Resolved Install problem on new system

Having an issue installing windows7 on a low end system I built. I previously formatted 2 separate hard-drives, one contained windows vista preloaded with a recovery partition on it, the 2nd had windows XP. Both completed their formats and were empty.

set my dvd drive as master and turned on the PC with my win7 professional ed disc in. after post i got the "BootMGR is missing" error. After setting my bios back to defaults and making sure the dvd drive was set to boot first I was able begin the install process for win7, however, during the install process the computer restarts, like it says it's suppose to (after about 2% of "unpacking files ")... once it restarted I once again got the BootMGR is missing error. When I reset the PC again, I see the mobo info, the mobo posts but then I just get a black screen and I can hear my dvd drive going but nothing happens.

To attempt to solve this I've:
1) changed to a windows XP disc I had to start the install over
2) switched the hard-drive out with a freshly erased one to install, attempted both win7 and XP and still got the black screen.
3) pulled out the cmos battery and reset the mobo, still black screen.


any ideas would be appreciated, trying to get this up and running for my little brother in law by xmas.

 

Hi, it would help more if you stated what the "low end" components were in this computer. Neil.

 

3.1ghz amd
2gb corsair ddr2 ram... pc3200? don't remember
radeon 1550xt
seagate 160gb 7200, maxtor 80gb 7200.
stock HP mobo
400w psu

both hard-drives have had windows installed on them at one point, both have been wiped using the format function on my current pc (running windows 7 prof) .

 

Just a few questions here, did you format the HD on the computer you are installing Win 7 on with the 7 DVD that you are installing with, prior to installing Windows.
Is the HD set and showing as the boot drive in the BIOS.

 

Ram is compatible and the video card works. This is an old system i used to use. I've since upgraded. The only new hardware on the system is the DVD drive.

I formatted both harddrives by connecting them to my current setup using my SATA->USB cord. right clicked on the drive and chose format. It asked me if i wanted to merge the partitions, format in NTFS and how many passthroughs if i remember correctly.

both harddrives are showing in the bios behind the dvd drive depending on which one i plug in.

 

Did you do a Windows 7 compatibility test on that machine.
Possibility that the Motherboard is not Win 7 compatible if as you say it is a old machine.

 

I can do this, but the issue persists when I attempt to install XP on a clean harddrive. I can't get past the post screen no matter what i try.

The machine is old for me, i replace every couple years, but it was a vista machine, so it should be able to handle 7.

 

I would try and use just one stick of 512 mb of standard ram, I don't know if your Corsair is the regular or the high performance then re-boot from your XP CD and re-format the HD and then continue on loading XP, making sure that the HD is listed as the boot HD in the BIOS, and your CD Rom as first boot device.
hawk22

 

Download this to test your memory. http://www.memtest.org/

You need to scroll down the page until you see the three blue screenshots. Just below is the list of downloads for Memtest86+ V4.10. Click on Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)and save to your desktop, When the download is complete right click the file and select Extract Here and burn the image to a CD. In windows 7 right click the extracted file, select Open With, then select Windows Disc Image Burning Tool then follow the prompts.
For all other versions of windows (if you do not have an ISO burner) download this free software.
http://www.isoimageburner.com/

 

Hey guys, sorry for the delay in response, been a hectic xmas. I tested the memory in my new computer, and it doesn't have any errors, in memtest or windows memory. CD rom was the first boot device and the harddrive was the boot drive.

As for the machine, I actually ended up giving it to a friend of mine who will use the parts.

Thanks for the suggestions, always appreciate em!

 

Shame we didn't find out what the problem was but thank you for letting us know.

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