Just upgraded from Windows Vista to Windows 7, and nothing's working. Any ideas why?

[BENZOOKA]

Never upgrade an OS. You need to do a fresh install. That means formatting the partition you are going to install the OS in.

You need to boot from the Windows 7 installation disc and you can choose that option in the installation wizard.

The seven most important rules when it comes to installing operating systems:
1. Never upgrade an OS
2. Never upgrade an OS
3. Always do a fresh install
4. Rules 1 and 2
5. Always do a fresh install
6. Rule 6
7. Rule 4

 

[bobknowsall]

Yeah, I've tried to restart in safe mode, and the only change is that I can access the Sidebar and a few gadgets on it. I would try to fresh install 7, but I can't see the Installshield window. I think I might just need to send it in for repairs.

So you cant boot from the Win7 dvd?

Pretty much, yeah. I've lost all visual representation of what's going on in my computer.

 

[bobknowsall]

Never upgrade an OS. You need to do a fresh install. That means formatting the partition you are going to install the OS in.

You need to boot from the Windows 7 installation disc and you can choose that option in the installation wizard.

The seven most important rules when it comes to installing operating systems:
1. Never upgrade an OS
2. Never upgrade an OS
3. Always do a fresh install
4. Rules 1 and 2
5. Always do a fresh install
6. Rule 6
7. Rule 4

An... interesting way of putting it. I can't restart the installation due to there being nothing to click on, so I'm just going to send it in for repairs. It's covered by the warranty, so I should be grand.

 

[flaming_squirrel]

Pretty much, yeah. I've lost all visual representation of what's going on in my computer.

You've managed to do something pretty spectacular then, repair shop would be the easiest way out.

 

[Daedalus_UK]

Snip

From what you've said I can hazard a guess at one possible cause. The drivers installed on vista were out of date before the upgrade and have carried over to windows 7 where you cant see shit.

Now that idea seems a little farfetched even to me so what you could do is either send it back, or install a fresh copy of Windows 7 by not typing in a product key until after the installation and then activating it when prompted. Its what I did with my student upgrade copy.

 

[RanD00M]

Did you remember to install the drivers?

 

[BENZOOKA]

Never upgrade an OS. You need to do a fresh install. That means formatting the partition you are going to install the OS in.

You need to boot from the Windows 7 installation disc and you can choose that option in the installation wizard.

The seven most important rules when it comes to installing operating systems:
1. Never upgrade an OS
2. Never upgrade an OS
3. Always do a fresh install
4. Rules 1 and 2
5. Always do a fresh install
6. Rule 6
7. Rule 4

An... interesting way of putting it. I can't restart the installation due to there being nothing to click on, so I'm just going to send it in for repairs. It's covered by the warranty, so I should be grand.

You do realize that in order to boot from a disc, you need to set your CD/DVD-drive as the primary boot device in BIOS, so it won't start up your Windows, but rather start the installation from the disc.

If you do not know what a BIOS is(?), then I'm afraid I don't have the stamina to hold your hand and guide you to a happy life with Windows 7. It's a very simple procedure.

 

[teutonicman]

Sorry no. I own a Mac. And i had not trouble upgrading to Leopard...

Is there a point to this post then. It's like saying you don't like cheesecake on a topic about a person favourite type of cheesecake.

Anyway back to the OT. Is it possible something got corrupted in the transfer? Also have you tired to call microsoft tech support (for whatever good that might do).

 

[bobknowsall]

Snip

From what you've said I can hazard a guess at one possible cause. The drivers installed on vista were out of date before the upgrade and have carried over to windows 7 where you cant see shit.

Now that idea seems a little farfetched even to me so what you could do is either send it back, or install a fresh copy of Windows 7 by not typing in a product key until after the installation and then activating it when prompted. Its what I did with my student upgrade copy.

Sending it back is probably the best solution, considering that I can't restart the installation.

 

[bobknowsall]

Did you remember to install the drivers?

The installation gave out at the stage where it would have been installing drivers, so that may be causing the problem.

 

[bobknowsall]

You do realize that in order to boot from a disc, you need to set your CD/DVD-drive as the primary boot device in BIOS, so it won't start up your Windows, but rather start the installation from the disc.

If I had any idea how to access BIOS in my laptop's current state, I would. But, sadly, I cannot.

If you do not know what a BIOS is(?), then I'm afraid I don't have the stamina to hold your hand and guide you to a happy life with Windows 7. It's a very simple procedure.

Yeah, I'm just going to assume that you're the kind who'd refer to non-programmers as "civilians", or whatever the current term of condescension is. Some of us don't have the time to learn procedures that are very simple to you, but annoyingly counter-intuitive to others.

 

[justcallmeslow]

Sending it back is probably the best solution, considering that I can't restart the installation.

As people have said, put the disc in and reboot. It'll boot from the disc before the hard-drive unless your BIOS is set up weird - and if it is you can change it by pressing whichever button you're prompted to at the time.


Clean installs are always best.

 

[Snork Maiden]

You do realize that in order to boot from a disc, you need to set your CD/DVD-drive as the primary boot device in BIOS, so it won't start up your Windows, but rather start the installation from the disc.

If I had any idea how to access BIOS in my laptop's current state, I would. But, sadly, I cannot.

If you do not know what a BIOS is(?), then I'm afraid I don't have the stamina to hold your hand and guide you to a happy life with Windows 7. It's a very simple procedure.

Yeah, I'm just going to assume that you're the kind who'd refer to non-programmers as "civilians", or whatever the current term of condescension is. Some of us don't have the time to learn procedures that are very simple to you, but annoyingly counter-intuitive to others.

To be fair accessing the BIOS on most computers involves pressing DEL or something just as it boots up, and then there is normally a tab that says something along the lines of "boot order" from which you can change the boot order and so boot straight from the CD (allowing you to reinstall Windows without ever loading the shitted version). As far as procedures go it doesn't get much simpler than that.

Of course it would've been more helpful if he'd just told you that rather than going all
condescending and unhelpful.

 

[bobknowsall]

You do realize that in order to boot from a disc, you need to set your CD/DVD-drive as the primary boot device in BIOS, so it won't start up your Windows, but rather start the installation from the disc.

If I had any idea how to access BIOS in my laptop's current state, I would. But, sadly, I cannot.

If you do not know what a BIOS is(?), then I'm afraid I don't have the stamina to hold your hand and guide you to a happy life with Windows 7. It's a very simple procedure.

Yeah, I'm just going to assume that you're the kind who'd refer to non-programmers as "civilians", or whatever the current term of condescension is. Some of us don't have the time to learn procedures that are very simple to you, but annoyingly counter-intuitive to others.

To be fair accessing the BIOS on most computers involves pressing DEL or something just as it boots up, and then there is normally a tab that says something along the lines of "boot order" from which you can change the boot order and so boot straight from the CD (allowing you to reinstall Windows without ever loading the shitted version). As far as procedures go it doesn't get much simpler than that.

Of course it would've been more helpful if he'd just told you that rather than going all
condescending and unhelpful.

Well, thanks very much for being the helpful one in this scenario. I appreciate it. I'll give it a shot.

 

[Nmil-ek]

Try putting banana slices on the cd drive, bananas make everything better.

 

[Danzaivar]

Sorry no. I own a Mac. And [del]i[/del] I had [del]not[/del] no trouble upgrading to Leopard...

To be fair his Windows 7 being unable to do anything due to Windows Explorer buggering up does make it about as useful as a Mac in terms of gaming machines. OHHHH

On topic - You should just format and do a fresh install. 'Install Shields' don't even come in to getting on the BIOS. You start mashing an F key (usually F2, or F11) basically the second the computer comes on until a blue BIOS screen pops us. After that go to 'boot' or 'devices' section, find a boot order, and move the CD drive to a higher priority than the hard drive. BIOS is really basic tho so it's all through the Keyboard.

Do that, save changes, restart. As the computers loading up you should get a 'Press any key to read from CD/DVD...' appear, press a key while that's up and you're in business. In future I'd advise doing a fresh install, upgrading OSes usually comes with all sorts of 'quirks'.

 

[BENZOOKA]

You do realize that in order to boot from a disc, you need to set your CD/DVD-drive as the primary boot device in BIOS, so it won't start up your Windows, but rather start the installation from the disc.

If I had any idea how to access BIOS in my laptop's current state, I would. But, sadly, I cannot.

If you do not know what a BIOS is(?), then I'm afraid I don't have the stamina to hold your hand and guide you to a happy life with Windows 7. It's a very simple procedure.

Yeah, I'm just going to assume that you're the kind who'd refer to non-programmers as "civilians", or whatever the current term of condescension is. Some of us don't have the time to learn procedures that are very simple to you, but annoyingly counter-intuitive to others.

To be fair accessing the BIOS on most computers involves pressing DEL or something just as it boots up, and then there is normally a tab that says something along the lines of "boot order" from which you can change the boot order and so boot straight from the CD (allowing you to reinstall Windows without ever loading the shitted version). As far as procedures go it doesn't get much simpler than that.

Of course it would've been more helpful if he'd just told you that rather than going all
condescending and unhelpful.

Well, thanks very much for being the helpful one in this scenario. I appreciate it. I'll give it a shot.

Sorry. I didn't mean to sound condescending. I was merely looking to place some innocent humor into this, rather than being unhelpful and condescending. I see it now. Blame it on the bad day and low sugar level.

Anyways, bobknowsall summed it up quite well. The key you need to press during the start of booting is most commonly that DEL (or in some cases F8, F10 or similar. The key is shown in the very start of the boot. Most possibly there where you see the laptop's manufacturer's logo), just keep tapping it during the boot.

And after you've accomplished to change the primary boot device to CD/DVD-ROM (or similar), save and exit the BIOS. It will boot and there will appear a text looking like "If you wish to boot from disc, press any key..." where the number of dots increases and there's a few seconds to act accordingly. Then the setup will load. Follow the instructions and you're good to go.

 

[bobknowsall]

You do realize that in order to boot from a disc, you need to set your CD/DVD-drive as the primary boot device in BIOS, so it won't start up your Windows, but rather start the installation from the disc.

If I had any idea how to access BIOS in my laptop's current state, I would. But, sadly, I cannot.

If you do not know what a BIOS is(?), then I'm afraid I don't have the stamina to hold your hand and guide you to a happy life with Windows 7. It's a very simple procedure.

Yeah, I'm just going to assume that you're the kind who'd refer to non-programmers as "civilians", or whatever the current term of condescension is. Some of us don't have the time to learn procedures that are very simple to you, but annoyingly counter-intuitive to others.

To be fair accessing the BIOS on most computers involves pressing DEL or something just as it boots up, and then there is normally a tab that says something along the lines of "boot order" from which you can change the boot order and so boot straight from the CD (allowing you to reinstall Windows without ever loading the shitted version). As far as procedures go it doesn't get much simpler than that.

Of course it would've been more helpful if he'd just told you that rather than going all
condescending and unhelpful.

Well, thanks very much for being the helpful one in this scenario. I appreciate it. I'll give it a shot.

Sorry. I didn't mean to sound condescending. I was merely looking to place some innocent humor into this, rather than being unhelpful and condescending. I see it now. Blame it on the bad day and low sugar level.

Anyways, bobknowsall summed it up quite well. The key you need to press during the start of booting is most commonly that DEL (or in some cases F8, F10 or similar. The key is shown in the very start of the boot. Most possibly there where you see the laptop's manufacturer's logo), just keep tapping it during the boot.

And after you've accomplished to change the primary boot device to CD/DVD-ROM (or similar), save and exit the BIOS. It will boot and there will appear a text looking like "If you wish to boot from disc, press any key..." where the number of dots increases and there's a few seconds to act accordingly. Then the setup will load. Follow the instructions and you're good to go.

You're forgiven, hah. We all have our off days, after all.

I held DEL while the computer booted up, there was a high-pitched beeping noise, and I managed to wrest some sort of interactivity from my PC. Running System Restore has managed to get me back to where I was just before I ran the final part of the upgrade. For now I'm just happy my laptop works again.

Thanks a million, guys. My computer's working again, I have a way to fix it if it ever screws up in future, and I've got the lot of you to thank (Except perhaps Mac guy. Knowing that Leopard, whatever the heck it is, is running well does not assist me in the slightest. ). Now, let's see if I can finish this install once and for all...

 

[Freshman]

Starcraft works on it. and thats all that matters.

EDIT. I meant to quote somebody on that. misclick