OEM Install Question

I am in the process of installing OEM Home Premium. The install gets
down to the "completing installation" does a few things reboots does a
few more thing then the screen turn black and the only activity is a
flashing hard drive led about once every second. How long should I
wait before hitting the reset button?

Maybe it is formatting a partition, at least with Windows XP OEM I was
never left with a black screen.

Al

Try starting in Safe Mode - see if installation is actually complete or not.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] rgharper@gmail.com
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"Alfred Kaufmann" <al_kaufmann@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:fenus25f5fcpm2boiu6tjf9p6n2qfgp9k0@4ax.com...
>I am in the process of installing OEM Home Premium. The install gets
> down to the "completing installation" does a few things reboots does a
> few more thing then the screen turn black and the only activity is a
> flashing hard drive led about once every second. How long should I
> wait before hitting the reset button?
>
> Maybe it is formatting a partition, at least with Windows XP OEM I was
> never left with a black screen.
>
> Al
>

Could possibly be video card probs???
Safemode will tell you this!

"Alfred Kaufmann" wrote:

> I am in the process of installing OEM Home Premium. The install gets
> down to the "completing installation" does a few things reboots does a
> few more thing then the screen turn black and the only activity is a
> flashing hard drive led about once every second. How long should I
> wait before hitting the reset button?
>
> Maybe it is formatting a partition, at least with Windows XP OEM I was
> never left with a black screen.
>
> Al
>
>

On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 13:29:16 -0500, "Richard G. Harper"
<rgharper@email.com> wrote:

>Try starting in Safe Mode - see if installation is actually complete or not.

I tired that and the install is not complete. When it continues the
install it goes back to the black screen and the flashing hard drive
led.

I also tried an upgrade Home Premium package and ended up with the
same result

Funny thing when I did a clean install last year of the beta and RC1
using an old 40GB hard and the same system, I did not have any
problems.

I will give it a rest for a week. :-)
Al

If you can see a display in safe mode and not in normal mode, you probably
have a display driver or display adapter problem. Try a different monitor.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] rgharper@gmail.com
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Alfred Kaufmann" <al_kaufmann@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6jqus21801trqdl9o5h82b9715s0f0l4br@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 13:29:16 -0500, "Richard G. Harper"
> <rgharper@email.com> wrote:
>
>>Try starting in Safe Mode - see if installation is actually complete or
>>not.
>
> I tired that and the install is not complete. When it continues the
> install it goes back to the black screen and the flashing hard drive
> led.
>
> I also tried an upgrade Home Premium package and ended up with the
> same result
>
> Funny thing when I did a clean install last year of the beta and RC1
> using an old 40GB hard and the same system, I did not have any
> problems.
>
> I will give it a rest for a week. :-)
> Al
>

Both my machines (NVidia 7950 and something else I don't remember) do this
and I just wait for all drive activity to stop. Last thing is a reboot so if
you press enter and it does restart you should be home and dry. (Maybe
tab/enter/tab/enter in case there's another option).

Charlie


"Chuck Battams" <ChuckBattams@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:948BAA1A-07A4-4035-96D0-F7E784AA090B@microsoft.com...
> Could possibly be video card probs???
> Safemode will tell you this!
>
> "Alfred Kaufmann" wrote:
>
>> I am in the process of installing OEM Home Premium. The install gets
>> down to the "completing installation" does a few things reboots does a
>> few more thing then the screen turn black and the only activity is a
>> flashing hard drive led about once every second. How long should I
>> wait before hitting the reset button?
>>
>> Maybe it is formatting a partition, at least with Windows XP OEM I was
>> never left with a black screen.
>>
>> Al
>>
>>

"Alfred Kaufmann" <al_kaufmann@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:fenus25f5fcpm2boiu6tjf9p6n2qfgp9k0@4ax.com...
>I am in the process of installing OEM Home Premium. The install gets
> down to the "completing installation" does a few things reboots does a
> few more thing then the screen turn black and the only activity is a
> flashing hard drive led about once every second. How long should I
> wait before hitting the reset button?
>
> Maybe it is formatting a partition, at least with Windows XP OEM I was
> never left with a black screen.
>
> Al
>


One thing nobody mentioned. If you booted from the CD, go into your BIOS
and check your boot settings and be sure your drive that you installed Vista
on is your boot drive. If it isn't, change it and reboot. Another way to
trouble shoot this is to put in another video card. HOWEVER, usually when
you have a video problem, you will get POST error beeps letting you know
something isn't working right. Be sure to remove the Vista DVD before you
reboot.

How long did you wait for the drive activity to stop? I waited a half
hour before giving up.

Al



On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 23:22:16 -0600, "Charlie Tame" <charlie@tames.net>
wrote:

>Both my machines (NVidia 7950 and something else I don't remember) do this
>and I just wait for all drive activity to stop. Last thing is a reboot so if
>you press enter and it does restart you should be home and dry. (Maybe
>tab/enter/tab/enter in case there's another option).
>
>Charlie
>
>
>"Chuck Battams" <ChuckBattams@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>news:948BAA1A-07A4-4035-96D0-F7E784AA090B@microsoft.com...
>> Could possibly be video card probs???
>> Safemode will tell you this!
>>
>> "Alfred Kaufmann" wrote:
>>
>>> I am in the process of installing OEM Home Premium. The install gets
>>> down to the "completing installation" does a few things reboots does a
>>> few more thing then the screen turn black and the only activity is a
>>> flashing hard drive led about once every second. How long should I
>>> wait before hitting the reset button?
>>>
>>> Maybe it is formatting a partition, at least with Windows XP OEM I was
>>> never left with a black screen.
>>>
>>> Al
>>>
>>>

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 10:06:13 -0600, "Fedwayguy" <fedwayguy@nowhere.us>
wrote:

>One thing nobody mentioned. If you booted from the CD, go into your BIOS
>and check your boot settings and be sure your drive that you installed Vista
>on is your boot drive. If it isn't, change it and reboot. Another way to
>trouble shoot this is to put in another video card. HOWEVER, usually when
>you have a video problem, you will get POST error beeps letting you know
>something isn't working right. Be sure to remove the Vista DVD before you
>reboot.

I will try to install it on a similar but older computer and see what
happens. I should not have any problems according to the Vista
upgrade advisor and I did have RC1 running on it.

Al