Windows 7 OEM not installing

0

I was having issues installing Windows 7 64bit Home Premium OEM (see my other question).

To make absolutely sure it didn't have anything to do with my CD/DVD drive, I made a bootable USB from my CD using EasyBCD. I set the BIOS to boot from USB devices first, then boot with the USB in: it works fine, asks for language, unpacks etc.

When it automatically reboots, the USB kicks in again and starts the installation process anew, so I shut down, remove USB and reboot. The installation continues just fine, but when it reboots again, the Windows logo comes up for a while, then the screen just goes black (no signal, it says)!

The PC is actually still on. I can force shut down and reboot, and I get the 'windows did not shut down properly bla bla' menu, I select 'start windows normally' and I have the same problem.

What could possibly be wrong?

This is the hardware:

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sean Bone

Posted 2014-11-07T21:29:29.670

Reputation: 123

Does it work in safe mode? – Ramhound – 2014-11-07T21:35:46.003

You might try packing your display drivers into your USB install. I've only seen it twice out of hundreds of computers, but it was the same problem you're describing. – Lee Harrison – 2014-11-07T21:45:01.363

@ramhound no. It says it can't do it in safe mode and that I should reboot into normal mode to complete installation. – Sean Bone – 2014-11-07T21:49:20.897

@LeeHarrison pardon my ignorance, but how should I do that? Could it be a possibility to change graphics card (no integrated) for the installation? – Sean Bone – 2014-11-07T21:50:33.513

Then Windows hasn't completed being installed and thus still needs the installation media. – Ramhound – 2014-11-07T21:52:47.930

@ramhound yes, but leaving the USB in on boot just begins a fresh installation... – Sean Bone – 2014-11-07T22:04:24.540

You could try pulling the GFX card during install and see if it makes a difference. Also, I'd set your PC to boot from the hard drive by default, and use the manual Boot Menu (F12 or something similar) to select your USB thumb drive. That way you don't need to monkey around with rebooting and pulling out the thumb drive – Lee Harrison – 2014-11-07T22:56:11.253

@LeeHarrison Thank you! I solved the problem - see answer. – Sean Bone – 2014-11-09T10:07:00.990

Answers

1

I finally managed to install Windows 7 correctly, thanks to advice from Lee Harrison and Ramhound! Thank you!

As it turns out, Windows was having issues with my AMD Radeon HD 4650 graphics card - this meant that when, after the initial installation phase was complete and the OS tried to boot, the screen just went blank.

I worked around the problem by swapping out my GPU with a different one I had lying around, and completed the installation that way. Now I can just install the proper drivers for the original GPU and I'm off!

Sean Bone

Posted 2014-11-07T21:29:29.670

Reputation: 123

Glad you got it all sorted out. This is definitely a weird edge case. Never thought that useless nugget of info would be useful! – Lee Harrison – 2014-11-11T12:51:49.710

Asked: 2014-11-07T21:29:29.670

Viewed: 81 times

Active: 2014-11-09T10:10:30.473