Corrupt Vista installation?

By Brad.
in Microsoft (Windows)

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Brad.

Posted
Posted

Some of you may know that I bought a new hard drive today as my only one had decided to stop working.

First thing I had to do was install vista on my new hard drive, I entered the product key, and it slowly went through the installation process.

Now, my problem is that my pc won't boot Windows now, it just loops before loading the windows loading bar.

I can boot from my Vista Installation disc and then search for repairs, but I was told that the installation can't be repaired, so I tried to install it again, yet the same things happen.

I can't format my hard drive, so is it worth trying to install Windows Vista again?

Thanks in advance

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/651191-corrupt-vista-installation/
Share on other sites
Grand Master

Brad.

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'm pretty sure, I'll check now. Although if it wasn't would it show me a message saying it's missing one of the boot up drivers?

Also, my vista installation disk is one of the Acer Upgrade Disks I received with my Desktop PC, could that be the issue?

Grand Master

Brad.

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Why can't you format the drive?

I can now, I figured how to do it, but with my new drive being my ONLY drive I have to do it just before installation, where i select where I want to instal the OS. I formatted and tried again, no luck.

i had this problem before - it happened for some reason when i used an ide drive instead of a sata drive.

have you tried installing to a new folder yet?

This is definitely a SATA Drive. I cannot install to a new folder as this HDD is completely empty, brand new.

Maybe you need RAID drivers for your system. Have you tried downloading them to a removable disk or something?

Where can I download these? I've never dealt with RAID drivers before. How would I get them onto the PC without having an OS installed?

not even in safe mode?

if safemode is stuck at some point.. make a note of the last file name.. may be that will help?

Safemode won't boot as the OS is not installed.

Thanks for the replies guys!

Veteran

Foub

Posted
Posted
Some of you may know that I bought a new hard drive today as my only one had decided to stop working.

First thing I had to do was install vista on my new hard drive, I entered the product key, and it slowly went through the installation process.

Now, my problem is that my pc won't boot Windows now, it just loops before loading the windows loading bar.

I can boot from my Vista Installation disc and then search for repairs, but I was told that the installation can't be repaired, so I tried to install it again, yet the same things happen.

I can't format my hard drive, so is it worth trying to install Windows Vista again?

Thanks in advance

What's the hard drive you are installing? Maybe you don't have the right drivers for it?

Guest

Posted
Posted
My copy of Vista is legit, it's the Express Upgrade Disc that I got with my PC, including a legit product key.

I haven't tried installing XP as I don't have an XP disc/key.

Wouldn't this Upgrade disk suggest that you have to upgrade from something?

I'd expect that you would upgrade from XP, not absolutely nothing.

When you upgrade, you move from old to new. Usually the new thing does the same job, but better.

Just like you upgrade your PC speakers. You sell your old ones and replace it with the new, better speakers. There was something there originally.

If the OP didn't have the correct drivers for his HDD, surly he wouldn't even be able to format the disk?

Grand Master

Brad.

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Wouldn't this Upgrade disk suggest that you have to upgrade from something?

I'd expect that you would upgrade from XP, not absolutely nothing.

When you upgrade, you move from old to new. Usually the new thing does the same job, but better.

Just like you upgrade your PC speakers. You sell your old ones and replace it with the new, better speakers. There was something there originally.

If the OP didn't have the correct drivers for his HDD, surly he wouldn't even be able to format the disk?

I know what an upgrade is :p

When I go to install the OS there's an option for Upgrade or Custom install.

The drive I'm using is a Hitachi 160gb, but my guess is that I just need to get my hands on a retail Vista disc.

Grand Master

bjoswald

Posted
Posted

If your motherboard manufacturer provides RAID drivers, all you need to do is download them, extract them to the removable media (floppy, USB, etc.) and reboot with the disk in your system. Then, boot from the CD or DVD and press F6 when prompted. It should ask you for the media with your drivers on it. Follow the instructions. If that doesn't work, then I'm stumped.

Mentor

jesseinsf

Posted
Posted

First...why did you buy a new HDD? Who is the manufacturer of your HDD? And what model is your HDD? Is it a Hybrid drive? Have you tried wiping the drive clean by doing a "Zero Write" to the whole drive (Low Level Format) using the manufacturer's CD boot disk utility? As for what others are saying....you don't need RAID drivers if you are not combining 2 HDDs in a RAID Array. Now if you have a Hybrid drive then the HDD manufacturer asks that your computer is within one years old and that you install the latest Motherboard BIOS for your computer before installing Vista. Btw, doing a "Zero Write" will clear out any disk errors that can cause installation issues.

Grand Master

Brad.

Posted
  • Author
Posted
First...why did you buy a new HDD?

Because my only hard drive wouldn't load windows.

As for what others are saying....you don't need RAID drivers if you are not combining 2 HDDs in a RAID Array. Now if you have a Hybrid drive then the HDD manufacturer asks that your computer is within one years old and that you install the latest Motherboard BIOS for your computer before installing Vista. Btw, doing a "Zero Write" will clear out any disk errors that can cause installation issues.

Thanks for the help, I did a ''Zero Write'' and the same thing happens, I'm finding it really hard to find someone with a retail Vista disc I can borrow.

Mentor

jesseinsf

Posted
Posted
Because my only hard drive wouldn't load windows.

Thanks for the help, I did a ''Zero Write'' and the same thing happens, I'm finding it really hard to find someone with a retail Vista disc I can borrow.

Because you could not load Windows on your first hard drive.....it now sounds like it could be a hardware or motherboard issue. The Vista has a memory testing feature. Restart your computer. You need to keep pressing the F8 key before windows starts loading, you will then see a boot screen, now hit the Esc button and scroll down to the "Windows Memory Diagnostics" option. Now test your memory. If you get an error then replace your memory. If no error then (For a desktop only) I would take all PCI & PCI-X cards out and unplug all USB peripherals....only keeping only the Video card installed. If you have onboard sound then turn that off to in the BIOS. Now try to boot....Is everything ok? No...Then now you have narrowed it down to the motherboard and video card. If you have onboard Video then you have narrowed it down to just the Motherboard.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • EA launches in-game advertising platform for brands to "connect with audiences"

      By Big John Studd · Posted

      Yeah, this is absolutely nothing new and EA have done it before. Burnout Paradise, released in 2008, had dynamic advertising billboards that were updated via the internet and targeted people based on location and what EA knew about them from their profile. It was particularly notable for the fact that the Obama presidential campaign ran ads in the game, in an attempt to reach a younger audience who didn't watch broadcast TV any more. It was by no means the first though. Battlefield 2142 from 2006 had the same thing. In fact, Neowin wrote a story about it back then. https://www.neowin.net/news/ba...-in-game-ads-clarification/
    • Apple MacBook Neo is a blessing for Windows users, here's why

      By Kravex · Posted

      This is obviously aimed at the education where Apple has lost so much ground to Chromebooks in the last few years, but unless they come up with a comparable management system for education why would anyone switch back?
    • Samsung is shutting down yet another app used by millions

      By David Uzondu · Posted

      Here's how we arrived at that claim: Note that this is just Play Store downloads. The app is also available on the Galaxy App Store
    • Samsung is shutting down yet another app used by millions

      By +Edouard · Posted

      Google Play states the app had more than 50 million downloads. What other metric do you suggest should be used?
    • what other retro software do yall use

      By +InsaneNutter · Posted

      MSN defined our generation in some ways, kind of like Snapchat and TikTok have done for future generations. I have great memories of the MSN era in the late 90s / early 2000s. In the UK everyone seemed to come home from School and go on MSN for the evening. We didn't really have mobile phones then, so other than going and knocking on your friends door it was a totally new way of interacting with people. I also loved how I could talk to people I’d met playing online games from around the world. Inviting people to NetMeeting and messing about with the shared white board and webcams was pretty fun, even if webcams only ran at a couple of fps over dial-up. All the random things you could do with MsgPlus! were really fun - I suspect that made a few people jump with /shello randomly blasting Mr Hankey out their speakers! Maybe I’m just nostalgic, however I do feel the internet and computers were more fun back then.

  • Recent Achievements

    • One Year In
      Console General earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Year In
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Month Later
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Veteran
      branfont went up a rank
      Veteran

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      529
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      205
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      131
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      90
    5. 5
      neufuse
      75
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!