Unable to install vista (unexpected completing installation restar

[Brad Dodson]

I'm trying to install vista on the new computer I just built, and the install
always fails after the first reboot. It gets stuck in some kind of infinite
loop where it seems to have some kind of hard drive and cd activity (these
are the only two drives) every second or so. I've left it in this state for
hours, and sometimes it eventually reboots. Either way, if I reboot it, it
starts up into Vista and goes into the "Completing Installation" phase.
It just unexpectedly reboots during this point (it doesn't show the your
computer is about to reboot screen), and when it starts back up the only
option is to roll-back the setup back to XP.
I first tried doing a clean install from the dvd (which is a burn since
that's all i can get from our volume license), but couldn't get that to work,
and then i installed xp on the machine so I could mount the iso and install
from that. Neither works. I've tried every bios setting I can think of, but
the install never works.
I've tried installing both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions and both do the
same thing. I don't think it's a hardware issue since I've been able to run
XP on it and it seems completely stable.
Hardware Specs are:
Intel Core2Quad Q6600
2 GB Crucial Ballistix PC6400 4-4-4-12
Gigabyte P35-DS3R Mainboard
nVidia e-GeForce 8500 GT
Western Digital Caviar 500GB SATA
An old DVD/CD-RRW IDE
Floppy Drive

Vista Upgrade Advisor sees no problems, and the compatibility check only
lists issues with the SATA RAID driver (I'm not using RAID).

I'm at my wits end to figure out what's going on. If I can't get it working
soon, I'll probably return the motherboard and get a new one, but I'd prefer
to just have things work.

I'll probably try flashing the bios and also removing the cd drive
(unnecessary when installing off image), any other ideas?

 

[LeeRoy]

I have exactly the same problem on the exact same moment with a totally
different system. I also tried to install the 32-bit version and the 64-bit
version, same problem. Windows XP works perfectly fine. I flashed the BIOS to
the latest version, no results... I really don't know what I can do about
it...

 

[Brad Dodson]

Note I flashed to newest BIOS. No luck.
Also I realized exactly the sequence of what happens:
It reboots to "Wait a moment while windows prepares to start for the first
time" at which point it runs for a bit and then the screen goes black and it
seems to do io on every device attached. After a reboot it boots into Vista,
shows the "Completing Installation" step, and then fairly quickly reboots
into the forced roll-back.
I'm still going to try physically detaching the cd drive, but I'm running
out of options.

 

[LeeRoy]

I installed Windows Vista Ultimate with my dvd drive on my previous computer
without any problems. I have a normal DVD drive and a DVDwriter and both give
the same problem. I really ran out of options now too

 

[David O'Hare]

I've got the same problem too: I get 3 hours or so into the installation
process, everything works fine, the computer says it's finalising the
installation process, it reboots to start in Vista for the first time, and
then it says that the setup process couldn't be completed, and gives the
options to roll back, start in safe mode (which doesn't work) and System
Repair (which doesn't work either, it just keeps on searching for a problem
and never stops/provides an answer).

I'm really not sure what to do....

David

 

[Grant]

I've got the same problem too. My system is completely 64-bit vista
compatible according to the update advisor on the microsoft site. I've tried
every bios setting I possibly can.

Once I boot from the Vista Home Premium DVD it starts loading files then
just switches off my computer before it does anything. Literally only 1
minute into the installation process!

Think we've got faulty installation disks and just need to send them back...

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Brad - and others.

This sounds like the old 0x7B INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error that I first
saw back in the year 2000 when I was trying to install Windows 2000 onto my
SCSI hard drive. And later when trying to move to SATA drives.

The Windows setup disk (whether Win2K, WinXP or Vista, and whether CD or
DVD) has enough "smarts" to use an "exotic" hard drive, but NOT enough to
BOOT FROM such drive. So Setup goes through all the early steps of
partitioning and formatting the hard drive (if necessary) and then copying
all those thousands of files to it. Then it does a little housekeeping and
prepares to actually BOOT FROM that hard drive - for the first time. (The
current boot was from the DVD, remember, not from that hard drive.)

And that's when things come to a screeching halt! The computer can't boot
from that hard drive until the proper drivers have been installed and
incorporated into the startup files on the boot device - which is now the
hard drive and not the DVD. If you switch the BIOS to boot from the DVD, it
will boot, but you're back where you started. There's nothing wrong with
the computer or the DVD - or even the hard drive, except that it does not
have the necessary drivers in place.

The Vista DVD has drivers for a LOT of drives, but not every hard drive out
there. And some BIOSes don't support very new, very old or some exotic
drives. Your WD SATA drive might be one of them. To BOOT FROM that drive,
you need to first be sure your BIOS supports it (your new mobo certainly
should) and that you have the proper Vista drivers for it. If they are not
on the Vista DVD, then you will need to get them from WD and have them ready
when running Vista Setup.

In Win2K and WinXP, we had to get the drivers from the drive makers, put
them onto a floppy (no other media would work), and press <F6> early in
Setup to be able to install them from the floppy at the proper time. The
process is different in Vista, but support for my drives is on the DVD so I
haven't had to deal with the new method and I'm not very familiar with it.
Just have your WD drivers disk handy and watch for the prompt when it gets
to "Where do you want to install Vista" and follow the instructions.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64)

 

[LeeRoy]

The first time I installed Windows Vista on this hard drive I had no
problems. Now I want to reinstall it with the same hard drive, it does give
that problem. That's why I really don't get what's happening. Because of this
I'm pretty sure there just can't be a driver conflict, simply because it
worked before. I use the exact same DVD, same DVD-player and same hard disk.
I also bought a new hard disk and this gives the same problem too. I'm kind
of desperate now... Hope someone can help me...

 

[xiowan]

Hello LeeRoy:
I'm not a computer expert but I think your problem is that you need to
install the "SATA/RAID" controller drivers during the install of Vista. I'm
guessing that they are not built-in to the Vista installation cd. The
controller drivers for your chipset are called "SATA/RAID" drivers........if
your bios is set for SATA prior to installation, you will need to install the
SATA drivers for your controller..........if set to RAID, install the RAID
drivers. Go to the website for the manufacturer of your board and download
the correct drivers for your chipset and then install them during the
operating system install at the point where you are offered the option to
"load additional drivers". Vista will then show you the chipset drivers for
RAID or SATA if you loaded the correct one. I think you then have to leave
the media in place so that the O.S. can copy them as it loads all the O.S.
components. Vista allows these drivers to be installed with floppy, cd or USB
drives. This is Vista's version of the "F6" installation of needed drivers.
Good luck!

xiowan.........in tucson

 

[zara]

I'm trying to install vista on the new computer I just built, and the
install
always fails after the first reboot. It gets stuck in some kind of
infinite
loop where it seems to have some kind of hard drive and cd activity (these
are the only two drives) every second or so. I've left it in this state
for
hours, and sometimes it eventually reboots. Either way, if I reboot it, it
starts up into Vista and goes into the "Completing Installation" phase.
It just unexpectedly reboots during this point (it doesn't show the your
computer is about to reboot screen), and when it starts back up the only
option is to roll-back the setup back to XP.

snip

Did you try the MS Knowledge base?

 

[Glenn]

I am having the exact problem today..... last week I installed Vista home
premium on my sata 160gig fine no issues - same board and graphics card as
you gigabyte board and 8500gt graphics etc.
SO the machine was fine -- I then had an issue with boot up speed, so
thought let me install on a new 250gig seagate sata..... today.

So I put the 250gig in on its own - boot from my vista disc -- it goes
through no problems reboots and then gets to the compelting installation part
- then straight away reboots again - then comes and says installation
rebooted unexpectadly and then fails.... I have tried 2 times now and getting
upset.

So I have unpludded that and put in the original 160gig sata drive that has
vista on already and it boots up fine..... I just dont understand why i now
cant install vista on my machine....... CAN ANYONE SHED SOME LIGHT ON THIS
PLEASE!!!

I have taken the 250gig and put it as a spare - formated it and its fine...
can transfer back and forth no problems... but i want to use this as the
master now as its new.... and I want to try a fresh installation -- and what
happens when i need to re-install what do i do then???

any help please! (e-mail address removed)
thanks

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Glenn.

So I have unpludded that and put in the original 160gig sata drive that
has
vista on already and it boots up fine.....

But Windows (Vista and earlier versions, too) is in TWO parts. BOTH parts
have to be available when the computer is powered on.

The first part is very small, but critical. The second part is very large
and also, of course, critical.

No matter where we tell Setup to install Vista, only the second part goes
there. The first part still goes to wherever the BIOS is pointing at Setup
time. In a one-HD, one-partition computer, both parts go to that same
"Drive C:", of course. But when we have multiple physical drives, or
multiple partitions on a single hard drive, then the organization gets more
complicated

See this KB article:
Definitions for system volume and boot volume
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314470/EN-US/

Several writers have pointed out the counterintuitive terms: We boot from
the system partition and keep the operating system files in the boot volume.
But Microsoft inherited this terminology from back when computers were much
simpler, before multiple hard drives, or even partitions.

When you installed Vista to the 250, with the 160 still "in the driver's
seat", Setup put only the second part onto the 250, creating the new boot
volume there. But it updated the system partition on the current boot
device - the 160 - rather than write it to the 250, which was not the boot
device at that time. So when you removed the 160, you also removed the
system partition.

Put that new 250 back in and make it the boot device. Then boot from the
Vista DVD and let it "repair" the startup files. That should let it write
the critical first part into the primary partition on the 250, then search
and find the \Windows folder and create the proper entries in the BCD on the
new system partition.

Then you can plug in the 160 as a secondary drive, boot from the 250, and
use Disk Management to repartition and format the 160 or whatever you want
to do with it.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64)