Windows 7 Possible Bad Win 7 64 bit Retail Disc

[wfcoder]

I'm in hopes someone has experienced this and found a resolution:

I am upgrading a Windows Vista 32 bit hard drive in a new build I have with Windows 7 64 bit OS. The hardware more then exceeds the recommendation requirements for 64bit but I'm curious if I have a bad disk (purchased from a retailer) or if there is a alternate resolution available. (No need to backup, it is an unused hard drive.)

Issues leading me to a bad disk:


Scenario 1: When I am at the desk top with the old Vista OS, I put in the disc, click on the auto run pop up and it gives the "Compatibly bit version" error and will not open the install splash screen.


Scenario 2: When I start the computer up with the disk in the CD/DVD Rom Drive as I have the CD/DVD Rom drive set as first boot option it gives me the flashing "_" cursor with the black screen. After trying it several times I ope the drive bay and it says it can't find the boot manager.


In addition I have tried to go into the different start up apps indicated by the auto run file and all of them won't allow me to start because of the error give in scenario 1.


Did I get a bad disc from the retailer or is there something I am missing?


This is the disc that I purchased:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems


I see no, "Upgrade" anywhere on this version as I intended it to be a new/full disc with all of the needed "New Image/Upgrade" possibilities and not your "Anytime upgrade" type version.

To Recap:

I don't need to backup anything, this is a previous hard drive that does not need any backups done it, it is a hard drive that I don't need but am using.​

The problem is I can't the clean install started in any fashion either through desktop or reboot.

Thank you for any help available/experienced.​

 

[Drew]

Hmmm, well, ain't this an interesting case...

1st of all, forget about Scenario 1, completely. It is not done that way.

Now, regarding Scenario 2... I take it, it just sits @ the flashing black screen until you give up & open the optical drive. It's always possible, sure, but, extremely unlikely the disc is bad. Try this... take the HDD out, go format it (NOT Quick Format) on another or w/ another machine. Put it back in & try installing again.

Report back, please

Thanks,
Drew

 

[Saltgrass]

Just wondering if you are trying to run a x64 install from a 32 bit Vista install?

OEM disks do not need to do upgrades, and not sure if they will since I have no experience it those, but you probably have to boot to the DVD. But if you are trying to install over Vista it will not run from a 32 bit system.

Edit: There are some DVD players that do not like the Windows 7 DVDs. If that is the case, and no firmware is available for it, you may need to do a flash drive install.

 

[wfcoder]

Ok, I did another test to validate something and I think I have a possible reason for my issues.

I put in a Windows 7 32 bit disc that I used to install on my sons computer and when I started it up I got the same flashing cursor "_".

So I got into the operating system and tried the 32 bit version and the splash came up but I didn't want to install the 32 bit on my Eight core, 8 GB ram, 2 GB video card system, couldn't utilize the memory and run as I would like it .

So I actually got the "Press any key to boot from CD/DVD..." but it froze after the second dot and would not continue which makes me think of the following:
This hard drive was from a HP desktop that had the original first version of Windows Vista on it, I want to say it was purchased in 2008, if not 2007. So could it be that HP has a block on it that is stopping a image being placed on it in some way shape or form?

 

[Saltgrass]

If you have two monitors, I would take one off and anything else you can.

The drive might be effecting your install, hard to say. But the first part is actually loading the RAM Disk for the install and the Hard Drive is not really used until later. But again, it still could be interferring. Have you done anything to wipe the drive and start fresh, as Drew suggests, or is there data on there you want to keep?

I loose track of what tests you have done, but you can boot the DVD in your Son's computer but not yours? Is your DVD drive new?

 

[wfcoder]

The 32 bit Windows 7 disc I tried referenced above was to check to see if the disc was bad, I used that 32 bit version to install windows 7 on my sons computer and it worked fine.

Tests I have tried:
Updated the CD/DVD driver to current.
Removed 1 stick of ram to insure it isn't a possible interference on to much hardware.
I am only using 1 monitor until I get the install completed, haven't installed any video drivers since I'm wiping out this hard drive anyway.
I want to wipe it clean but haven't had a chance to open up another box to do the format - time is pretty restrictive with work, school and family currently so trying to go the easiest route, but I guess that will have to be the next step.
I thought since I'm using an IDE CD/DVD rom drive and have it converted to SATA would be the issue but the drive works fine with music and other software files.
The hard drive has no pin configure options like master, slave, cable set as it is a 350GB Seagate.
So I think I can rule out the disc since the 32bit version doesn't boot up with the "Press Any Key to boot from CD/DVD" wouldn't we agree?

 

[Saltgrass]

You can wipe a hard drive without putting it in another box. All you need to do is boot the Install DVD, at least to the second page of the Install process. But then, there is the roadblock...

I would suggest you go the flash drive route or get a different DVD drive.

 

[wfcoder]

I think I'll just get a 8GB USB flash drive and copy the disk over and try that process. Any good links to validate the usb information is valid or is just as easy as copy disk over to USB?

 

[Saltgrass]

You should be able to find several tutorials on making the flash drive. But you need to format the drive, Fat32 or NTFS should be fine, then use the Bootsect /nt60 E: with E: being the drive letter for the flash drive. command to make it bootable, then copy the Windows 7 files over. But whichever one you follow should work fine. If it doesn't, you can always redo it.

You may need to alter your bios to boot to a USB device first, and you may also need to remove it prior to or during the first reboot. If the system boots back to the Flash Drive, it will mess up the install.

I would not use your DVD drive to copy the files.

Personally, I would get a new DVD drive to make sure it was compatible with Windows 7. If you get a chance to clean the old hard drive, you might still do that.

 

[wfcoder]

Yea, I'm using my windows 7 laptop to create the ISO for the USB drive I'm going to make. I have the Microsoft Windows 7 USB boot disc creater found on microsofts site.

This will do all the needed changes (cleaning/format and setup for the USB ) for me.

I'll see what happens to the DVD drive after I get windows 7 installed as it may not be compatible with win7 but it is a relativley new samsung SH-S222A. I'm just in hopes this USB drive works for me.

A bit frustrating that I have to not only spend all this money on this rather strong system, but I have to fight software issues to. Oh well it's what I get for wanting as nothing is never really "Easy" anymore, gotta work for it.

Thanks for all your help everyone, I'll reply on the outcome.

 

[Saltgrass]

OK, I seemed to have missed something. Did you not say you had converted an IDE (PATA) DVD drive to SATA? If the drive is new, it might be the SATA to PATA converter causing the problem.

 

[wfcoder]

I converted the drive from IDE (19 pin) to SATA but the drive works fine and it is being seen in bios so I'm doubting that but anything is possible at this point.

I'll see what happens when I get the USB drive and after I get the install done I'm going to see if it will try to boot from disc after that.
If it fails to boot from cd/dvd after that I can consider the issue the DVD/CD drive.

Thanks

 

[wfcoder]

I have the USB Drive and the ISO for this USB already created so I'm going to go through the process tonight and let everyone know how that works.

Thank you

 

[wfcoder]

Ok, it seems that if you convert the DVD Rom from IDE to SATA was the issue however I know the drive works fine.

Currently installing windows 7 64 bit now, all is well.


Thanks all.