Vista RTM: install freezes at "Upgrading Windows"

[Guest]

I'm trying to upgrade to the RTM Vista Ultimate on a Windows XP SP2 machine.
The initial setup -- copying and collecting files -- (from within Windows XP)
goes fine, then the system reboots.

The first screen that appears is a pretty blue/green background, the message
"Upgrading Windows" and an hourglass for the mouse pointer. Then, no disk
activity or anything. (The blue/green screen remains and I can still move the
mouse.) After about two hours of no change, I rebooted the machine, which
then cancelled the install and reverted me back to XP.

I tried the install again, this time with all USB devices disconnected and
antivirus products uninstalled. Same result.

The upgrade advisor claimed that I should be able to upgrade the system.

This is not a promising start. So, who has a clue about what I should do?

A couple of things that might make my machine a little unusual. I have a
dual SATA disk setup as a RAID 0 drive on drive C:. Also, Vista does not
seem to think I have a DVD drive installed, even though I have a fairly
standard Memorex 8X DVD RW IDE set as a master -- and when I boot off the
Vista install DVD, the setup program claims it doesn't have the proper driver
for the DVD (although it's reading the Vista install code off same drive!)
and won't let me continue. I get no similar complaints when installing from
the DVD from within XP, and everything seems to work as expected, at least
until the reboot part I described above.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Pete

 

[Roy Coorne]

Pete Claar schrieb:
....

The upgrade advisor claimed that I should be able to upgrade the system.

....

The Upgrade Advisor does not advise you to upgrade your XP
installation to Vista - or not - but checks whether your computer is
capable for a (clean) Vista installation.
Compare
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/evaluate/hardware/vistarpc.mspx>

Roy

 

[John Barnes]

The upgrade advisor advises as to hardware and software potential problems.
Just isn't very reliable.

 

[John Barnes]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/upgradeadvisor/default.mspx
Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor RC
Want to see if your Windows XP-based PC can run Windows Vista? Just
download, install, and run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor RC.

This small software tool will scan your computer and create an
easy-to-understand report of all known system, device, and program
compatibility issues, and recommend ways to resolve them. Upgrade Advisor
can also help you choose the edition of Windows Vista that best fits the way
you want to use your computer

 

[Michael D]

I see the Advisor is still at RC status, when I first downloaded it as a
beta they stated the final version would be available in Oct.

 

[John Barnes]

Seems way too unreliable to even be RC.

I see the Advisor is still at RC status, when I first downloaded it as a
beta they stated the final version would be available in Oct.

 

[Guest]

Looks like this thread degenerated into an argument about the upgrade
advisor. Thanks for all the useful suggestions, folks. /me rolls eyes

Anyway, I finally got Vista to install. What a headache. One of the four
following things did the trick (I'll never know which one, since I tried all
four in one desperate cycle in the wee hours.)

1. Upgraded the firmware of my Memorex DVD +-RW
2. Upgraded my JMicron RAID driver from 1.16.1.0 to 1.17.3.2 (I'm not using
this RAID controller -- I use the Intel driver for my RAID 0, but for some
reason disabling the JMicron RAID disables IDE -- the MB is an ASUS P5B
Deluxe)
3. Added a second DVD-ROM drive (Vista Upgrade Advisor still did not think I
had a DVD installed)
4. Just in case, I replaced the IDE cable with a new one.

So there you go. And even after I finished installing Vista, the video
driver installed for my eVGA GeForce 7900 didn't work (screen would go blurry
after a few clicks) -- I had to download the RC1 driver from the eVGA
website. Now everything seems to work well enough. Man, this configuration
installed XP without a hitch. And this is all fairly new, common hardware
that should not be a mystery to Vista.

Good luck to all the non-techies out there with their installs.