Vista Install woes - revisited
Guest
Posts: n/a
Posts: n/a
X11-71068-02 (this is on the DVD), on the slip of paper in the DVD holder
(the paper with the serial number) was part number = X11-71070-03).
I am using an ECS RC410L/800-M motherboard with an 805-D CPU with 1 gig
of Crucial 533Mhz memory. I am using the onboard ATI Radeon express 200 video
adapter.
I have tried to install Vista using an SATA drive of 300 gig, a PATA
drive of 160gig, and a SCSI drive (using an Adaptec 39160 host) with a 36gig
SCSI drive. As I tried each type of drive, they were all formatted NTFS and
XP was installed and working properly.
I tried doing a Clean install and an Upgrade from XP. I also tried
booting from the DVD and doing the install in that manner. (Each type of hard
drive was tested one at a time (not all of the listed hard drives were
installed at the same time - I was trying to make the install hardware as
"basic" as possible). The DVD drive was the only other storage device
installed. There are no USB drives, no Fireware, nothing "extra".
Each installation failed. The system would boot to XP, see the Vista DVD
and start the installation. All of the files would copy with no errors, the
files would then expand with no errors. The computer would then reboot to
continue the install.
The Vista boot screen would appear, and the install would restart. The
screen goes black, and everything stops. No drive access, nothing. Letting
the computer sit like this all night did not change anything. Doing a clean
install or an upgrade produces the same results. Catching the boot loader and
trying to boot into SAFE mode produces the same reults. The computer was
connected to the Internet for all of the attempted installations.
The Vista advisor says this computer is capable of running Vista, no
extra drivers or hardware changes are required.
Booting from the DVD does not work either. The screen shows the "file
copying" bar across the bottom, then appears to reboot into the
aforementioned "black screen of dispair".
I have extracted the mass storage device drviers and placed them on a
floppy. The initial Vista install sees the drivers and loads them. This does
not change anything, still the black screen.
After trying either a clean install or an upgrade, I can still boot back
into XP. When doing a clean install, I am informed that my current XP setup
will be renamed into a folder called Windows.Old. That folder is never
created. I am also unable to find any substantial amount of files that should
have been copied from the DVD. There are a lot of directories, but nothing
that I can recognize as actual executable files that I would expect to see
with the Vista installation. It appears to be mostly .ini files and a lot of
empty directories.
These directories are created: $Upgrade.~OS, $Windows.~BT, and a
$Windows.~LS.
Searching here and on Google shows a lot of people with this same issue,
but no solutions.
I am also concerned about getting the RC-1 of Vista. I read here
somewhere that in order to get the RC-1, your copy of Vista B-2 must me
activated. Since I cannot get it to install, I cannot activate.
I am going to take a wild guess that the Vista B2 has a lot of problems
with installation. I am also going to guess that these issues will be
resolved by the time the RC-1 comes out. I cannot get the RC-1 without
activating the B-2, so this is appears to be a "catch 22".
Any advice will be welcome. Thank you in advance for any assistance you
may be able to render.
Linear Mode
Posts: n/a