installation - Failed Clean Reinstalling of Vista - "the computer restarted unexpectedly..."

07
2014-07
  • Questioner

    I need to fix a compaq presario sr5027cl that belongs to a family member; it has more ram (2gb+256mb) then stated there and a new power supply. The computer was already in bad (virus ridden) condition so when I received it not booting into windows and only showing the blinking dash cursor, I decided to just go ahead and format the drive. This is where the problems start.

    I plug the hard drive into my computer to save a few important documents but I can't access the drive. It is really messed up but since it has some important files I run a recovery program and am able to get to them out.

    So I format the drive (I think the PC couldn't see the drive at first or was it before recovering the files; anyway I fixed the problem thanks to the internet but I'm a little fuzzy on this since I took an extended break) but I can't access the partion with vista which sucks cause I don't have a vista cd, I'm still using xp on my desktop.

    I don't know anyone with a cd so I torrent 2 (yeah this thing is cursed) the second one boots and I rejoice, a little too soon. Insert the key the machine has and it works! The main partion appears as unallocated so I wipe everything and leave the drive with one partion. Surprise surprise the install fails and fails at the expanding phase.

    I figure the hard drive is shot but just to be sure I download the WD diagnostic tool, it finds some bad sectors but says the drive is A OK. Just to be on the safe side I use the write zero option which renders the drive unviewable by windows. I get it solved (yeah internet) and repartioned.

    I place it back in the computer, run the install and it goes smoothly all the way to the completing installation phase, it reboots and continues completing, flickers but keeps going then it restarts right into windows error recovery and the message:

    The computer restarted unexpectedly or encounterd an unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed. TO install Windows, click "OK" to restart the computer, and then restart the installation.

    POPS UP every fricken time! I removed the memory one at a time to see if maybe it was that, some forum said to change the voltage setting for the hard drive in the bios but I don't have that option or the AHCI option either. I even tried putting a fan on the machine since I read it maybe overheating (although I thought that couldn't be the problem).

    I haven't tried upgrading the bios since well vista was working perfectly fine on the machine so it cant be that right? I read that it could be that I need the driver for sata drive...

    I really don't know, I am tempted to just install the windows 7 RC I have laying around but that may cause more problem for me down the road (user related problems). So any ideas?

    • Answers
  • Seasoned Advice (cooking)

    Never underestimate the power of a bios update, even when reinstalling the same operating system. The update got Vista installed but I had another problem as well which was that it wouldn't recognize the hard drive unless I went into to the boot options and selected it; even with the boot priority set to just the hard drive. I was thinking it was the boot group options which was set to just CD but I can't edit this no matter how hard I tried. The solution was to just reset the bios to defaults, this got the HD into its boot group and vista is now working fine.


    • Related Question

    Vista -> 15 minutes to restart
  • lipton

    From time to time, let's say once every 4 days, ever since I have had this Vista machine, Vista takes 15 to 30 minutes to restart. Sometimes it leaves me in doubt as to whether it actually will and I simply forcefully shutdown by holding down the power button for a few seconds until it powers off (when it starts back up after this it always asks if I want to "start Windows normally").

    This just happened during the last hour and I waited for it to restart by going to the supermarket. When I returned home it had restarted but a little dialog window was waiting for me to say "Windows has recovered from a serious error".

    Following this I restarted and everything started up correctly.

    Is this a normal part of using Windows Vista or is there anything I can do to address this?

    I'm running Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit: Version 6.0 (Build 6002: Service Pack 2)

    EDIT:

    Good tip, Jared. Thanks. Lots of errors in the Event Viewer but only one critical one -> 

    Boot Performance Monitoring/Diagnostics Performance: 
[Boot Duration:117838ms; IsDegradation:false]

    Also a lot of errors for failed attempts to start the Defragmenter:

    Task Scheduler failed to start "\Microsoft\Windows\Defrag\ScheduledDefrag" 
task for user "NT AUTHORITY\System". Additional Data: Error Value: 2147750687.

    And for CertificateServicesClient:

    Task Scheduler failed to start 
"\Microsoft\Windows\CertificateServicesClient\SystemTask" 
task for user "NT AUTHORITY\System". Additional Data: Error Value: 2147750692.

    • Related Answers
  • harrymc

    I am a heavy user of Vista, with virtually hundreds of applications installed including several antiviruses, anti-intrusion and firewall, among others. Yet my Vista Iltimate boot-time is about 4 minutes, and I consider this to be slow.

    So my answer is that what's happening on your computer is a quite abnormal behavior.
    Since this seems to be a new machine, it's entirely possible that there's a hardware problem. Or some installed product blocks the boot. The message you're getting just informs you that you had a Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD), normally before the current boot, not during it.

    I would advise as first step to boot a few times in safe mode. If this goes ok, then it isn't your computer but some installed application that's causing this. You'll need to find out which one by a hit and miss method (start with uninstalling all applications that seem useless). But start first by running some antivirus tests, just to be sure.

    If booting in safe mode doesn't go well, then the trouble begins. The next step is to run hardware diagnostics, especially on the hard disk, hoping that if a hardware problem exists then it will show up. If you find nothing, try to find if you have the latest version of all the drivers for all your devices. Make sure as well that your Vista is fully patched. If this doesn't work, try to use the furnished operating system CD to restore the computer to its state as when you bought it (you will lose all your data and installed products). After that, the only thing left is to have the computer verified and repaired by whoever you bought it from.