Windows won't install to SSD (SATA HDD is fine) on 8-year-old laptop

[Elliot B.]

It's a Packard Bell Argo C2.

 

It came with Windows Vista, so it was purchased sometime between early 2007 and late 2009.

 

I have tried two brands of SSD in there (both new, so both were blank).

 

I tried to install Windows 8 via. a bootable USB flash drive and a bootable DVD but when I boot from either, I only get the Windows logo to display.

 

However, when I connect the 80GB SATA drive the laptop came with back in, all is fine.

 

When I put the S/N into Packard Bell's support pages, I get no results, so I can't check for BIOS updates etc.

 

I can't think of any reasons that the laptop is incompatible with the SSD drives.

 

Any ideas?

[+BudMan MVC]

Well not having any drive in there should get you past the windows logo.  So your saying it doesn't even boot the installer when you have the ssd installed?  Makes no sense.  Do you have achi enabled?  What does the bios show you for disks when you install the SSD and boot bios?

[Elliot B.]

Changed to an 8.1 RTM ISO, seems to work fine.

 

The other ISO has worked in many machines so it's unusual that it wouldn't work on this system but either way, I'm just happy I've got it moving forward

[conna]

Changed to an 8.1 RTM ISO, seems to work fine.

 

The other ISO has worked in many machines so it's unusual that it wouldn't work on this system but either way, I'm just happy I've got it moving forward

Server 2012 R2 images do the same. Pressed DVD from MS won't see drives on an intel chipsets while a Burned ISO will.  Go figure. 

[sinetheo]

Make sure SATA is listed as AHCI or RAID. It sounds like if it is a Vista era machine it is doing IDE emulation to mimick XP which has no concept of anything else from that time frame

[conna]

Also disable all the hardware you can in the bios, especially the network device. I have seen 2012, 8.1 and 10 hang on setup unless the network was disabled. Once windows is loaded then enable the hardware in the BIOS, NIC, sound, ports....

[Radium]

It's a Packard Bell Argo C2.

 

It came with Windows Vista, so it was purchased sometime between early 2007 and late 2009.

 

I have tried two brands of SSD in there (both new, so both were blank).

 

I tried to install Windows 8 via. a bootable USB flash drive and a bootable DVD but when I boot from either, I only get the Windows logo to display.

 

However, when I connect the 80GB SATA drive the laptop came with back in, all is fine.

 

When I put the S/N into Packard Bell's support pages, I get no results, so I can't check for BIOS updates etc.

 

I can't think of any reasons that the laptop is incompatible with the SSD drives.

 

Any ideas?

Ignore all dated Windows 8 installation medias that you have and use this: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

 

Make sure that all the settings in your BIOS are set up correctly and disable legacy options that are there for Windows XP compatability. Also make sure that the BIOS is up to date. If it still doesn't work then find the proper AHCI drivers and chipset INF files for your laptop and put them on the installation media. There's a specific way to integrate drivers with the installation media and make it work with the installer as well as being seamlessly installed. Still doesn't work? See if there's newer firmware for the SSD and update it on another computer.

 

If none of the above solves your problems and you've gone through all the BIOS settings then you're out of luck.

[T3X4S]

post is from a week ago - he installed 8.1 a week ago

[Radium]

post is from a week ago - he installed 8.1 a week ago

He installed RTM, I'm not familiar with that version nor what it implies.

[T3X4S]

He installed RTM, I'm not familiar with that version nor what it implies

Release To Manufacturer - its the last step of a version before the retail release. 

[+Matthew S. Subscriber²]

Release To Manufacturer - its the last step of a version before the retail release. 

Err... It IS the retail release...

[T3X4S]

Err... It IS the retail release...

Thats what I said, but it comes before the retail release - RTM is for the OEMs - same as retail - I guess I didnt say it clearly - my bad

Or I should say - the RTM happens before the retail release - but it is same build....

[+Matthew S. Subscriber²]

Or you could just say RTM is the final released build (aside from service packs )