Cannot Install RC2 At All

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Guest

I have two PCs, one is a home-built computer, the other is a Dell Dimension
9150. Vista RC2 will not install on either PC.

Here are the hardware specs:

Computer 1
------------
Asus P5B motherboard
2GB RAM
Core 2 Duo E6700
nVidia 7900GT
250GB SATA hard drive

Computer 2
------------
Dell Dimension 9150
2GB RAM
Pentium-D 3.0GHz
nVidia 6600GT
250GB SATA hard drive

When booting from the install DVD, I get past the "Setup is loading files"
screen, then it goes to the screen with the green bars scrolling past. At
this point, the USB controller gets initialized and it looks like everything
is fine. But then the screen turns black and the computer hangs. I let both
PCs sit for 30 minutes, but neither one ever "came back".

I read in several other threads that Vista RC1 and RC2 have problems with
SATA drives. If this is true, this is a *significant* problem for
corporations, since my entire corporation uses Dell computers with Serial ATA
drives.

If it is not a SATA problem, can anyone suggest some way of fixing this
issue? I am unable to even get to the install screen at this point. :-(

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi Eric,
I'm not sure what the problem is but I've got VISTA RC2, RC1,5728 and Beta 2
installed on two computers (multiboot) using SATA drives. I know this doesn't
help but it doesn't appear to be SATA drives in general.
 
Thanks Paul. Okay, well I can rule out a serial ATA problem then. I thought
it might be an nVidia issue, but other people with ATI cards have the same
problem. I unplugged all hardware other than the monitor, keyboard, and
mouse and it still has the same problem. The February CTP and Beta 2 both
installed fine on my Dell, so something since Beta 2 has changed with the
installer.

It was suggested to me in another thread that I perform an upgrade from
Windows XP rather than a clean install. I'm not sure about this, but in the
off chance that it does work, I am installing XP now. :(

Thanks!
 
It seems that if you really wanted to eliminate the SATA drive as the
problem, you might try loading the drivers during the install process. If
it continued without problem, then it might be associated with the SATA. It
seems to me that some folks running a RAID or a chipset beside Intel, may
have more problems than others. I have installed Vista several times with a
SATA drive and seem to have no problems on my Intel board. In XP, I had to
load the drivers for it to even see the SATA drive.

Do you have any other devices in both computers, like a PCI modem, that
might be causing problems?

Clark
 
I doubt it is the SATA drivers. I have a SATA drive and installed RC1 on it.
I cannot boot RC1 at all (I get the black screen of nothingness). All of the
Windows files are install on the SATA HD, so the installation did complete.
If I try and fix installation from the DVD it says that Windows started
correctly and there is nothing to fix. There is some inherent flaw in RC1 and
RC2 that will not complete the installation on many PC's.
 
it seems to me that the problem is with the video card. you said you
unpluged all hardware but did not mention if you removed the PCI video card
(it is a PCI card right?) but the problem is definately not he SATA drives.
there is a conflict during the hardware detect and it really seems that the
video card is getting in the way.
i would heavily discourage an upgrade from XP though, if you already
installed XP then put the computer into dual boot, but still remove the PCI
card if it is a PCI card or remove the driver prior to begining the
installation if on-board video.
 
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