Windows 7 install keeps rebooting

[Stephen47]

I am trying to install Windows 7. I put in the DVD and the installation starts. It expands the windows files then says it needs to reboot. It reboots and goes through the whole process again, says it needs to reboot and it keeps going in circles. I did this three times with the same results. I tried rebooting from the hard drive with the DVD not in the drive and nothing happened.
What is going on?

 

[brusse01]

it could mean alot of things.... if you could let us know your system specs... we might be able to help you better..

could be a a corrupted windows 7 RC download? try downloading again and make sure file is verified.
When you burn the .iso image, make sure you burn it at the slowest rate your DVD has. (minimizes errors during burning.)

Could be hardware related? Faulty/mismatched RAM? Hard drive failing?? A BIOS setting that is incorrect?

just a few guesses here...

 

[Ian]

I'd 2nd that and try downloading/burning it again - my first download of the W7 beta gave me loads of problems during install (I didn't check the MD5 at the time as I downloaded direct from MS).

 

[anand1]

Try to Reset your Bios and start a Fresh Installation. And if you are planning to Download Windows 7 RC again than go for the Microsoft Download Center do not never Download it from Torrent clients as they are having many bugs.

 

[Stephen47]

It was downloaded from Microsoft but I had to do it in two sessions. I will download it again.
I have a Dell Inspiron E1505, Intel Core Duo processor, 2 GB RAM I am running XP SP3. I didn't have any problem installing and running Windows 7 beta.

 

[Raymondo]

Same problem

I've had the same problem. Downloaded 7 from Microsoft, loaded fine on Philips laptop, but has the same problem on 2 desktops, one with Intel processor, one with AMD. Two different setups, same problem. Could need a BIOS update? Video cards? Don't know, but funny how it worked fine on laptop. Great OS though!!

 

[Stephen47]

I downloaded it again from Microsoft, burned the DVD at 1x, changed the boot order to HDD first,ran the installation and the same thing happened, it restarted but nothing happened. The hard drive was working fine before I did the installation so I don't think it is a hard drive problem. I didn't have any problem with the beta version.

 

[brusse01]

hmmm... is this a upgrade or clean installation? dual-boot with XP?

also, did you try making your dvd drive your first boot device instead of your HDD for a clean install? Another thought, can you disable ACHI mode in your BIOS? maybe changing it to IDE Compatibility Mode may help.
Even tho you have only 2GB RAM, try removing one of the memory modules and see if that works. I have learned from the past that some systems can be really picky about memory when installing a new OS. after the OS is successfully installed just install the memory module again.

a upgrade from vista should work.... here is a link that may help:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd446674.aspx


sorry about all the questions... but the more info you give about how your system is setup the quicker you may find a answer

 

[Stephen47]

This is a clean install. I'll check on the BIOS to see if I can change it.

 

[brusse01]

I found some info on your Dell Inspirion about the BIOS. You said you had XP on it... the article I read from the Dell Website is that you may need to update your BIOS for Vista. Since you are checking out the BIOS anyway... see if you have the latest version which is A17. If not, my next suggestion is updating your BIOS to A17 and try installing Windows RC then.

here is the link: http://support.dell.com/support/top...cument?docid=29049A98C443FB01E040A68F5B28128B

BIOS link:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...IRONI6400/E1505&hidos=WW1&hidlang=en&TabIndex=

hope this helps ....

 

[olg207]

By the way, is the reboot straight after you logon to windows 7, when?
If it is every 2 hours or so, check that the bios clock time is right, as windows 7 goes into a bi-hourly shutdown as of sometime next year, march i think?

 

[Stephen47]

I have had version A 17 since 2007.
It reboots as part of the installation process. It expands the files and then says it needs to restart. When it does all I get is a blinking cursor.
I just noticed I burned the DVD to a RW disc. Would this make any difference?

 

[brusse01]

well at least ya know your BIOs is ok lol

hmmm... could be a dvd type error. I burned my windows 7 to a maxell DVD-R and all went well.
what the heck... get your hands on a DVD-R and give it a try. DVD-R might be more compatible with your dvd rom.

an afterthought: are you trying to install 32bit or 64 bit?

 

[Stephen47]

Is -R better than +R? mine is compatible with both.
I am trying to install the 32 bit version.

 

[brusse01]

I think either one of them would work... let me know how it goes
if that turned out to be the problem... kudos to you for spotting the differences ;-)

 

[Stephen47]

I downloaded the file again, burned it to +R DVD with a different burn program, ran the installation again, it expanded the files, installed features, installed updates, and said it needed to restart. It restarted and all I get is a blinking cursor.

 

[brusse01]

hmmm... there could be a hardware issue here... maybe the hard drive has bad sectors on it and windows is having a hard time writing to it..is your computer still under warranty? may need new hard drive....
or it may be a video driver issue.... ??

you can also try this USB Key install method...
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html

wish i could be more help.....

 

[Stephen47]

I partitioned the hard to see if installing to a different place on the hard drive would make a difference. Installing it to a different place on the drive worked. It installed and was working fine until I tried to create a new folder. I got and error about bad sectors on the disk. I ran Chkdsk but the same error message popped up again.
I have now installed it on the partition that used to have the beta version. I am getting error messages here to there is a "Msdt.exe corrupt disk" message and I also get a "WinSAT.exe corrupt disk" error message. When I re boot Chkdsk runs. Right now every thing seems fine.
What could be causing it to do this. I got theMsdt.exe message when I was trying to go to various websites. I got the WinSAT.exe message when I tried to run the Windows Experience Index.

 

[brusse01]

this may seem like a silly question, but do you have a anti-virus program installed? I googled "msdt.exe" and from what I read in my search is you may have a virus/worm....

try using malwarebytes http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
do a full scan and if it finds anything use the remove option to clean .... you might have to scan more then one time....

 

[Stephen47]

Yes I have an av program. I will do a scan when I get home from work.