Windows 7 Install partition problem

[HardUp4HardWare]

So I am trying to reinstall Win7 on my sisters ASUS laptop.

I started by deleting and recreating the partitions and completing the install.
Then I realized that I installed “ultimate” instead of premium, so I have to reinstall again…

No prob, (I thought) I put the premium DVD in and reboot but the machine will not let me boot off the DVD.

If I select DVD from the boot menu it acts like it is going to boot off the DVD and then it diverts to the HDD and restarts the “ultimate” version I previously installed.

So I tried booting off acronis USB drive and recreating my partition.

No luck, now “ultimate” is gone, but it is still trying to boot off the HDD, perhaps the 100MB mini partition that windows created?

So I am thinking my only choices are to
Pull the hard driver and wipe it on another machine.

OR

Get some kind of bootable USB with a real partition manager on it.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Durntdude]

Only time I've had Windows skip a bootable dvd is when the burn didn't make a checksum correct copy. You may need to reburn it if you made it via image.

Also if you want to nuke the partition completely, you can just make a bootable linux cd or usb (if supported by bios) and use gparted to clear the partition table.

 

[HardUp4HardWare]

The boot DVD works in another machine, so I know it is good.
I think there is an issue with the smaller partition that windows creates.

Almost like the DVD hands off booting to the HDD because there is something on the mini partition that it checks for.

USB non-windows boot seems fine. Maybe a windows XP disc would work?

 

[dbwillis]

Yeh, try a XP CD (or any other MS OS disc) or maybe a Linux live one, or pull the drive...I usually leave the drive blank when installing it and let the install process set the partitions

 

[HardUp4HardWare]

Yeh, try a XP CD (or any other MS OS disc) or maybe a Linux live one, or pull the drive...I usually leave the drive blank when installing it and let the install process set the partitions

Yeah, I bet an XP dis cwill work. If not I will pull the drive. This POS Asus laptop makes it a pain in the butt to pull the drive though. So I hope the XP disc works.

I wouldn't mind just building a bootable USB drive that has fdisk on it though, I just need to find a easy way of making one.

 

[bigdogchris]

You don't need to, and shouldn't, manually create partitions. Simply click on "unallocated space" and press next. If you want to shrink the primary partition, do that through Disk Management after you install the OS.

What you need to do is boot to the DVD again and keep tapping space bar to load Windows Setup. It's probably prompting you and you don't see it.

Once your back at the select disk screen, delete all partitions so that only unallocated space is left, then click it and click next.

If the DVD you have does not let you choose anything except Windows Ultimate, you will need to make a modification. Using IMGBURN, create a boot image from the DVD. Then copy the contents onto a local computer folder, find the ei.cfg file and delete it, then burn the contents back to a DVD and use the boot image you created. There are plenty of guides online on how to do this.

 

[HardUp4HardWare]

What you need to do is boot to the DVD again and keep tapping space bar to load Windows Setup. It's probably prompting you and you don't see it.

This is what I thought at first and it drove me crazy. I have never seen anything like it before and I have done MANY Windows installs.

The system simply will not boot the DVD. I will post back if the XP disc works. I am thinking it will because I suspect there is some handshaking going on between the "secret" windows mini partition and the DVD.

 

[bigdogchris]

This is what I thought at first and it drove me crazy. I have never seen anything like it before and I have done MANY Windows installs.

The system simply will not boot the DVD. I will post back if the XP disc works. I am thinking it will because I suspect there is some handshaking going on between the "secret" windows mini partition and the DVD.

Existing partitions will have no effect on Windows DVD booting or not. If no partitions are found the system automatically boots the DVD without asking. If a Windows OS is found the disc prompts you to press a key to enter Windows Setup.

Just pull the drive and attach it to another system then delete all the partitions.