OS Install Loop

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Pezzy

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Hi all.

I had downloaded Microsoft's Windows 7 beta. I burned it onto a DVD and then went to install it on an extra SATA drive I had (a Western Digital SATA 300/ 320GB). I booted from the DVD ROM drive in BIOS, formatted the HDD, and then attempted the install. It wouldn't “take”.

So instead I thought I'd try to install my Windows XP Pro on the SATA HDD, and then after it was installed & up and running, THEN I'd “upgrade” it with the Windows 7 DVD.

I can't even get Windows XP Pro to install on this drive.

It goes through formatting, and then the part where Win XP installs some setup files, and then the system must re-boot, but when it comes back up, it's starting all over again as if I hadn't just formatted and installed the setup files. It's starting again from “scratch”, asking me to “sign” the agreement again by pressing F8, etc.

I did some searching on the ‘Net and found out this is a fairly common occurrence, this “loop” when trying to install the operating system. It supposedly has something to do with XP not “recognizing” or “seeing” your SATA HDD.

I tried what some of you have probably heard of, where you put the SATA drivers on a diskette and load them during the setup screen where you see a message of “Press F6….”

That didn't work.

Then I tried what some of you may also have heard of, where you slipstream the SATA drivers into the Win XP installation, make an ISO image, and then burn a disk of it.

I tried that too…..no go.

But then I found out that that probably wasn't necessary, because it was only the original, Win XP Pro that didn't have SATA drivers already on it. My Win XP Pro CD already has SP2 which has SATA drivers.

And then I came across something else on the ‘Net, where after you go through the formatting and the setup files, and then the system needs to re-boot to continue with the installation…….to then go into the BIOS before it can complete the re-boot and switch the Boot from CD first back to Boot from HDD first and CD second boot device.

That didn't work either. I still get the “loop”, asking me to press F8 to “sign” the agreement………….

Any ideas anyone? In my BIOS, I have my Onboard SATA/ IDE Ctrl Mode set to “IDE”. This was per the suggestion of Gigabyte tech support, the maker of my motherboard (model # EP35C-DS3R). I've tried the other settings of AHCI and RAID/ IDE, but they didn't help.

When I've contacted Gigabyte tech support recently and in the past, I'm not too sure that the person(s) answering the e-mail has English as their first language. Their replies are not always coherent, and they don't actually answer the questions I ask, or, they ask me questions that I've already answered with the information that I provided them.

So anybody??? Can you get me out of this “loop”?!?!?!

Thanks!!
Pez

P.S. I even tried using this little jumper piece on the Western Digital SATA HDD, where you place it on pins 5 & 6, to take it from a transfer speed of 300MB's to 150MB's, but my system froze at the BIOS screen and wouldn't boot.


P.P.S. I have my Intel Q9450 OC'd from its native clock speed of 2.66GHz to 3.2GHz. I read somewhere that OCing can possibly interfere when installing an OS “fresh”, so I even brought it back to spec; didn't work either.
 
Okay well i will first start off by saying that you cant upgrade Win7 from XP. So if that is your ultimate goal i would stop right now. Cause it wont work. Can only upgrade from Vista.
 
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