Installing W7 from USB stick on my new Vortex IV

[Looner]

So I purchased a new Vortex but because I have my own copy of Windows I decided it would be better to save money and create a bootable USB (which I've never done before but heard was easy to do).

I have tried creating a 64-bit W7 Pro bootable USB and it all seemed fine (after copying bootsec into the W7 USB download tool directory) until I tried running and installing W7 through the USB.

I get a blue screen of death saying the following:

Your PC needs to be repaired
The application or operating system couldn't be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors.
File: \Windows\system32\winload.efi
Error code: 0xc0000225
You'll need to use the recovery tools on your installation media. If you don't have any installation media (like a disc or USB device), contact your system administrator or PC manufacturer
Press Enter to try again
Press F8 for Startup Settings

Now I am sure it is something to do with the way I set up the USB and install it.

Can someone who's done this before offer any tips on settings in the BIOS and the USB creation itself? Would be much appreciated.

 

[ubuysa]

Yes it's almost certainly the way the USB stick was prepared, 0xc0000225 means corrupt or missing Boot Configuration Data (BCD).

There are several tools that can prepare a bootable USB stick with the Windows installation files on, these make it very easy to create a bootable USB stick. One I've used in the past is WinToFlash, but you might also want to look at The Windows 7 USB Download Tool, there are instructions for using that to make a bootable USB stick here (but you'll need your Windows install DVD as a .iso file). If you feel able to run the Diskpart tool and a couple of other system commands yourself there are pretty simple instructions at http://www.fit-pc.com/wiki/index.php/How_to_make_Windows_7_bootable_install_USB_stick.

The only BIOS settings you need worry about are to ensure that secure boot (UEFI) is turned off and that your USB stick is first in the boot order.

 

[driedeker]

go to microsoft they have usb key maker for 7 just run it and point it at your win 7 install cd or iso

 

[Looner]

Hey guys, thank you for your help. I used Win7 Download tool to create the USB stick (and disabled UEFI) but due to the configuration of the hard drives, it's saying I can't install Win7 from an USB. The exact error is: "Windows cannot be installed to this disk the selected disk is of the GPT Partition Style". I read some things that suggest it may be due to hardware drivers but it is really frustrating I cannot get my laptop working due to this.

For creating the USB stick, I used an officially donwloaded ISO, as my writer on my old laptop is not working, so cannot use the DVD.

EDIT: Nevermind, I just deleted all the GPT partitions and managed to install. For the initial USB bootable creation, I had to copy the 32-bit bootsec file to my PC, as I was attempting to create a 64-bit bootable USB from a 32-bit operating system.

 

[ubuysa]

Hey guys, thank you for your help. I used Win7 Download tool to create the USB stick (and disabled UEFI) but due to the configuration of the hard drives, it's saying I can't install Win7 from an USB. The exact error is: "Windows cannot be installed to this disk the selected disk is of the GPT Partition Style". I read some things that suggest it may be due to hardware drivers but it is really frustrating I cannot get my laptop working due to this.

For creating the USB stick, I used an officially donwloaded ISO, as my writer on my old laptop is not working, so cannot use the DVD.

This is because you are reusing the partition(s) you created when you installed Win 7 under UEFI. You need to rerun the Windows install and select Custom Install, then delete ALL partitions on the disk so that it all shows as unallocated space. Then create a single partition the size of the disk (Windows will automatically create a second, small, and required, partition) and install Windows into the partition you created (the big one).

UEFI really is a pain.

 

[Looner]

The fact is that I did not install W7 with UEFI. It was PCS who installed W8 with a trial version to test the laptop. I'd never encountered the problem before. Now it's sorted and I'm ready to use this beast (30 sec from shut down to start-up, ridiculous) when I find the correct drivers.

Thanks once again for the advice .

 

[ubuysa]

The fact is that I did not install W7 with UEFI. It was PCS who installed W8 with a trial version to test the laptop. I'd never encountered the problem before. Now it's sorted and I'm ready to use this beast (30 sec from shut down to start-up, ridiculous) when I find the correct drivers.

Thanks once again for the advice .

Glad it's sorted!