Windows 7 "windows starting" problem.

[cammy]

Hey guys and gals.

Before i start i wanna say i obtained windows 7 through MSDN, i am a computing student and my vista installation is legit also.

I have tried EVERY conceivable way to install windows 7 on my machine, ive tried it in both 64 bit and 32 bit.

But every time i install windows 7 it copy's the files and unpacks etc then reboots to finish the setup but every time it does it just stays at the new "starting windows" screen, and wont budge from that!

Ive tried burning to dvd at high and low speeds, installing using a virtual drive, unpacking the ISO and installing from the setup file.

None of these methods work! and whats really annoying is that every time i do this when i go back into vista it asks me to activate again!

Anyone else experiencing this problem and have a solution for it?

[l Ancient l]

Did you try acquiring other copy of win7... You know what i mean by this ;)

If the other copy works, then theres something wrong with the one you got from MSDN....

[cammy]

Did you try acquiring other copy of win7... You know what i mean by this ;)

If the other copy works, then theres something wrong with the one you got from MSDN....

Ive already tried that, didn't wanna say cause you know how neowinians frown over that :-P

Although for the record i did download at 50Mbit :-P

Thanks virgin media, you ate 3GB in 6 mins :-)

[Guest xiphi]

Are you running hash checks to make sure it's not corrupt?

[Roger H. Veteran]

might sound weird but let your pc cool before you boot then. I dunno why but on my laptop Vista or 7 wont boot when my laptop gets too hot (dependent on a BIOS setting for my cooling settings). It goes thru the routine but then says starting windows, right when the 4 dots starts to come up then the system pauses there and stays locked.

[JakeSWE]

Have you tried a fresh install, not an upgrade? I had severe problems trying to upgrade from within windows but a fresh install worked perfectly.

[cammy]

Hey guys, I beleive that this problem will be widespread so anyone else having this problem and those who have found a fix please report here.

I tried the windows 7 dvd on 2 other computers, a sony VAIO and another cutom build desktop.

The dvd worked fine on both of them.

Which led me to try more things with my setup such as....

1.Unplug all but 1 of my SATA drives attempt to install with each drive plugged in seperately.

2.Completely wipe all data on all drives and do full formats then try and install.

3.Unplug all USB drives.

4.Unplug DVD drive and attempt to install from an external drive.

5.Take out 4 of the 8GB of ram i have.

6.Set Bios settings to default.

I basically tried EVERYTHING possible i can think of with my machine, yet windows 7 just wont initialize the setup!

Anyone else having this problem?

[SHADOW-XIII]

DVD image is good otherwise it wouldn't expand files - had this problem

in my opinion it might be hardware issue, run it in safe mode if possible (was it F8 during startup?)

[cammy]

DVD image is good otherwise it wouldn't expand files - had this problem

in my opinion it might be hardware issue, run it in safe mode if possible (was it F8 during startup?)

Hey man, ive tried all that, it just stops at disk.sys at the end. and says "please wait" for an eternity and wont budge.

really annoying me! lol

[SHADOW-XIII]

try experimentigh with bios settings:

SMART disable/enable

change dma settings (ultra dma, 100/133 or less)

or sata native mode if you got this option

[cammy]

FOUND THE FIX

Anyone having this problem enter the bios and disable any secondary LAN adapters.

I spent hours enabling and disabling things in my bios i own an ASUS STRIKER EXTREME, it has 2 lan ports built into the motherboard.

Disabled the second and BINGO, windows 7 installation got past the "windows starting" screen!

Hope this helps people!

[non.sequitur2]

Sounds like a hardware problem.

FOUND THE FIX

Anyone having this problem enter the bios and disable any secondary LAN adapters.

I spent hours enabling and disabling things in my bios i own an ASUS STRIKER EXTREME, it has 2 lan ports built into the motherboard.

Disabled the second and BINGO, windows 7 installation got past the "windows starting" screen!

Hope this helps people!

Interesting. Thanks for the heads up. I have a motherboard with dual GB LAN (see sig) but noticed no such issues. Must be specific to the ASUS or something as I have the higher-end EVGA board.

[cammy]

Sounds like a hardware problem.

Interesting. Thanks for the heads up. I have a motherboard with dual GB LAN (see sig) but noticed no such issues. Must be specific to the ASUS or something as I have the higher-end EVGA board.

Well technically the 2nd LAN port works fine, its not faulty or anything.

It will be interesting to see if any other ASUS or STRIKER EXTREME owners have the same problems.

[DomZ]

might sound weird but let your pc cool before you boot then. I dunno why but on my laptop Vista or 7 wont boot when my laptop gets too hot (dependent on a BIOS setting for my cooling settings). It goes thru the routine but then says starting windows, right when the 4 dots starts to come up then the system pauses there and stays locked.

This is interesting, I tried installing win 7 last night and it unpacked etc, rebooted, got past the starting windows screen then it would just reboot. It was at the end of the day so my computer was probably the hottest it's going to be. I'll try it off a cold boot today.

[easy90rider]

Well technically the 2nd LAN port works fine, its not faulty or anything.

It will be interesting to see if any other ASUS or STRIKER EXTREME owners have the same problems.

:( I have ASUS too but I ony have one lan port built in,but I have another pci network b/c vista kind of disabled my betwork connections and had to call my ISP to restart the switch in my ap. building,I know it sounds weird but I bought a pci lan card and since then everything works well.

I disabled the built in lan but it still doesn't start win7 :(.

I hope I will find a solution soon:)

[cammy]

:( I have ASUS too but I ony have one lan port built in,but I have another pci network b/c vista kind of disabled my betwork connections and had to call my ISP to restart the switch in my ap. building,I know it sounds weird but I bought a pci lan card and since then everything works well.

I disabled the built in lan but it still doesn't start win7 :(.

I hope I will find a solution soon:)

Hmmm this seems like an over all Asus problem, but i swear, disabling the 2nd LAN for me worked, if i re enable it win7 wont start!

You gotta disable the LAN in the BIOS, not in xp or vista.

[ale0crysis]

go to ASUS website and download drivers you need , than go to "device manager", select the warning of malfunction than go to update drivers, select the setup you downloaded before and your update will work! (i've done it for SM BUS, the only problem i had )

[cammy]

go to ASUS website and download drivers you need , than go to "device manager", select the warning of malfunction than go to update drivers, select the setup you downloaded before and your update will work! (i've done it for SM BUS, the only problem i had )

No i dont think you understand the problem.

I have the latest Asus BIOS.

What happens is if you try and install windows 7 it wont get past the "windows starting" screen unless you disable the 2nd LAN in the bios.

Its nothing to do with drivers

[walrus]

Hello :)

I have the same problem, 7 hangs on "starting windows"...

I disabled my onboard 2nd LAN device.

I have an asus A8R32-MVP DELUXE.

If anyone has any other solutions please let me know :p

[Xlost]

This is confirmed as the Fix. I was having the same trouble as the OP posted, and when I turned the 2nd Nic off in the bois, 7 loaded like a champ.

[easy90rider]

Hmmm this seems like an over all Asus problem, but i swear, disabling the 2nd LAN for me worked, if i re enable it win7 wont start!

You gotta disable the LAN in the BIOS, not in xp or vista.

I did update the BIOS b/c I thoght that the BIOS was the problem,but no. I have only one lan but I disabled that from the bios,but still hangs.:(

This is confirmed as the Fix. I was having the same trouble as the OP posted, and when I turned the 2nd Nic off in the bois, 7 loaded like a champ.

Well it's not a fix for me:(.

Could somebody post the "ntbtlog.txt" filme from windows folder?

my last few lines are

Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\usbhub.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\vga.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\udfs.sys

BTW I can start windwos in safe mode,but it can't finish install :(.

I tried to install nvidia drivers but it's not working it says something about it can;t install b/c another install is working(the windows one),but if I end its task then it just restarts :(

[walrus]

This is confirmed as the Fix. I was having the same trouble as the OP posted, and when I turned the 2nd Nic off in the bois, 7 loaded like a champ.

Obviously it's not THE fix since it's not working for everyone... your feedback is apreciated though.

easy90rider:

"Could somebody post the "ntbtlog.txt" filme from windows folder?"

Mine stops at:

Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\usbhub.sys

Sorry it's not very helpful for you... But seeing your log it would seem my problem happens while loading the vga driver? I have a RADEON 4870... 7 shouldn't have any problem with it?!

I'm still searching around for an answer, I'll post back here if I find anything ;)

[Olemus]

Mines been working fine on my Asus board with 2 lan ports and I havent disabled the 2nd so I dont think thats the fix unfortunately.

Dont forget to leave feedback for MS though!

[easy90rider]

On another forum "we found" the problem:).

It is with the nvidia drivers:(, mostly for the built in video.(from the windows update!)

Somebody tried to install another pci-e video card and windows 7 booted fine:), then installed the vista drivers,in safe mode with built in graphics enabled,and 7 worked with them fine:),but updated to the win7 drivers from WU and the same problem again:(.

I don't have another video card so I can't try this one out:(.

[walrus]

On another forum "we found" the problem:).

It is with the nvidia drivers:(, mostly for the built in video.(from the windows update!)

Somebody tried to install another pci-e video card and windows 7 booted fine:), then installed the vista drivers,in safe mode with built in graphics enabled,and 7 worked with them fine:),but updated to the win7 drivers from WU and the same problem again:(.

I don't have another video card so I can't try this one out:(.

I've been looking on countless forums for the past days and the error we're having (setup hangs on "starting windows") is being reported A LOT.

And i've seen dozen of different solutions from different people... like the 2nd LAN, nvidia drivers, bios update, sound card, sata settings ect...

Having tried everything I read around I still didn't find a fix for my configuration, either for the 32 or 64 bit verions of 7. Altough it installs just fine on my 2 others rigs... so frustrating :(