Why am I having a frozen screen trying to install Windows 7?

[superboyac]

I've never had problems before when trying to install an operating system.  Usually, when boot stuff tries to load, they do fine (for me) because they don't first have to get into my operating system which may be very complicated due to the way i use it.  With OS installs, there shouldn't be many problems because you're starting from scratch.  Anyway, here's my situation:
I created a partition on my main system drive.  I wanted to first install Windows 7 on it and play around with it before installing for real on my system drive (i.e formatting and starting from scratch).  But I can't even start the install process.  When I stick the windows7 cd in, it boots from it.  It gets all the way through the "loading files" bit, but freezes consistently at the screen when the colorful stuff first appear.  All you see is that fancy blue background and the mouse pointer, and nothing else.  Then I get a BSOD.  I don't understand.  It's a 64 bit OS, but my computer should be capable of 64 bit.  See my computer specs here:
http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=16186.0

What's more confusing is that I've been running windows 7 virtually on my current xp setup for a while now, and it's been fine...or not really.  I mean, I'm able to install it on vmware fine, but it runs really slow and has a lot of hangups which I've just attributed to not setting things up or the fact that I'm running 64 bit virtually on a 32 bit os installation.  I don't know.  Maybe it has something to do with all that.

Anyway, I'm ready to go to Windows 7, but this is bothering.  I'm worried that something about my system may not be good with Windows 7, which I would hate because it's a relatively new and expensive system.  I was also wondering if maybe I should try installing on a freshly formatted hard drive.  But before I do that, I want to know why this is not working.  I have a spare hard drive, but until I check the contents and stick it in my tower, etc., is a little more work than I wanted to do right now.

Any thoughts?

[4wd]

Are your SATA interfaces set to AHCI in BIOS?

Try setting them back to IDE mode if they are.

Probably help if you could take a photo of the BSOD and upload it here.

Also, a capture of the partition layout might help us.

[Stoic Joker]

Are your SATA interfaces set to AHCI in BIOS?

Try setting them back to IDE mode if they are.

LOL I got burnt by this one on a Vista install last week (cost me a whole day). Installing the SATA driver (same procedure as a RAID driver) is another option but this issue manifests differently (completing install takes forever) than he's describing.

Probably help if you could take a photo of the BSOD and upload it here.

Also, a capture of the partition layout might help us.

(I'm thinking memory, but...) Definitely need to know what the BSOD says

[4wd]

LOL I got burnt by this one on a Vista install last week (cost me a whole day). Installing the SATA driver (same procedure as a RAID driver) is another option but this issue manifests differently (completing install takes forever) than he's describing.

That's one reason why I like Gigabyte boards, you can install the system drive on the last two North South Bridge ports and keep them as IDE while the others are switched to AHCI.  During installation the AHCI driver gets installed, (plus you don't get the really ssslllooowww install), then after OS installation you can switch the last two ports to AHCI and since the driver is already there you don't get the typical BSOD on reboot.

EDIT: Ah crap - you jogged my memory!  That's probably why my Repair Install of W7 took 5 hours - note to self: Switch to IDE, Switch to IDE.....

(I'm thinking memory, but...)

Good point - does the Win7 install disc have the Memory Tester as an option, (ala F8(?) boot menu) ?

[superboyac]

I'm following the discussion here, but unfortunately I'm not going to be able to explore any of these suggestions possibly until January or later.  I have a Gigabyte motherboard, and I know I had to do some things with AHCI in the past, although I don't know what all that means.  It had to do with the number of hard drives I have connected to my computer.  I have 3 hard drives inside my tower, connected by SATA to the motherboard.  I also have my SATA dvd drive connected to the motherboard, although it's on the special colored connector, which is somehow different than the other connecters.  This is because I added two external hard drives using the eSATA connection later for backup purposes, so the computer was having a hard time recognizing everything.  So now I have 5 drives plus a dvd drive connected to my motherboard.  I remember mouser saying something like once you get past 4 or 5, weird things start happening.

So, when I added the esata drives, i had to do something with all that AHCI stuff.  Maybe I have to go back to default for the installation of Win7 to work.  I hate this stuff.

This is also why I eventually want to build my own server at my house.  I want to store all my stuff on several large hard drives, all with redundant backups.  I can see approaching 10 drives by the end of 2011.  I don't want any of my media on disc or anything outside anymore.  And I'll have it connected to my media pc, another project for 2011.

[4wd]

This will remove AHCI from the system drive while you install - you can change it all back afterwards or in the event that you still have a problem with the install hanging/BSODing.


Referring to the picture of your motherboard above:
1) If your system drive is connected to one of the SATA ports in the RED outline, connect it to one of the ports in the GREEN outline instead.  (If both are in use, leave the DVD connected to one and temporary unplug whatever other device is connected.)
2) Turn the computer on and press DEL to get into the BIOS.

At the BIOS Main page, use the cursor keys to go to Integrated Peripherals and press Enter.


On the Integrated Peripherals page, use the cursor keys to go to Onboard SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode and change it to IDE if it isn't already.


Then hit F10 followed by Enter to accept the changes and reboot.

If the system fails to boot saying it can't find a System Disk, (or just doesn't boot), reboot and press F12 to get to the Boot Menu - you can then choose which drive to boot off and it should boot normally.

It sounds like your system is set to boot CD first so it should still boot the Win7 DVD OK and allow you to choose where to install.

After you've done the OS install you should be able to move the drive back onto it's original SATA port and reverse the change in the BIOS, (if you made one), and the system will still boot.

Depending on how anal that particular BIOS is you may need to go into Advanced BIOS Features and change the order of your drives under Hard Disk Boot Priority, but that's no problem.

I remember mouser saying something like once you get past 4 or 5, weird things start happening.

This must be a YMMV thing because I regularly have 7 drives connected without a problem - it also has a lot to do with how good the BIOS is so a bit of luck is probably involved.

I hate this stuff.

I love the smell of frying transistors first thing in the morning.......


Makes the fault easier to spot

[superboyac]

4wd, thanks!  I know it's late...
I've been meaning to get back to this.

So, here's how I have the drives plugged in right now.  I have all the drives (including the system drive) plugged into the yellow slots.  That's 5 drives.  The system drive, two extra internal drives, and two external drives.  Then, I have the SATA dvd drive plugged into one of the purple slots.

If I understand you correctly, you are saying to take my SYSTEM drive off of the yellow plug and put it on the purple plug, along with the DVD drive.  Is that correct?

Why does this fix my problem, I'm just curious.  I do think you might be right about all this, because I remember dealing with those plugs and ahci stuff, etc, when i was adding all the drives.

[4wd]

Why does this fix my problem, I'm just curious.  I do think you might be right about all this, because I remember dealing with those plugs and ahci stuff, etc, when i was adding all the drives.

It doesn't 'fix' your problem as such, it gets around a couple of problems that W7 throws up with AHCI drivers.

There are two main problems regarding the install of W7, wrt AHCI:
1) If you install W7 while the OS drive is connected in AHCI mode it will, literally, take hours for the installation.  Both times I've done it, it took 4-5 hours.
2) If you install W7 while all drives are connected in IDE mode, then the install will happen in an hour BUT you will be unable to change to AHCI, (not without a fair bit of trouble anyway), because the driver won't exist in the OS since it wasn't installed.  You'll get BSODs.

So the best way to get around these is to install W7 while the system drive is in IDE Mode, (for install speed), but the rest are in AHCI Mode, (to install the driver).

Gigabyte boards give you these two SATA ports where you can set a different mode on, (the purple ones), so what you can do is:
a) Set the purple ones to IDE Mode
b) Set the yellow ones to AHCI Mode
c) Put the system drive on the purple ports

The effect of this is:
1) The installation of W7 will happen at its normal rate, ie. it will take about an hour.  (This get around problem number 1.)
2) The AHCI driver is installed, so when you switch the system drive to AHCI, (you can do this by moving it back to a yellow port), W7 will just install the driver for it and ask to reboot.  (This gets around problem number 2.)

This is how I've previously installed both XP and W7 when I wanted AHCI enabled and it's worked without a problem.

[superboyac]

Thanks 4wd!  That's one of the best written answers I've ever received.

Now I have just a couple of more questions, but you cleared a lot of things up that I've been wondering about for a long time.
1) Do I need AHCI?  The only reason I came across the issue in the beginning was because adding drives and they weren't being recognized.  Someone told me to enable AHCI, and I did and it worked.  That's the only reason.  I don't think I did to take advantage of AHCI.  It sounds like I should do it the way you've written just to have all my bases covered.  Right?

Well, I guess it's just that one question.

[4wd]

If you're going to be hot-plugging SATA drives then you should enable AHCI mode because the ability to hot-plug correctly is provided in the AHCI driver.

There are some boards that can hot-plug without AHCI being enabled, (it all depends on the driver), like my old AsRock 939 board but it was an exception.

AHCI also enables NCQ, (Native Command Queuing), if the drive supports it - the benefits of which are dubious in a home type environment.  Staggered Spin-up is part of AHCI - some drives enable it via hardware, (eg. Samsung - no ground on SATA power connector pin 11 causes Staggered/Delayed Spin-up).

There's most likely other AHCI specific things but in your case the main one is hot-plugging.

You can grab the AHCI specs from Intel, if you're interested, here (1.2MB PDF).

Actually, you could leave the system drive connected to the purple ports in IDE Mode since you're not likely to ever want to hot-plug it, (I'm reasonably sure there won't be any performance hit but f0dder would probably be able tell us for sure).

[Deozaan]

There are two main problems
1) If you install W7 while the OS drive is connected in AHCI mode it will, literally, take hours for the installation.  Both times I've done it, it took 4-5 hours.

FYI I just installed Win7 64-bit on a new PC while the OS drive was connected in AHCI mode and it took only perhaps 30 minutes to install. So I'm not sure there's a definite disadvantage to trying it in AHCI mode first. I guess the best thing to do would be to try AHCI and if you have troubles then do it in IDE mode, especially if your mobo has all the SATA ports on either AHCI or IDE and isn't cool like those Gigabyte mobos that allow separate settings for different ports.

And thanks for the other information about AHCI vs IDE. It's been very enlightening!

[4wd]

FYI I just installed Win7 64-bit on a new PC while the OS drive was connected in AHCI mode and it took only perhaps 30 minutes to install.

I think it comes down to what drivers are already available on the Win7 installation DVD.  I know there aren't any for my ATI chipset, there most likely won't be any for the "G-SATA" ports on Gigabyte boards.

Intel chipsets are generally better supported, (I've found), through the default Windows installation DVD.

It also may depend whether or not the computer is connected to the internet at the time and you've allowed it to download updated install files.  I do all installs ex-net, just one less thing to worry about screwing it up.

[SKA]

4wd

Sorry for OT (pls PM me if possible) - can you pls guide me  how to install Win7-64-bit w/AHCI onto 2nd empty partition D , first partition C: has XP-SP3 32-bit without AHCI , next partition E: for data , ie total 3 partitions C, D and E on one hard disk(WD Velociraptor) , all NTFS formatted by XP.  
GPU: ATI Radeon HD3600/1GB, Board : Asus P5Q

Again sorry for OT , thanks for any help/tips/links

SKA

[4wd]

Not really OT so may as well stay public, (I'm sure SJ or f0dder will hit me if I screw up ).

Before you do anything, I would really recommend you do a HDD image or at least an image of the XP partition/MBR and make sure you have a bootable recovery disk for your imaging software AND that it works.

First off, specifically, which ASUS P5Q motherboard, ie. the 'P5Q', P5QL-EM, P5Q Deluxe, etc, and what SATA port is the system drive plugged into, eg. the P5Q has Intel hosted SATA ports (6) and Silicon Image hosted SATA ports (2).

Once you know those two things then what I would do is:
1) BIOS settings for the particular ports should already be AHCI but it doesn't hurt to check.
2) Download the 7 x64 AHCI driver for the Intel SATA ports from ASUS and copy the contents of IMSM_V8901023\Driver\Disk to a flash drive.

This part's from memory:
3) Leave the flash drive plugged in and boot the Win7 DVD, IIRC, when Setup sees it needs more drivers it will automatically scan attached media: flash drives, CD/DVD, floppy, etc.  Or if it's connected to the internet you'll be given the option to download any updated installation files, use that if you're not sure.
4) Select Custom installation so you can choose the partition to install on.
5) That should be it.

Windows will recognise the earlier installation of XP and you'll have an option in the boot menu to select it, Older Windows System or something like that.

If you find that the installation is taking more than an hour, (CPU/RAM/HDD speeds affect it but not too much), then it's likely that the AHCI driver wasn't loaded.

The Intel P45 chipset should be pretty well supported by drivers already on the DVD, it's been around a while.

If you want to check beforehand you could download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and run it under XP, it should highlight any problems with devices - it checks for both x86 and x64 compatibility.

EDIT: Dear God my grammar's getting bad....must be old age.

[superboyac]

Shit!  I forgot to give 4wd credit for his advice.  4wd, I've installed Windows 7 and have been running it very successfully for a couple of weeks now.  Your advice was extremely accurate.  Thanks so much.

[Stoic Joker]

Once you know those two things then what I would do is:
1) BIOS settings for the particular ports should already be AHCI but it doesn't hurt to check.
2) Download the 7 x64 AHCI driver for the Intel SATA ports from ASUS and copy the contents of IMSM_V8901023\Driver\Disk to a flash drive.

Just on the odd chance that the directory structure has changed, make sure that there is a txtsetup.oem file as that is what Windows setup will be looking for.

[4wd]

Once you know those two things then what I would do is:
1) BIOS settings for the particular ports should already be AHCI but it doesn't hurt to check.
2) Download the 7 x64 AHCI driver for the Intel SATA ports from ASUS and copy the contents of IMSM_V8901023\Driver\Disk to a flash drive.

Just on the odd chance that the directory structure has changed, make sure that there is a txtsetup.oem file as that is what Windows setup will be looking for.

Yep, txtsetup.oem in both the x86 and x64 directory  

DANG! Should mention that directory structure was for the current Intel archive for the P5Q.

(I'm sure SJ or f0dder will hit me if I screw up ).

 ^--- See

Thanks so much.

You're welcome.....now get your a**e over to the Block/Unblock network thread and tell me if it works.  

[superboyac]

You're welcome.....now get your a**e over to the Block/Unblock network thread and tell me if it works

haha...sorry, my bad.

[SKA]

4wd

Thanks ever so much !  My board is a plain P5Q

SKA