Problem loading Vista...Windows failed to start

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Problem loading Vista...Windows failed to start - 2/14/2009 6:57:37 PM

ed_jacobson

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Hey, I could use some help here.

I am trying to "upgrade" to Windows Vista by installing it on a new hard drive.

EVGA 750i
E8400
Corsair Dominator 2x2GB

I have an existing hard drive with Windows XP installed. That's what I'm using now as I'm typing.

I installed a new hard drive and formatted it. I then inserted the Windows Vista 64 disk and go the loading message, but then I get the error "Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause."

It doesn't seem to matter whether I have just the new or the new and old hard drives in...when I try to boot from the CD/DVD drive, I get this same message and I can never get past it. When it doesn't work, I swap in the old hard drive and boot from it and at least I can work like this, but I'm trying to get a clean install on the new hard drive.

I've read some of the forum messages about this and I'm down to a basic system.

The new formatted hard drive.
1 stick ram.
Video card.

And when I put the Vista 64 disk in I keep getting this same message.

You wouldn't think installing a new software package would be so hard, but leave it to Microsoft to make it hard to install the new software.

Aaargh!

Any ideas on how to get past this?

Thanks.

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RE: Problem loading Vista...Windows failed to start - 2/15/2009 2:46:48 AM

rjohnson11

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Let's try a dual boot from scratch and see what happens. Please always list your entire system specs when posting as this helps our troubleshooting.

1: Connect both drives. Boot into XP and make sure that both drives are seen by XP. If both are seen properly format the 2nd drive from within XP.

2: Restart the PC and go into the BIOs and ensure that the PC can boot from CD/DVD. Before saving your changes in the BIOs insert your Vista DVD. Save the changes in the BIOs and you should get a message asking you if you wish to boot from DVD. Press a key and the installation should start. You should get a list of drives to install into. Choose the 2nd drive and start the installation.

3: If that does not work then boot into Windows XP and run the setup from the Vista DVD. Choose the 2nd drive and don't choose an upgrade. Then attempt the installation again.

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RE: Problem loading Vista...Windows failed to start - 2/15/2009 11:32:24 AM

ed_jacobson

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Thanks for your help.

Here are my specs

EVGA 750i
E8400
Corsair Dominator 2x2GB DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) (currently just one stick in)
EVGA 9500GT
Hard Drive 0: Samsung 120 GB (C: 55GB system; E: 57GB)
Hard Drive 1: WD Velociraptor 150 GB (D: 140 GB)
Forton Blue Storm 500W PSu

All drives healthy

So, I repeated your first steps for the dual boot, including formatting the hard drive. It didn't work when I booted from the DVD drive, I got the same message: "Windows failed to start."

When I boot to Windows from the C drive, I can't get the Windows system install to load from the DVD drive with the Windows disk in. I get the message "Setup can not run on this version of the Operating System. To install Windows please bootup from the install media."

If I click start, then Run, then type in I:\startup.exe I get the following message:

"I:\setup.exe is not a valid Win32 application."

Of course, when I try to boot up from the install media, I get the other error message.

Any help is appreciated.

< Message edited by ed_jacobson -- 2/15/2009 11:53:54 AM >

Revisions: 1 | Post #: 3

RE: Problem loading Vista...Windows failed to start - 2/15/2009 4:49:07 PM

ed_jacobson

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So I called Microsoft Support and a guy in Bangalore helped me.

Eventually, I went into the bios and chose to Load Optimal BIOS settings and restarted. That let me load Windows Vista on to the new drive as the C:.

Now I have two problems.

1. When I boot up, I am getting the "Floppy disk(s) failed (40) message. I can hit F1 to continue and load Vista, but I'd like to avoid doing that. Any ideas...I don't have a floppy drive. I cruised through the BIOS settings but couldn't find anything obvious. How do I get rid of this error message?

2. I still have my second hard drive that has Windows XP on it. The computer is listing it as D: System, Active, Primary Partition). I'd like to reformat this drive and use it to save my personal files with C: dedicated to Windows and program files.

But Vista won't let me reformat because it's a system disk. I don't want the XP install, I just want to use Vista now and use the old hard drive for personal files. Any ideas on how to do that?

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RE: Problem loading Vista...Windows failed to start - 2/15/2009 4:53:23 PM

BabyBalla

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clear cmos.

a short painless process

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RE: Problem loading Vista...Windows failed to start - 2/15/2009 6:17:09 PM

ed_jacobson

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OK. So I solved the first problem. In Standard CMOS options there is something listed as Drive A, and it was listing my CDROM drive so this was confusing at first. But I set it to None since I don't have a floppy drive A installed. And that fixed the Floppy drive error.

But I am still confused about my two hard drives and the system boot situation.

In BIOS, is I set my hard drive that actually has Windows Vista on it as the first hard drive option, it won't boot into Windows and I get the No Boot Drive error.

If I set my hard drive that is D and is the old system disk from my Windows XP installation as the first boot option with the second hard drive as the second boot option, I boot into Windows Vista just fine.

What I want though is for the new hard drive with Windows Vista to stand alone system and boot drive. What do I need to do to make that happen?