Windows 8 Crashes/Freezes/GFX problems on install.


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Very frustrated right now so going to summarise this as best as possible.

  • legitimately purchased windows 8 pro via web (microsoft)
  • attempted to install on machine preloaded with win7 only to encounter garbled graphics on installer (on reboot)
  • assumed graphics card problem (geforce 6600)
  • swapped new gfx card into machine. (geforce gtx470)
  • tried each card in each pci-e slot
  • tried to install win8 from usb and dvd
  • removed all other pci cards
  • disabled all onboard devices
  • updated bios
  • problem has since changed to simply freezing on install at the cyan windows 8 logo.
  • nothing has worked!!!

Wanted to try the windows 8 32bit iso but i cant find any way to download this from Microsoft nor can i find it using non legitimate methods (which frankly I find it ridiculous that I should even try since Microsoft don't even give the option).

Any clues?

System specs:

  • Asus A8n32-sli
  • AthlonXP 3800+
  • 2gb ddr2 ram
  • already listed both cards we've tried.

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?attempted to install on machine preloaded with win7 only to encounter garbled graphics on installer (on reboot)

Wanted to try the windows 8 32bit iso but i cant find any way to download this from Microsoft nor can i find it using non legitimate methods (which frankly I find it ridiculous that I should even try since Microsoft don't even give the option).

Any clues?

Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation Media (x86 x64): http://msdn.microsof...r/jj554510.aspx

I strongly recommend you attempt both bit levels, and possibly try the x64 Enterprise media disc too in case the Windows media you are using right now is corrupt.

On the x86/x64 front, I?ve had problems with certain graphics cards in the past (systems were white iMac?s, 210 computers of the same model) where they would blue screen on the Windows 7 x86 but not on x64 (which was fun to work around, since Apple didn't support x64 on that model). My issue then was directly with the built-in Nvidia x86 driver vs the Apple firmware on the Nvidia graphics cards (I place the blame squarely on Apple's mobile firmware used on the Nvidia card. The Nvidia drivers built-in worked everywhere else). The machines however worked fine with the built-in Nvidia x86 driver on Vista, and the built-in x64 driver on 7.

As for other possibilities, on top of the Power Supply suggestion, I recommend swapping your ram out and testing it twice with just one of the sticks in place. It?s possible that one of your sticks is bad in some way that is affecting Windows 8. Again, an issue I have encountered where Windows Vista installer worked fine but the Windows 7 installer triggered a lurking hardware issue.

If the ideas mentioned do not work, the problem is actually the motherboard. The motherboard may be incompatible with newer drivers the manufacturer provided to Microsoft that are built in to the installation media, or the newer drivers are exposing an issue that is just lurking on older versions of Windows but may not be consistently causing failures. In this case your easiest solution is to just replace the motherboard, as this will be highly difficult for you to fix with your current board unless you know how to inject drivers (and even have working drivers to inject) into offline Windows installation media, and that?s just assuming it?s not an actual hardware failure.

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Thanks for the replies!

Forgot to mention we've also tried two power supplies and swapping the RAM!

However several hours and install later I think we've solved it!

I can't believe it came to this.

We had to install windows 7 32bit to be able to download the 32bit installation iso. Then install Windows 8 32 bit from that. It appears to have worked...

I actually can't believe it took all this....

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Thanks for the replies!

Forgot to mention we've also tried two power supplies and swapping the RAM!

However several hours and install later I think we've solved it!

I can't believe it came to this.

We had to install windows 7 32bit to be able to download the 32bit installation iso. Then install Windows 8 32 bit from that. It appears to have worked...

I actually can't believe it took all this....

It's the greatest way and best way to learn.
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Not when a simple task takes that much time out of your day.

Fact is we wanted to try the 32bit version but Microsoft have made the process of getting hold of it so backwards and convoluted, rather than straightforward and simple like Windows 7(digital river).

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I'd call it more of a "workaround" than a solution. There's no reason the 64bit version should have issues being installed on a machine with a 64bit chip. As it happens, it doesn't cause any issues in the long run as it's only rocking 2gb memory. Pretty odd problem and it's a shame Microsoft don't give the end user more options with regards to being able to debug these things like in the open source community.

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