order @ the point where you select what disk to install to)
Disk has NOT been used as OS disk in previous setup.
Bios flashed to last version & loaded default settings.
Preforming a clean install (from USB that I have installed from 10 times before, without a hitch) deleting the 105GB and installing to it.

Problem: After the final stage of the setup where you enter PC name, set the password, enter time settings etc, the setup restarts the computer for the 'final' time, final indeed.
What happens is that after the Bios / device scan, Windows won't boot and it won't continue past the black screen with the white blinking _ showing in the top left.

Could this be because C: has been 'occupied' (or set as master partition) by the 1480GB partition and won't boot from the 105GB partition where Windows was installed?

It's so weird because the first two reboots go without problem, no need to F8 and manually select the disk rather than the USB pen or anything.. But on the final reboot, nothing...

This is driving me mad.

Comments will be much appreciated.
Love,
Norway

 

[Saltgrass]

deleting the 105GB and installing to it.

Problem: After the final stage of the setup where you enter PC name, set the password, enter time settings etc, the setup restarts the computer for the 'final' time, final indeed.
What happens is that after the Bios / device scan, Windows won't boot and it won't continue past the black screen with the white blinking _ showing in the top left.

What do you mean by deleting the 105 GB then installing to it?

You are saying Partition 1 (where the boot files will go) is very large, with the smaller partitions being 2 and 3? I do not know if having such a large partition first on the drive would mess up the boot, but you might try using something like 120-140 GB for the first one for testing.

You might try removing the fllash drive after the first reboot...

Have you tried doing a Startup Repair?

What type of video connection do you have, and can you change it to another type?

I think the blinking cursor means it can't find the OS install, but not sure. It might also be a video situation where the resolution has changed and you monitor isn't seeing it. But since you say it is not booting, it must be the OS is not being found.

And it might be a situation with a bad drive. I had a brand new 1 TB drive that seemed to install fine, but had problems shortly after.

 

[roynorb]

What do you mean by deleting the 105 GB then installing to it?

At the point where you select what partition to install to, I delete the 105GB partition (and the 100mb side-partition), then create a new partition (same size, 105GB). So that I don't install over the previous attempt (I've been trying quite a few times now).

You are saying Partition 1 (where the boot files will go) is very large, with the smaller partitions being 2 and 3? I do not know if having such a large partition first on the drive would mess up the boot, but you might try using something like 120-140 GB for the first one for testing.

My disk looks like this;
Total: 2TB
Partition1: 1,48TB - Other data/music/pictures/videos etc
Partition2: 300GB - Games
Partition3: 105GB - where I install Win7

You might try removing the fllash drive after the first reboot...

Does that work? I thought that the Win7 setup needs to read the files off the install DVD/USB even after copying and expanding the files? If thats not the case, I'll give it a try.

Have you tried doing a Startup Repair?

Yep, the automated one does not find anything. I cant push any further than;
- Selecting what partition/install to repair -> your DVD / installed version does not match error.

What type of video connection do you have, and can you change it to another type?

ATI Radeon HD 6950 2GB, I've got a low end Nvidia card here too. Will try swapping. Don't think that the GPU is related to this problem though.

I think the blinking cursor means it can't find the OS install, but not sure. It might also be a video situation where the resolution has changed and you monitor isn't seeing it. But since you say it is not booting, it must be the OS is not being found.

Thats my train of thought. I just can't wrap my head around why. The first two reboots of the install it reboots and continues the install without problems.

And it might be a situation with a bad drive. I had a brand new 1 TB drive that seemed to install fine, but had problems shortly after.

I brought it to work today, running HD Tune on it now. Looks fine though. It's a "new" 2TB disk. Been using it for 2 months as a storage disk, before I built another computer.

Thanks again.

 

[Saltgrass]

Is there some reason you need to keep the large partition as it is. Since it was a data drive, do you have stuff you want to keep?

I suppose my basic comment would be that it does not seem to be working the way you are trying, so change. Wipe the drive and start over. Put the OS partition first, and if you don't want the 100mb partition, all you have to do is format first.

your DVD / installed version does not match error.

This could only be one of three things. You are not using the correct bit version, or possibly the wrong version like Ultimate, or your are booting to a MRB version of the DVD and you need an UEFI version, or vice versa. Since you drive is less than 2.2 TB, you don't have to go to a GPT drive and UEFI.

If you are running the drive on another system, you might check its properties. Maybe even use Diskpart to get the drive details. If you can get a picture of it in Disk Management and attach, it might be worth something.

And my bad drive was just out of the box...

 

[roynorb]

Thanks, that's what I've been thinking myself. The 1,5TB partition is full of video/music/pictures that I really don't want to lose. I have the most important stuff copied to a 500GB external disk, but still, ~900GB down the drain is hard to swallow.

I'm going to try and delete the 300GB partition as well, and make one 405GB partition so that the disk is only split in two partitions, and install to the 405GB.
If that doesn't work I'm just gonna get an SSD to use as OS disk.

Will report back on how that works out. Thanks for your help.

 

[Saltgrass]

I would get a new drive..... and keep that one for data and backups.

If you get another drive, with that drive connected, make sure there are no active partitions on it, and then make very sure the new drive (OS) is listed first in the bios....

 

[roynorb]

I think this might be the solution to my problem;

"This step-by-step article describes how to change a GUID partition table (GPT) disk into a master boot record (MBR) disk (64-bit only).
Using the Windows Interface

• Right-click My Computer and click Manage.
• Click Disk Management.
• Right-click the GPT disk you want to change into an MBR disk, and then click Convert to MBR disk.

Using a Command Line

• At a command prompt, type: diskpart, and then press ENTER.
• At the diskpart prompt, type: list disk, and then press ENTER.
• Record the disk number of the disk that you want to convert to an MBR disk.
• At the diskpart prompt, type: select disk n, and then press ENTER.
• At the diskpart prompt, type: convert mbr, and then press ENTER.

You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, the network policy settings may prevent you from completing this procedure."

So I'm going to install Win7 to a different disk, then, when inside windows, follow this guide and set the 405GB partition as a MBR disk instead of the 1,5TB partition and reinstall Win7. Hopefully this will work.

THIS DID NOT WORK.

 

[Saltgrass]

You cannot change one partition on a drive to another partition type. The Drive is either MRB or GPT, which is it now? I will guess that if you try to change the type, you will loose your data.

Whether you are using the MBR install or UEFI install does determine if you need an MBR or GPT drive for the OS. Secondary drives can be either one. When I say drives, I am referring to physical hard drives, not partitions.

 

[roynorb]

Yep, you're right. I tried setting the 405GB partition as active in Disk Manager (right click -> set as active), but to no prevail.
I'm going to copy all my data over to 2x 1TB disks here at work and delete the volumes / create the 100GB-OS-partition first / install windows to that partition and hope it works this time around.

Thanks for all your input, I'll be back with a report on how it went.