Need help with Windows Seven

[itzbilly]

Hey guys, recently tried installing Windows 7 onto my desktop.

I was running and currently back on Windows XP Pro SP3.

The first method I tried: Boot up, then a Fresh Install of Seven.

Method#2: Boot up, different drive, Fresh Install.

Method#3: Upgrade to Vista Ultimate, Upgrade to Seven. Done on both drives.

Method#4: Upgrade to Vista Ultimate, Fresh Install of Seven. Done on both drives.

Verdict: In all four methods, I am met with the Seven boot up screen where it shows that Windows is starting. I am then left with a black screen. You can easily hear that the DVD-drives have stopped spinning the DVD and there is no sound from the hard drives. I am able to move my mouse and I'd see the cursor. Nothing else can be done except rebooting. When rebooting, it gives me the menu for the way I want to start up windows..

- Safe Mode: Loads up Seven, tells me initial boot up cannot be done in Safe Mode.
- Safe Mode with networking: Same as Safe Mode.
- Safe Mode with Command Prompt: Same as Safe Mode.
- Start Windows Normally: Same as after setup.. black screen, no movement, no processing of sorts, able to move and see mouse cursor.

My computer has a Quad 2.6GHz with a GeForce 8800GT, along with 2GB ram. There are no problems with my hard drive, I've been able to format and upgrade flawlessly between XP and Vista.

Any idea what could be wrong or any solutions? Thanks in advance!

[Gizmokid2005]

Did you burn this disc somewhere? If you are getting the same issue no matter how you try to install, chances are its a bad image/burn if it's not an Authentic Win7 disc, or it could just be a bad burn of the Authentic disc.

It took a little while on the initial boot, if I do recall correctly, but it did launch fine for me.

[itzbilly]

What would constitute as a bad burn? I don't think it's the image since multiple people have used the same image without a problem.. I've tried burning the disc on 8x and 4x and both times resulted in this problem.

I also tried leaving it on the initial boot for over 8 hours. Came home to see that it was still on the black screen.

[Gizmokid2005]

If others have used that same image, I'd check the checksums on them, make sure the file didn't get corrupt somewhere. Bad burns can happen for many reasons, bad speeds, bad media, bad drives, a flaky connection.

[itzbilly]

My drives' connections are good, I've burned my WinXP cd on my media and it worked just fine, I used 4x and 8x speed while burning Win7. Would using 2x make a difference?

[Gizmokid2005]

It might. I can't say for sure, I burned all my discs at max speed which was 8x and didn't have an issue.

[itzbilly]

I'm out of ideas!

Tried installing with discs that were burnt with 2x 4x and 8x speeds (three different versions!)

Tried deleting all existing partitions before installing.

Tried unplugging external hard drive.

All of these still led to the black screen.. any suggestions?

[Gizmokid2005]

I'm out of ideas. The only thing that really logically will cause this is a set of files that aren't being installed correctly...

[itzbilly]

Hm.. everyone else who downloaded from the torrent doesn't seem to be having any problems.. I don't understand what's wrong >_> maybe I'll try to burn the disc again with someone else's drive... hopefully it's not something wrong with any of my parts..

[cauzomb]

It could be some hardware/driver issue; considering your discriptions.. You get a black screen after installation.. No desktop; start with the IDE/SATA drivers for your motherboard. Get a flash drive/usb thumbdrive, then extract new/known good versions of all your hardware's drivers, onto the thumbdrive..

Make sure you have the drivers and bios versions suitable for seven, and know where to find them.. When you run the seven installation, when it gives you the prompt to "load drivers" point to your motherboard IDE or SATA driver.. If you want to take that a step further, load a known to work with seven/ good version of forceware for your 8800GT

Another thing is to make sure that you are not overclocking while attempting to install windows/ ensure that your memory timings and voltage are "factory" even if you have to enter them manually.. If you want to get further into this regarding bios/memory settings; please post the exact motherboard make/model:revesion, motherboard bios version, memory module actual part number/s and approximate date of mfg or about what year/month they were purchased "they sometimes change the actual memory chips used on the stick's "of same model/part number" and the voltage/timings may vary on same part number memory sticks, depending on the date of mfg...

If you have not done so, clear the DMI pool data of your motherboard and completely reset the bios.. Unplug the power supply, the monitor display cable, any device that might be plugged into anything that has a common ground.. Then take the Cmos battery back/clock battery out, hold a coin between the + and - of the battery terminal, then press and hold the power and reset buttons on your computer for 30 seconds to a minute.. re-install the battery, cords/rebot then load the seven installation disc, then when it prompts load the IDE/SATA driver, then completely reformat the hard drive, then re partition, reboot and reload the IDE/SATA drivers, ensure that the drive shows up, that it has a drive letter "hopefully C:" then try re-installing seven.


I think the seven trial has ended, so I'm not sure how legal it is to try and load the OS, even if you got it from MS, let alone some p2p source... I couldn't find a copy of sevens EULA.. So I'm not apposed to this help thread, but if someone points out and can prove there's something illegal here, we will have to close/delete your thread.