Vista Installation Problem

S

SiliconValley

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 22, 2005
Messages
226
Asus P5W Dh Deluxe
e6600
FoxConn 8800GTS (640MB)
Corsair 620HX

Just built the system. Fired it up and it posted fine. Loaded the BIOS and things look okay. CPU temp idle at 25-26C. My DVD Drive is accidentally set to Primary IDE slave. My Primary IDE master is blank. My third IDE master is my HDD (Seagate 7200.10 320GB). I exit out, pop in Vista and reboot.

I hear the CD spin-up and then it says "Windows is loading files..." Next it switches to the part where it has a bar that scrolls left to right and reads "Microsoft Corporation" at the bottom. After about 30 seconds or so, the screen then changes and that's where the problem lies. It's a completely jarbled screen with about 3 colors all washed together. It sort of looks like three paint colors were thrown onto a canvas. At this point, this screen remains. I've rebooted 3 times and the exact same thing happens each time. My hunch is that this might be a video card problem (brand new 8800GTS). The weird part is that it works fine for the BIOS screen, POST and for those first two screens in the Vista installation. I have access to another vid card (7800GT) that I'm going to try a bit later when I get the energy. Any thoughts on what this might be? Thanks, and sorry for the long post.

UPDATE: It's not the graphics card after all. The same problem occurs with my 7800GT. Could it be the fact that I switched a jumped setting on my HDD? I thought the diagram was telling me I had to remove the jumper entirely in order to active 3 GB/sec transfers.
 
Have you tried installing XP or something of the like to see if the problem is still there. Need to figure out if this is vista or your hardware somehow...
 
yaric said:
Have you tried installing XP or something of the like to see if the problem is still there. Need to figure out if this is vista or your hardware somehow...
Click to expand...

Okay I just popped in my XP (OEM) CD and so far, so good. It's installing now. So I guess that means it's some type of Vista problem (surprise, surprise)? What are my options in terms in running XP/Vista? I have an XP disc (the one I'm installing now) but it's tied to the hardware on my old machine. The Vista disc is also an OEM copy (although it obviously hasn't been "tied" to any hardware yet). I'm wondering if I couldn't finish installing XP, not active it, then try running Vista again.

UPDATE: XP is still installing but I've just noticed that my mouse wasn't plugged in this whole time (just discovered it during the XP installation). Is it possible that Vista freaked out because it didn't detect a mouse?
 
I'm now posting from my new machine in Windows XP. Install went fine. I then tried to install Vista from windows but to no avail. It got past the copying of files to my HDD. My computer then rebooted as part of the install process I guess and it loaded the same screen (3 jarbled colors) only this time it acutally said "installing files." Seeing no activity on my hard drive light and after waiting about 5 mins., I gave up and rebooted back into XP. It said the install failed and that my previous copy of windows had been restored. I don't mind using XP for the time being but I'm a bit worried because I'm on the 30-day clock to activate this copy. Suggestions? Ideas to solve my Vista woes?
 
I've now installed all drivers (video, sound, etc.) and I still can't get it to go. It always has a problem just after rebooting. I've run Windows Upgrade Advisor and everything is fine. It does, however, say that no data is available for my video card and that there might be a problem with windows messenger after the upgrade. Everything else is okay and it says I'm okay to upgrade. Confused...
 
Catweazle said:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=34&threadid=2000444&enterthread=y

I'd suggest you check to ensure that your BIOS is appropriately updated.
Click to expand...

Okay so I updated to BIOS version 1901 (the most recent version). I then tried installing Vista from XP. Same problem except that this time I can actually see the screen that says "Installing files" or "Installing Windows" or something similar. The mouse is functional but the cursor is an hourglass. My HDD light doesn't flash at all and I've waited 10 mins. to no avail. Nothing happens. I reboot and it says install failed. It occurs after the copying of files and during expanding. The system says it needs to reboot before the files are done being expanded. This is always where the problem occurs. I'm beginning to think it's something related to my HDD, although XP is 100% fine.
 
Try it this way. It seems you have IDE drives rather than SATA drives, so:

  • Have the drive you intend to install Vista on as primary master.
  • Remove your secondary hard drive.
  • Have your optical drive as secondary master.
  • Install Vista
  • Add your second hard drive.
See if the problem is eliminated when you do things this way.
 
Catweazle said:
Try it this way. It seems you have IDE drives rather than SATA drives, so:

  • Have the drive you intend to install Vista on as primary master.
  • Remove your secondary hard drive.
  • Have your optical drive as secondary master.
  • Install Vista
  • Add your second hard drive.
See if the problem is eliminated when you do things this way.
Click to expand...

My HDD is a SATA drive, not IDE although there is some kind of weird problem during boot where it says something about no drives being detected. In the BIOS, however, it recognizes both my HDD and my optical drive. My Primary IDE is blank because I have the jumper on my DVD drive (incorrectly) set to slave. So My primary master is blank, the primary slave is the DVD drive. My THIRD IDE primary is my HDD. No idea where second is. I thought it was weird that it came up IDE and third but I just figured this was the way the BIOS recognized it. Also, in the BIOS under how SATA drives are read it gives me the choice between AHCI, IDE and something else. It's set to "IDE" at the moment. Could this be the problem?
 
Yeah, it certainly sounds like it's either a drive configuration issue. You might find something relevent by searching this section and the relevent hardware sections for info about your motherboard, Vista and SATA drives.
 
Catweazle said:
Yeah, it certainly sounds like it's either a drive configuration issue. You might find something relevent by searching this section and the relevent hardware sections for info about your motherboard, Vista and SATA drives.
Click to expand...

I have an IDE drive lying around that I could use. Perhaps I'll uplug my SATA drive and use the IDE drive as the primary master. I won't have a chance to try it until tomorrow but I'll report back. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
Well I switched my optical drive to "cable select" so it's now my primary master. My HDD is my third primary. My HDD is plugged into my SATA-1 port on my mobo (Asus P5W Dh Deluxe). I load into XP, install Vista and it gets past the first 2 parts (copying files and gathering files). Both pass with a green check mark. Then it gets to expanding files. It gets most of the way done, then switches to a screen that says Windows needs to reboot to continue. I reboot. It's weird because it briefly then shows my XP background and the computer logs off from XP. Upon rebooting I'm given the choice between Operating system (XP) or Windows setup. I choose setup and it loads the Vista screen with "Microsoft Corp." at the bottom and the bar moving left to right. Then it loads the next screen and says "Upgrading Windows" or "Upgrading Vista" or something and it's against a Vista backdrop. At this point the HDD light comes on a few times and then stops. The cursor is movable but an hourglass. The system stays like this. I'm not sure how long I should wait but I've waited as long as 10 mins. before with nothing happening.

I'm getting extremely frustrated because I don't know what could possibly be wrong and others with the same/similar hardware are running Vista. I have the latest BIOS for my mobo (v. 1901). I've noticed that some people have 1701 and are running Vista. I initially had something before 1701 before I flashed it. Should I go back and flash to v. 1701? Should I try to boot from the Vista CD and try installing Vista that way? I'm really looking for any suggestions here because I'm very frustrated.
 
UPDATE: Okay so I just changed my boot priority and had it boot straight from the Vista CD. It gets all the way to the screen with the Microsoft Corp. at the bottom and the bar moving left to right. Then it loads the next screen with a Vista backdrop and hangs. Just like when it reboots during installation from within XP. Could this be a bad DVD? Has anyone else heard of or experienced this problem?
 
Do you have an upgrade disc or a full install disc. Dvd could be bad or cables I have had the weird screen thing happen once to me back with the first beta and just did a restart to solve it for me. I would try doing an install from within XP .
 
doghucat said:
Do you have an upgrade disc or a full install disc. Dvd could be bad or cables I have had the weird screen thing happen once to me back with the first beta and just did a restart to solve it for me. I would try doing an install from within XP .
Click to expand...

Vista premium OEM. Have tried multiple times to install from within XP. See my post in the OS forum for more details. Could it be a firmware problem with my DVD drive? Should I try copying the files to the HDD and installing it that way?
 
UPDATE: I finally got my HDD to register as the primary IDE devide. I had to switch IDE Enhanced Mode Support to SATA + PATA. I still can't boot from the disk though. As it loads into the Vista backdrop, I get an hourglass followed by nothing. Just a freeze on that screen. I'm beginning to think it's my DVD drive and possibly a firmware issue? It's a lightscribe DVD R-/R+ drive. I even tried reformatting my HDD and booting from the Vista disc - no luck. I guess I'm going to reinstall XP again (ugh) and then try to copy the DVD contents onto my HDD and install from there.
 
Just tried installing Vista from my HDD. Same exact thing happened. It seems to just stay at the screen that says "Upgrading Windows..." How long should this last? Should I wait a good long time for this? This is absolutely ridiculous that I can't get this damn OS to install. Okay, end venting...
 
SUCCESS! I just had to wait a bit longer on that Upgrading Windows screen. Installing off my HDD no doubt sped things up. Now I'm curious if I just wasn't waiting long enough on that screen before when installing off the DVD (although I did wait about 15 mins.). Either way, it works now and I'm in Vista! Thanks for all the help...
 
Okay I think it was my DVD drive. Vista freaks out when I try to use it. I had a DVD with my backed up photos and music on it - Vista wouldn't boot at all with it in the drive. Empty the drive and it booted fine. Even within Vista, can't get a DVD to load without a crash. Weird. Time to get a new optical drive or try to update it?
 
I just scrolled through the thread skimming it for relevant details, and I don't see anything being said about whether this is an actual pressed Windows Vista hologram DVD or simply a burned copy... can I get a clarification on that relatively important detail? :)
 
bbz_Ghost said:
I just scrolled through the thread skimming it for relevant details, and I don't see anything being said about whether this is an actual pressed Windows Vista hologram DVD or simply a burned copy... can I get a clarification on that relatively important detail? :)
Click to expand...

An actual pressed Windows Vista hologram DVD. I would have said so otherwise but I could see how you might not known that since you don't know me. ;)
 
Could say that about every other member too, but but but...

At this point I'd say you need to barebones it, meaning you need to gut that machine and remove all the drives, all of them, totally disconnected and removed and sorted out so you know which is which.

Once that's done, the object is to build a baseline system to figure out where the issues are. And for that, the best methodology is a clean install - and yes I know you've got a Vista Upgrade disc, that's not a problem. Use the instructions you'll find here:

http://www.techwrighter.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=67&Itemid=27

Courtesty of our very own Catweazle (although he freely admits it's not his method overall, he found it someplace else and redid it to make it more comprehensible). Using that method will allow you to do a "clean install" on a bare naked hard drive instead of needing to install a prior OS then installing Vista as an upgrade of that OS - a very bad idea no matter what anyone says otherwise.

A barebone machine would be:

- the mobo (mounted in the case, but not absolutely necessary)
- the processor with heatsink/fan (HSF) attached
- one single stick of RAM, regardless of how much you have or how many sticks you have - you just need one to do this test, regardless of capacity also
- one hard drive, whichever one you want to be the final destination for Vista
- if the hard drive is an SATA model, you should have the latest SATA controller drivers (the 'floppy' version) on a floppy, burned on a CD, or even better would be on a USB thumbdrive since Vista can read any of those three storage mediums
- onboard video if your motherboard supports it; if not find a PCI video card; if you don't have one of those use the primary video card you're intending to use for Vista
- the DVD drive you'll need to access the Vista DVD and install from
- the power supply
- keyboard and mouse

That's it. If you have several hard drives, yank 'em all out, they're useless for these testing purposes. If your intention is a RAID setup, you can do that later on after you've got Vista running at least once to know it will work for you.

Go for the installation, and do not input your key during the installation - it is simply not required to get Vista installed and running. Click Next when prompted for a key, click No on the box that pops up, choose the edition of Vista you have the legitimate key for on the next screen, check the box, click Next and continue on.

This methodology should get you up and running to see if Vista's going to work for you at all. Once you get it up and running, then you can start adding the other drives as required, or start over and set up the RAID if that's your intention.

Hope this helps...
 
bbz_Ghost said:
Could say that about every other member too, but but but...

At this point I'd say you need to barebones it, meaning you need to gut that machine and remove all the drives, all of them, totally disconnected and removed and sorted out so you know which is which.

Once that's done, the object is to build a baseline system to figure out where the issues are. And for that, the best methodology is a clean install - and yes I know you've got a Vista Upgrade disc, that's not a problem. Use the instructions you'll find here:

http://www.techwrighter.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=67&Itemid=27

Courtesty of our very own Catweazle (although he freely admits it's not his method overall, he found it someplace else and redid it to make it more comprehensible). Using that method will allow you to do a "clean install" on a bare naked hard drive instead of needing to install a prior OS then installing Vista as an upgrade of that OS - a very bad idea no matter what anyone says otherwise.

A barebone machine would be:

- the mobo (mounted in the case, but not absolutely necessary)
- the processor with heatsink/fan (HSF) attached
- one single stick of RAM, regardless of how much you have or how many sticks you have - you just need one to do this test, regardless of capacity also
- one hard drive, whichever one you want to be the final destination for Vista
- if the hard drive is an SATA model, you should have the latest SATA controller drivers (the 'floppy' version) on a floppy, burned on a CD, or even better would be on a USB thumbdrive since Vista can read any of those three storage mediums
- onboard video if your motherboard supports it; if not find a PCI video card; if you don't have one of those use the primary video card you're intending to use for Vista
- the DVD drive you'll need to access the Vista DVD and install from
- the power supply
- keyboard and mouse

That's it. If you have several hard drives, yank 'em all out, they're useless for these testing purposes. If your intention is a RAID setup, you can do that later on after you've got Vista running at least once to know it will work for you.

Go for the installation, and do not input your key during the installation - it is simply not required to get Vista installed and running. Click Next when prompted for a key, click No on the box that pops up, choose the edition of Vista you have the legitimate key for on the next screen, check the box, click Next and continue on.

This methodology should get you up and running to see if Vista's going to work for you at all. Once you get it up and running, then you can start adding the other drives as required, or start over and set up the RAID if that's your intention.

Hope this helps...
Click to expand...

I think you might have missed a post by me. I'm actually up and running Vista now. The solution seems to have been copying the DVD contents (OEM disc, not upgrade BTW) to my HDD and installing it that way. I'm in Vista running great with one minor exception: my DVD drive doesn't want to read any discs. Vista gets weird when I have something in my DVD drive. It won't read a data DVD and it simply won't boot at all into Vista if there is a DVD in my drive. Clearly, it seems, that this was my problem all along. I'm not sure how about resolving this issue but I'm going to try a few things tonight. Again, thanks for the offer of help and if you can think of any suggestions for resolving this DVD drive issue, I'd really appreciate it.
 
Your optical drive not playing well with Vista? Simple solution. Go get an optical drive which will play fair.

It's not really a new scenario. When XP came out we found it was 'touchy' about RAM. On some systems which had RAM mismatches or perhaps just some cheap generic RAM installed XP simply wouldn't intall easily or attain a stable install. Ensuring that better quality matched modules were used corrected the situation. (Some people had success with using only one module during the install, and adding their second afterwards.)

When some newer copy-protection mechanisms for games started to circulate, we found problems of incompatibilities with some burners beginning to circulate. Again, replacing the problem hardware resolved the situation.

Now we're seeing quite a few reports which suggest that Vista isn't living harmoniously with some DVD drives. Same deal all over again. A firmware update for the drive might be the answer. Changing to a drive which doesn't have issues will certainly be an answer.

People don't like to accept that a hardware item is contributing to their problem. The thing worked OK when running XP so it should work OK when running Vista. Or you might find the cry of woe about it being a 'good quality' drive - that one usually comes from people who have succumbed to the advertising and not noticed that their expensive item is a rebadged instance of a cheapie.


Replacement is always the best alternative in my opinion. If a DVD drive is causing me grief I'll go do some homework to determine a model which always seems to generate positive results and then replace the old one.
 
Catweazle said:
Your optical drive not playing well with Vista? Simple solution. Go get an optical drive which will play fair.

It's not really a new scenario. When XP came out we found it was 'touchy' about RAM. On some systems which had RAM mismatches or perhaps just some cheap generic RAM installed XP simply wouldn't intall easily or attain a stable install. Ensuring that better quality matched modules were used corrected the situation. (Some people had success with using only one module during the install, and adding their second afterwards.)

When some newer copy-protection mechanisms for games started to circulate, we found problems of incompatibilities with some burners beginning to circulate. Again, replacing the problem hardware resolved the situation.

Now we're seeing quite a few reports which suggest that Vista isn't living harmoniously with some DVD drives. Same deal all over again. A firmware update for the drive might be the answer. Changing to a drive which doesn't have issues will certainly be an answer.

People don't like to accept that a hardware item is contributing to their problem. The thing worked OK when running XP so it should work OK when running Vista. Or you might find the cry of woe about it being a 'good quality' drive - that one usually comes from people who have succumbed to the advertising and not noticed that their expensive item is a rebadged instance of a cheapie.


Replacement is always the best alternative in my opinion. If a DVD drive is causing me grief I'll go do some homework to determine a model which always seems to generate positive results and then replace the old one.
Click to expand...

Makes perfect sense and that's pretty much the conclusion I've come to as well. I'll try a firmware update or something else, but I have no problem having to replace the drive if I need to it. It was an inexpensive drive at the time and I've put it to good use. This may not be the best place to ask but can you or anyone else recommend a good optical drive (DVD burner) that is known to be friendly with Vista, so to speak.
 
www.cdfreaks.com <<<--- THE source for optical drive/media reviews and information.

Personally, I only buy Plextor hardware since it's never given me issues in the 10 years now that I've been owning their products. Benq and Lite-On make some fine drives nowadays, as does Pioneer who's been at the DVD burning game a long, long time. Read through some reviews at CDFreaks, and make sure to check out the forums there also - that's where the really good scoop is.
 
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