After many trials to get Windows 7 x64 RC installed on my new rig, I finally succeeded today. I always encountered the same result during the setup, and it went like this:
- Boot to setup DVD
- Windows setup initializes and the logo screen appears
- After 20 minutes or so at the logo screen, the desktop wallpaper appears
- After several more minutes, the language settings screen appears
- At the next screen, click Install Windows
- At next screen, select the target partition
- At the Install Windows screen, the "Expanding Windows files..." step would get to 3% after 15 minutes or so, then the installation errored out with this message:
"The wrong volume is in the drive. Please insert volume GRC1CULXFRER_EN_DVD INTO DRIVE D:."
When I began having setup failures, I removed all but the bare essential hardware. Here's what I installed on:
Mobo: Gigabyte EX58-Ud3R
CPU: Intel Core i7 2.66Ghz
RAM: 2GB
Video: Diamond Radeon HD4870
HDD: Western Digital Green SATA2 500GB
DVD: Sony DVD-RW (older IDE drive. don't know the model right now)
BIOS config:
- Load fail-safe defaults
- Disable floppy controller
- Set boot device priority to CDROM, Hard Drive
Despite the hardware config above, I still encountered the same setup failure. The magic bullet for me was to change how the DVD drive connected to the mobo. The drive is an old IDE drive, but I had connected it to a SATA2 channel with an IDE/SATA adapter. Removing the adapter and connecting directly to the IDE channel on the mobo did the trick. I was able to install Windows, put all my hardware back in, and update the video and audio drivers.
After getting this all setup, I switched the DVD connection back to using the IDE/SATA adapter, but it seemed to cause havoc on the drive controller. Windows would still run otherwise normally, but couldn't read the DVD drive. I also saw extreme slowdown while running Windows Update. I switched back to direct IDE connection and all seems normal now. Windows can read the DVD drive and Windows Update operated normally.
This is my final configuration:
Mobo: Gigabyte EX58-Ud3R
CPU: Intel Core i7 2.66Ghz
RAM: 6GB
Video: Diamond Radeon HD4870
HDD: Western Digital Green SATA2 500GB
DVD: Sony DVD-RW (older IDE drive. don't know the model right now)
Audio: SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
BIOS config:
- Load optimal defaults
- Disable floppy controller
- Set boot device priority to CDROM, Hard Drive
PS - The RealTek Ethernet driver on Windows Update caused the device to fail to start and I had to roll back to previous version (the one that installed with Windows). I experienced the same behavior with the Windows Update version of the driver for this same hardware on Windows XP SP3. I recommend not installing the Realtek driver from Windows Update.
