Windows Install Help

I got Vista X64 and tonight started to install Windows 7 X64, never had many issues with Vista and tonight while installing about 2 hrs into it, it was on last few mins of install, I seen some flash I thought it said failure or something and my pc rebooted now I get this error message at start up.


amd data change update new data to dmi backup cmos ok


Now if I run the install disk now it sees win 7 as installed and if I click recovery nothing works also if I try and install now I must do a fresh install as I cant upgrade with out first boosting into windows, also cant do system restore as there is no restore points there even though I made one right before I started this install.if I run the install disk now it sees win 7 as installed and if I click recovery nothing works also if I try and install now I must do a fresh install as I cant upgrade with out first boosting into windows, also cant do system restore as there is no restore points there even though I made one right before I started this install.

Now I cant boot at all, reset my cmos and disconnected everything but the main hd, keyboard and mouse and still nothing. I'm at a loss as Ive searched the net for hrs about this and cant really find a solution, my rig is in the sig... someone please save me from insanity!

so you can't do a fresh install? or you don't want to?
ideally, you would wipe the partition and then install w7 fresh.

I was hopeing not to do a full reinstall so i can save my info...

The Easy File and Transfer wizard is there for a reason. I'm really shocked that no one seems to know it exists.

Otherwise, you should be doing some kind of backup of your stuff anyway. I went from XP and I only backed up MY DOCUMENTS, my Firefox Bookmarks and my Steam games. All of which took less than an hour.

well guess im going to format since no one seems to know anything to help... I pulled the hd and put it in a dif pc and saved my info or atleast most of it I believe.

There have been lots of discussions about upgrade vs clean install, its always best to backup data and start with a clean slate even if for 90% of the population the upgrade might work fine, Moore's law always seem to jump in when not required.

Have installed around 5 Win 7 copies fro my friends from a USB drive and the install is a breeze and finishes in approx 15 minutes, so the best is to format the drive and install fresh.

visitkans said:

There have been lots of discussions about upgrade vs clean install, its always best to backup data and start with a clean slate even if for 90% of the population the upgrade might work fine, Moore's law always seem to jump in when not required.

Have installed around 5 Win 7 copies fro my friends from a USB drive and the install is a breeze and finishes in approx 15 minutes, so the best is to format the drive and install fresh.

Click to expand...

how do you do the usb install? Is there a tutorial somewhere?

The steps for preparing the USB Disk.

From the command prompt:

1. Diskpart
2. List Disk
3. Select Disk 1 (Replace 1 with number reflecting your USB Drive)
4. clean
5. create partition primary
6. active
7. format fs=fat32 quick
8. assign

Now, a drive letter reflecting the drive should appear. Copy the bits from the DVD to the USB Stick.
If you get errors along the way, simply remove the drive and repeat the process.

Set your system to boot from the USB and voila.

Daddyjaxx said:

The steps for preparing the USB Disk.

From the command prompt:

1. Diskpart
2. List Disk
3. Select Disk 1 (Replace 1 with number reflecting your USB Drive)
4. clean
5. create partition primary
6. active
7. format fs=fat32 quick
8. assign

Now, a drive letter reflecting the drive should appear. Copy the bits from the DVD to the USB Stick.
If you get errors along the way, simply remove the drive and repeat the process.

Set your system to boot from the USB and voila.

Click to expand...

Or you can use this:

http://store.microsoft.com/Help/ISO-Tool

Jigga said:

Or you can use this:

http://store.microsoft.com/Help/ISO-Tool

Click to expand...

Sweet link, that should be in the Win7 tips thread if it isn't already.

and a quick addition, you might also want to rename or delete the ei.cfg file from the "sources" folder in case you plan to install different versions on the pcs you might have, before you create a DVD.

If using a USB, the just rename the file in the usb disk.