Windows 8 Pro Upgrade/Install failure

Question

I'm trying to install Win 8 Pro, over the top of Win 7 (64-bit both of them) with keep nothing option. After the first (only?) restart I see the Win 8 logo and after about 30 seconds I get the new BSOD screen (sad face screen), which disappears too quickly to read the error message detail. The computer then reboots and goes to an OS selection screen with choices for Win 8, Win Setup, and Win 7. Trying to boot anything other than Win 7 fails with the same error. Booting into Win 7 gives me a message from the Win 8 setup that everything was restored, but there is no option to see logs or troubleshoot.

The computer is a Sony Vaio T series laptop - purchased in August, so its relatively new hardware (model SVT13115FG for those interested). I have updated all drivers (including the BIOS) using Sony's Win 8 readiness tool. The same error happens whether I try going through the install or upgrade path (have licence keys for both). The below is a the only log files I've been able to find that look relevant.

setupact.log from C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Rollback

setupact.log (~5Mb download) from C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther

I don't have a clue where to start troubleshooting this so any pointers would really help.

Cheers guys!

Answer 1

This phenomenon sounds exactly like booting into the OS when it is missing your RAID/AHCI driver, OR booting into the OS with RAID/AHCI enabled in BIOS when it should be set to IDE.

I would recommend that you look for a preinstall driver for Windows 8 from Sony.

Something like this usually happens when it is loading drivers from disk and initializing them, it is either loading a default IDE driver and realizing your disk is booting in RAID/AHCI, OR loading the RAID/AHCI driver and realizing your disk is booting in IDE. This will cause Windows to not be able to boot.

Hope that helps!