Windows 7 extreme installing time

[evilpanda]

The same applies to Vista.

It takes an insane amount of time to install Win7 64 bits on my computer (32 bits also).

The problem seems to happen at particular places during the process. After the first "windows is loading files" screen, the first screen with a mouse cursor appears, and it sits there for at least 5 min doing NOTHING and then the window with the language selection appears. The same thing happens when the screen "Setup is starting" appears, 5 to 10 min of NOHTING (no DVD or HD activity).

I'm sure there must be a device that is causing this but I don't know what, since after the installation (45min or more) everything runs fine, it's really just the install and it's frustrating. My comp: Core2Duo E6850 with 4 gigs of RAM (Corsair PC6400), nVidia 8800GT, WD hard-disk 640gigs and Asus P5K mobo.

I need help troubleshooting!

[illuminate]

that's odd...

The only time 7 and Vista took over about 45min was today, when i installed 7 on a 1.8ghz 2gb ram, no graphics card computer. And it took about 1.5 hours.

[drdeutsch]

Did you try installing with a USB Drive (See sticky)? That should speed things up a bit.

Might also want to grab a copy of Linux or Parted Magic and format the hard drive before beginning.

[evilpanda]

Not sure it has to do with the DVD vs USB key thing. I've found something about ICH9 SATA Controller with my board having timeouts. It's really timeouts of 5 - 10 mins that I'm having during install.

[ocellaris]

Try toggling the board between AHCI and SATA modes. Sometimes that will help, however I've seen these hangs on enough systems now that I just wait it out and go grab a drink or watch some TV when it happens.

[bigdogchris]

The same applies to Vista.

It takes an insane amount of time to install Win7 64 bits on my computer (32 bits also).

The problem seems to happen at particular places during the process. After the first "windows is loading files" screen, the first screen with a mouse cursor appears, and it sits there for at least 5 min doing NOTHING and then the window with the language selection appears. The same thing happens when the screen "Setup is starting" appears, 5 to 10 min of NOHTING (no DVD or HD activity).

I'm sure there must be a device that is causing this but I don't know what, since after the installation (45min or more) everything runs fine, it's really just the install and it's frustrating. My comp: Core2Duo E6850 with 4 gigs of RAM (Corsair PC6400), nVidia 8800GT, WD hard-disk 640gigs and Asus P5K mobo.

I need help troubleshooting!Are you using USB KB&M? Either switch to PS/2 or look at USB Keyboard and USB Mouse legacy support enable/disable in bios. If it's set to disable, enable them.

[evilpanda]

Yup I'm using USB KB & Mouse. Not sure if I can find ps2 ones since they are beginning to be obsolete! I'll try switching between SATA and AHCI also.

I was playing COD5 on xbox 360 while waiting it out ;)

[SR45]

Fresh reformat and install takes about 15 minutes.

Upgrade from a current OS, then the install is about 39 minutes if not more. Notice this each time I use the Upgrade Method over the Fresh install

[Ritorix]

If you really want to know whats going on, the windows 7 install process writes a logfile. See what it says its doing during the pauses.

I dont remember exactly but they are in a directory that looks like \$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther\setupact.log, setuperr.log, etc.

[hmz]

It takes ~10min from a flash drive on my notebook with SSD drive.