OS Installation Woes

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Locke Foreer

Locke Foreer

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I've finally got my computer up and running, but can't get the OS installed.

I've been trying to install Windows 7 but either it freezes on one of the starting screens, I get into the installation but then get bluescreen after a few minutes, or receive the message 'BOOTMGR is missing. Hold Ctrl + Alt + Delete to restart'.

I did some googling of the problem but can find no solution specific to Windows 7.

Any help?
 
My Grandad had similar problems which were solved by adding more memory, but I doubt that would help.
 
I had a similar problem when I upgraded. Fixed it by not running it on boot and going through my computer. Not sure how that'd work without a preexisting OS though :/

Maybe a bad disk? The BOOTMGR thing makes it sound like that.
 
In the initial choice of how to install there was an option to 'repair computer' or something similar which I am now inclined to try, but I can't even get that far any more without it either freezing or going to bluescreen. In fact the main problem is freezing, because if I could still get to bluescreen I'd be able to write down the error code and google it.

Can't even get to bluescreen. :cry:
 
Locke said:
In the initial choice of how to install there was an option to 'repair computer' or something similar which I am now inclined to try, but I can't even get that far any more without it either freezing or going to bluescreen. In fact the main problem is freezing, because if I could still get to bluescreen I'd be able to write down the error code and google it.

Can't even get to bluescreen. :cry:
Click to expand...
System Restore from the boot menu?
 
Pharaoh Llandy said:
I would just install XP in your position.
Click to expand...
Indeed. It'll mean a trip home but this isn't looking good.

Just got the bluescreen error: BAD_POOL_CALLER
*** STOP: 0x000000C2 (0x00000007, 0x00001097, 0x00000001, 0x8124E440)

I'll be googling this currently. (Edit: My brain hurts.)

I think the 'repair computer' or whatever option was to repair an OS that's already installed so it's useless.
 
Did you try running it while the computer was still logged on? Stupid question most likely, but mine wouldnt install if I booted from CD.

And yeah, repair OS is for already installed stuff.
 
Taimat396 said:
Did you try running it while the computer was still logged on? Stupid question most likely, but mine wouldnt install if I booted from CD.

And yeah, repair OS is for already installed stuff.
Click to expand...
While the computer's still logged on? I don't get it.
 
Put the CD in, it should autorun. Or go to my computer and run it that way. First time I couldnt just put the CD in and restart the computer, so it threw me for a day or two.
 
Are you trying to dual boot it? Bootmngr is the Windows boot loader, only reason it would be missing is if you'd tried to replace it with Grub or something.

Either that or the MBR is ****ed. Repair would sort that out.
 
Well that might get you back to your original issue…


Locke said:
I've finally got my computer up and running, but can't get the OS installed.

I've been trying to install Windows 7 but either it freezes on one of the starting screens, I get into the installation but then get bluescreen after a few minutes, or receive the message 'BOOTMGR is missing. Hold Ctrl + Alt + Delete to restart'.

I did some googling of the problem but can find no solution specific to Windows 7.

Any help?
Click to expand...

Are you sure your memory modules are good? A flaky memory stick one can give you no end of grief.
:sad:
 
Memory appeared to be dandy according to memory diagnostic.

Archonsod said:
Are you trying to dual boot it? Bootmngr is the Windows boot loader, only reason it would be missing is if you'd tried to replace it with Grub or something.

Either that or the MBR is ****ed. Repair would sort that out.
Click to expand...
'Dual boot' is a term beyond me. Basically all I've done is put this **** together, press the on switch, and put a windows 7 installation disk in, all under Mic's supervision.

I take it MBR is to do with the hard-drive? For this possibility I'll see if Oubliette will allow me to test the installation using his HD. This being the problem, are hard-drives convenient to get fixed?

While I'm at it I may as well see if Mic will allow me to test my RAM and disk drive on his computer to tick them off the list of possible faults.

So far I've gotten several different kinds of bluescreen error at random points in installation, which doesn't tell me much, so hardware seems the easiest thing to look at next.

Thanks all, and I'll be back with results sharpish.
 
MBR is the master boot record. Windows should modify it on install to point to itself so the system knows where to load in the OS from. By the sounds of it though the install ****ed up somewhere along the line.

Are you sure the hardware is compatible with Windows 7? you can check here - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/default.aspx

The BSOD's are likely being generated by the basic drivers the installer is attempting to use. Unless they reference the hard drive then you can usually ignore them.

Check you don't need to preload any drivers for the disk drive (you're not using RAID or anything, right?), format the disk and start the install again. Might be worth recording any errors you see.

Try googling Windows 7 install too, there's a ****ton of guides out there.
 
I did the following on my quest:

Used Oub's disk drive to rule that out and, getting the same results as with mine, I did so.

Then I tried installing Windows XP to rule out any incompatibility issues. What followed was an extensive list of what wouldn't install, and overall the installation failed, so it seems that compatibility isn't the issue. (Also there's the point that I get the 'BOOTMGR is missing' message even when there's no OS install disk in the drive.)

I've already done a memory test which shows no problems, so it doesn't look like it's RAM.

Which leaves only the hard-drive, I hope. So, I'm either going to get this one fixed or buy a new hard-drive. It would be the fix option for certain were it not for that I need my computer up and running urgently. :sad:

If I'm using RAID, I don't know about it, as I have no idea what that is. But, it seems safe, now, to say it's almost certainly just a faulty hard-drive. When I used Oub's disk drive I got the further message 'disk read error', or similarly worded. This seems to be referring to hard-disk as there was no OS disk in the drive?
 
Yeah, "disk read error" would be referring to the hard drive. If it were referring to hte optical drive, it would be "disc" instead of "disk".

There's really no fixing a bad hard drive anywhere near the consumer end of things, you'll just need a replacement. If you had any important files (doesn't sound like it), you would just back them up elsewhere beforehand assuming you can access them on the bad drive. There are data recovery services available which might be able to retrieve your files, but they're very expensive due to the process involved.
 
Ah, okay, good. I guess my power supply burning out is what ****ed up my hard-drive, but nevertheless, I'm a little apprehensive about investing in a new hard-drive.

Thanks, Arch and Janus, and everyone that lent their minds. :smile:

Any suggestions on reliable, affordable hard-drives?
 
A Hitachi DeathStar drive? Don't do it. Hitachi had bad enough hard drives before they bought IBM's Deskstar line; Hitachi's laptop drives were very very failure-prone a few years back at least, more-so than any other manufacturer. IBM's Deskstar line had serious problems (class-action lawsuits due to high failure rates, etc.) while they had it, before selling it to Hitachi. A match made in hell as far as I'm concerned.

Maxtor... I had a Maxtor drive die on me a few years back. Lost almost everything on it. I was only able to salvage a few things while it was still working intermittently. On the good side, I had no problem getting a replacement from Maxtor, though I didn't use it long before I could afford to get a newer bigger one from a different manufacturer.

EDIT: oh, and probably don't get Seagate either... up until recently, they were one of the best hard drive manufacturers if not the best, but recently they've had serious problems pop up with their line of 1TB - 2TB drives and subsequently lowered their warranty period.

So, in conclusion, Western Digital.
 
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