Help please! Windows installation issue, new mobo

My rule of thumb when installing any OS is to disable AHCI - it buggers around with HDD access and detection. Turn it off, disable it or enable IDE / legacy native mode. That way Windows installs under a "normal" environment with nothing fancy going on. Once its all up and running (including all drivers installed in Windows, then you can turn AHCI on. Don't forget, if you format / reinstall, you will have to turn it off again :) I try to stay away from RAID controller functions too when installing, just causes issues if you arent careful.
 
cyberbob1979 said:
My rule of thumb when installing any OS is to disable AHCI - it buggers around with HDD access and detection. Turn it off, disable it or enable IDE / legacy native mode. That way Windows installs under a "normal" environment with nothing fancy going on. Once its all up and running (including all drivers installed in Windows, then you can turn AHCI on. Don't forget, if you format / reinstall, you will have to turn it off again :) I try to stay away from RAID controller functions too when installing, just causes issues if you arent careful.
Click to expand...

Thanx for the tip Cyberbob1979 :)

Unfortunately the system still keeps on resetting when I try to install Vista now, after I have turned the AHCI stuff off. But XP doesn't seem to have a problem, so i'm installing XP now. And also- It was only XP that gave me the error info- Vista and Ubuntu just reset the pc without any indication as to what might be the problem. Can't wait to get Win 7.
 
could be one of 2 things:

1.
If you are installing with an earlier release of vista then you will have a RAM issue. Borrow a 1GB chip from a friend for the install or if you have time & patience & the know how - combine your vista with SP1 & burn to a disk. Once SP1 is on your problems should be solved.

I have had this problem with more than one board since Vista has been released. So if your RAM is fine that could very well be your problem.

2.
another alternative to consider: look up the qvl list for your board & see if the ram chip you have is on there(specs, brand). Some boards are fussy & wont work well with RAM not on the QVL.
 
latro said:
Thanx for the tip Cyberbob1979 :)

Unfortunately the system still keeps on resetting when I try to install Vista now, after I have turned the AHCI stuff off.
Click to expand...

How many sata devices do you have connected in total?

Create a bootable usb stick and copy vista to it (search here, there are utilities that make this easy). Disconnect all sata devices except the HD you are installing to, boot from the usb stick and now try to install vista.
 
ChilliGirl said:
could be one of 2 things:

1.
If you are installing with an earlier release of vista then you will have a RAM issue. Borrow a 1GB chip from a friend for the install or if you have time & patience & the know how - combine your vista with SP1 & burn to a disk. Once SP1 is on your problems should be solved.

I have had this problem with more than one board since Vista has been released. So if your RAM is fine that could very well be your problem.

2.
another alternative to consider: look up the qvl list for your board & see if the ram chip you have is on there(specs, brand). Some boards are fussy & wont work well with RAM not on the QVL.
Click to expand...

Ok- not able to get some ram from someone atm, but I did a mem86 test and 2 passes with no errors. Hopefully thats a good sign for the ram being Ok

I have checked the QVL on Asus's website for the specific motherboard, and made sure to get a module that was in the list (Kingston and the serial/model/size is also on the list as supported)

Nice tips Chilligirl thanx :D
 
ponder said:
How many sata devices do you have connected in total?

Create a bootable usb stick and copy vista to it (search here, there are utilities that make this easy). Disconnect all sata devices except the HD you are installing to, boot from the usb stick and now try to install vista.
Click to expand...

I have 2 sata devices connected. the DVD writer and the HDD. I'm going to try installing from a usb stick then since...

Xp let me go through the installation process, up until the ''installing devices'' , and then it just resets again :( tested it a couple of times now.

I'm starting to run out of hope now lol.
 
A question : Can this be a power supply issue? I got a 450W stock psu in the case i bought. I checked Asus's website HERE (power supply wattage calculator) and according to it, I only need 350W for the basic setup i got going right now. I will of coarse upgrade it to a 700W or more when I get more money to spend lol
 
I doubt its a PSU total watts problem, but it could be a PSU related problem. Though then I would expect the crashes to be far more random (ie not at the same points in any process).
 
If you find a solution to this problem let me know I still can't put 4gigs ram in my system want to get a new non asus motherboard when I can. So sick of everybody say its a RAM problem when both sticks are running fine now for months.
 
A few things to check out, based on past experience:
- check that you have the correct drivers for your HD. Windows setup will run, to a certain point, after which it will start bombing out at random places for no reason, most of the time when re-reading data back from the disk. You often need to get your drivers pre-packaged into the Windows Installation disk, or specify 3rd party drivers at the beginning of setup. I've seen this problem happen quite a a few times when SATA drives just came out. Do you perhaps have a SATA II drive?
- the hard drive itself could be damaged and have bad sectors. Windows copies installation files onto the HD during setup, and (re-)reads them during setup. If the files happen to be written over bad sectors, setup will blue screen and bomb out.
- check the RAID settings in BIOS, if you have an onboard RAID controller.
- your RAM chips could be damaged or have bad sectors. As setup starts to fill up your RAM, data could be written over bad sectors, and when the memory is read again, setup blue screens.
- your installation CD could be messed up, and be unreadable in certain areas.

If all your hardware is new, it is more likely a software issue, such as missing drivers or a BIOS setting, but could also be a hardware issue. Sometimes new hardware that is damaged manages to slip through the QC process, and get sold to unsuspecting end-users.

Good luck sorting your problem out, and let us know what you discover.
 
Last edited:
Had a similar problem about a year ago - every test under the sun - eventually found the solution - in my case increasing the the voltage to the memory - it's one of the BIOS settings - voila, problem solved.

The layperson technical explanation is that if your RAM is right on the edge of getting sufficient juice, it drops for a nano-second and that's when you get the BSOD's etc.

Man, I searched for a long time before I picked up a hint that led me to that particular BIOS tweak.
 
To everyone suggesting memory issues - OP has already run memtest (which stresses the RAM to 100%), 2 passes without errors. That pretty much means that you can be 99.999% sure its not the memory, or memory related settings in the bios.
 
This is one of the most hair pulling problems I have ever experienced (and I've built a LOT of PC's over the last twenty years) - modern components seem to be a lot less fault tolerant than stuff from 5-15 years ago.

I hope my solution posted above works for you - your description is very similar to what I experienced - XP fine - Windows 7 - BSOD's - Ubuntu - random freezing, etc.

Only conclusion I came to in the end was that the modern OS's are more demanding in terms of the strain placed on RAM than XP was.

Archer - believe me, I ran every memory test I could get my hands on - zero errors - so it's not the RAM, it's the POWER to the RAM.

Good luck
 
CrzWaco said:
If you find a solution to this problem let me know I still can't put 4gigs ram in my system want to get a new non asus motherboard when I can. So sick of everybody say its a RAM problem when both sticks are running fine now for months.
Click to expand...

What OS do you run? x32 or x64?

Earlier Vista also could not install with more than 2 GB of RAM. This has since been sorted out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X