Windows 7 Install Problems

[garlicgoddess]

Sorry if this is long-winded, am completely stuck and not sure what to do. I am a MS employee, got a free (legal) copy of Win7 ultimate under the home usage program and our internal help desk says they don’t support. I have loaded many OS onto laptops at work, so know the basic routine.
Computer is HP Pavillion Desktop, came with Vista Home edition about two years ago. I checked for compatibility and chose to do a custom install. On first install I forgot to eliminate the second partition that had the original image. Computer booted up ok (incredibly slow, about 15 minutes) but couldn’t reboot without bluescreen. Wireless worked, I was able to do some windows updates but knew something was very wrong, so didn’t attempt to reinstall programs. Printer driver loaded on its own.
Re-did the custom install, this time deleting the extra partition. Now, I can barely boot up, the machine blue screens on the way, wireless doesn’t work and it doesn’t recognize my home network or any other network (usually there are 3 or 4 in my neighborhood that show up). Shutting down will blue screen as well, I tried yesterday. I’m leaving it up and running hoping for a miracle cure.
On first attempt, I was able to capture this information.
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033
Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 9f
BCP1: 00000003
BCP2: 85094690
BCP3: 8293EAE0
BCP4: 84AB20C8
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1
Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\021410-30919-01.dmp
C:\Users\Cheryl\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-94536-0.sysdata.xml
Read our privacy statement online:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409
If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt
I tried to look at my current mini dump folder but it’s empty AND I don’t have permissions to view.

Now what? Thank you for any suggestions.

 

[garlicgoddess]

one more thing, i have read through some posts on this forum including a long one from v-dash that was pretty helpful. But now that i've gone astray somehow, i don't know what to do. I don't even really understand some of what is said on this forum, but I'm trying to read it anyway. What would happen if i did a c drive reformat, then tried installing again? Is that a reasonable approach? I don't have any data or programs i'm trying to save, it's all backed up.

 

[Saltgrass]

The way you tell the story, it appears a custom install and format the drive first might help. If you do not want the System Reserve partition, you need to format before you install which you can do before you start the install by using another utility, or during the install if you want to use Diskpart and Shift+F10

During the install, use the disk options buttons to create and format partitions to create or delete partitions. I have never had one of those hidden recovery partitions, so I do not know exactly how it behaves, but maybe it did leave a footprint on your system.

To read the dump file, you may have to copy it to the desktop or somewhere else so you can check it.

 

[garlicgoddess]

i was able to view the dump files, the seem to be just a lot of characters, no actual words. I don't know if this is typical. Current situation is that I can now boot up relatively easy, cannot shut down (have to turn the machine off) but cannot get the wireless to connect, cannot get the network to add. I just tried to format the C drive from Windows and of course I cannot (duh). Grrrrrr... Will try it via the DVD option later..

 

[Saltgrass]

There are many tutorials about how to install Win 7. Since you seem to be having problems created by a previous install, I would download and burn the bootable version of Partition Wizard to look at your hard drive. You can then delete and recreate partitions, and format if you desire.

Hopefully your Install DVD is good....

Before you do anything else, you might open an administrative command prompt (Start Menu, All Programs, Accessories, right click on Command Prompt and select "Run as Admin") Type the following and hit enter after:

SFC /scannow

When it finishes, it may indicate some problems were found and were or were not corrected, but maybe it will help understand your current situation. If you can't run it, just go ahead and do the clean install.

 

[garlicgoddess]

thanks! Did the SFC/scannow and I do not have any integrity violations. Will try that other thing later, appreciate the suggestions. !!!

 

[garlicgoddess]

Oh, and by the way I have read all the install guides -- MS provided us with a detailed one with our complimentary copy. My rule of thumb is that an OS should not take any more technical saavy than what I have. I use myself as a benchmark after having worked in HR at MS for awhile and seeing that my understanding of these things is above average for a non-techie...

 

[Athlonite]

I've had similar probs on HP machines just going from Vista home premium to ultimate i found out from an HP tech that it's to do with the type of SLIC in the BIOS that all HP machines have. apparently some are locked to an specific version of the OS installed at time of purchase and cause no end of errors like BSODs at boot time