So, I'm back from work and here's the error details: I APOLOGIZE for the length, just trying to be thorough...
When attempting to install from within Windows itself. I insert the Windows7 disk into the DVD drive, open it and click on Setup.exe (I have autoplays disabled on my vista os). When attempting to run Setup.exe the following error is thrown:
"H:\Sources\SPWIZENG.DLL is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error. Try Installing the program again using the original installation media or contact your system administrator or the software vendor for support"
[OK]
When clicking OK the following appears:
"The file autorun.dll could not be loaded or is corrupt. Setup cannot continue. Error Code is [0xC1]"
This is when I thought "Well, maybe it's the 32bit install having problems with the 64bit OS, OR maybe because this isn't an upgrade version it isn't designed to run under an OS environment", hence the attempt to install by reboot and letting the MOBO boot from the DVD.
Booting from the DVD gets me into the "Install Now" splash screen. Clicking "Install Now" will bring me to an area to setup my language and keyboard setup. Clicking "Next" from there brings me to akjax's problem. This time I clicked on "browse" to find these "drivers" - the Install program recognizes my computer, reads that I have a 300GB HDD with two partitions on it (they are listed as separate drives, one for 10gb one for 290gb), an external USB HDD of 500gb and a CD/DVD-ROM drive. I can even browse these drives and look through the directories for the driver. I downloaded the driver for the device, even copied the driver files off the Vista OS itself, to the USB drive into the root folder - when selecting this folder in the driver menu I get an error saying "no appropriate drivers were found for the device".
So this is what brought me here, and ultimately to setting up my USB HDD to boot as outlined in my other posts - which was ultimately unsuccessful. I'm certain I followed every step to the letter for setting the USB drive for boot, but I haven't given it a second go yet.
Drew: I was planning on a full clean install, yes.
UPDATE: A friend has a Windows 7 Pro disk and for reference sake I attempted to try that DVD to see if it would at least return the same errors. The Pro disk opened fine under windows and did not ask me for any drivers when attempting install off a boot. Unfortunately my key is for Windows 7 Ultimate.
Difference between the two disks: The Pro disk is a "for distribution with new PC only" disk. The Ultimate Disc I'm using is burned off an MSDN downloaded ISO.
And that's my whole story