Stop 7E Error Running Setup

[Guest]

Bought Vista Ultimate X64 edition, but am unable to install it as setup is
crashing. When booting from the setup DVD, I get a stop 7E error just after
the Microsoft progress bar appears during startup.

Have tried all the options under the F8 Safe Mode menu - all crash in the
same place. The last driver to load appears to be disk.sys

The machine is currently running WinXP x86 fine.

Full specs are:
==========
Dell Dimension XPS 700
4gb memory
500gb disk (NVidia RAID mirror)
Intel Core2Duo 2.4ghz
BIOS version 1.41 (the latest available)
NVidia GEForce 7900 GS X2 (in SLI configuration)
Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx NIC
NVidia nForce 590 chipset

PS: Very annonymingly, I'm unable to log a support call about this as the
Microsoft Support page does not recognise my PID (yes, it's genuine, I bought
it from Amazon.com)

 

[Guest]

It's memory - have discovered that Vista x64 cannot install if you have more
than 2gb of memory! Is that one of the primary reasons for using a 64-bit OS
in the first place? Makes one wonder about the level of testing perfomed
prior to RTM...

Have not found a KB article yet that describes my exact problem (closest one
lists a different stop error). Perhaps Microsoft would like to document this
issue properly, as well as a supply a workaround that does not involve
removing memory?

 

[Guest]

It's memory - have discovered that Vista x64 cannot install if you have more
than 2gb of memory! Is that not one of the primary reasons for using a
64-bit OS in the first place? Makes one wonder about the level of testing
perfomed prior to RTM...

Have not found a KB article yet that describes my exact problem (closest one
lists a different stop error). Perhaps Microsoft would like to document this
issue properly, as well as a supply a workaround that does not involve
removing memory?

 

[Kerry Brown]

It's memory - have discovered that Vista x64 cannot install if you have
more
than 2gb of memory! Is that one of the primary reasons for using a 64-bit
OS
in the first place? Makes one wonder about the level of testing perfomed
prior to RTM...

OMG you've found a major bug. Vista x64 won't work with more than 2 GB of
RAM

Have you tested the RAM? It sounds like you may have some bad RAM.

 

[Dominic Payer]

It's not bad RAM - it's bad Vista.

Vista RTM often won't install with 4GB. Remove 2GB, install and update the
chipset drivers and you can put the extra 2GB back. I've seen this several
times on different motherboards.

 

[Kerry Brown]

I'll have to take your word for this as I've never seen it. What chipset are
you using? A quick Google search doesn't get any hits regarding this
problem. I'm aware of this problem.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929777/en-us

but the stop error isn't the same.

 

[Dominic Payer]

Personally I've only seen it with nVidia nForce 4 chipsets, but there have
been several posts in the newsgroups reporting the problem. I haven't
tracked which chipsets were in use.

There's no stop error. The machine just doesn't complete its first boot - at
least not before patience runs out. Shut it down and remove 2GB and the boot
completes OK. Once the chipset drivers are updated - or perhaps it's the fix
in 929777 from Windows Update, 4GB works fine.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Thanks, I've got an nForce 4 motherboard with 4 GB I'm using as a testbed
for another OS. When I get a chance I'll try to install Vista on it and see
what happens.

 

[Guest]

Chipset is NVidia nForce 590 (Dell Dimension XPS 700)

After removing 2gb of memory, the first phase of setup now completes, but am
stuck stuck again as the machine cannot restart from the hd (Getting a black
screen just after the OS choices menu - no flickering cursors or anything).
The previous OS does not start anymore either, so the problem is in the
bootsector, ntldr or ntdetect.com me thinks. Running repair off the install
DVD does not fix the issue, so I'm stuck again. Am really not enjoying this
experience!

 

[Guest]

Kerry


Aware of that KB article, but as you say, it's for a different stop error.
Also, it does not explain how to install (slipstream) the hotfix into the
install media - kinda chicken & egg situation really if your setup DVD does
not boot.

 

[Kerry Brown]

There is a known problem with USB in Vista that can generate that stop code
but this has to do with sleep. The symptoms don't fit but the hardware does.
If you have any USB devices connected try disconnecting them.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=929734&sd=RMVP