Win 7 Install Fail

Could use some help here. I have an Acer Aspire One 0751h netbook. I am trying to install Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit on it using a Western Digital SiliconEdge 64GB SSD.

I am using a Silverstone external optical drive. Everything goes as planned until I get to "copying Windows files" and the system locks up. Every time. I have tried the following:

Latest BIOS flash
Tried different RAM
Tried a USB flash drive install
Tried an OCZ Vertex 2 SSD
Tried a different installation disc
Memtest and windows memory diagnostic both pass

Also tried installing Vista, which worked just fine, then went to do an upgrade install of 7 which locked up along the way too.

I previously had an OCZ Apex SSD installed with Win 7 RC without issue.

Any ideas?

 

Possible that your Windows DVD is scratched or otherwise defective?

You could also try loading from a USB drive. Its more work but it would eliminate some variables.

 

The key here seems to be SSD drive. Which are natively, reasonably slow. The WD one you have may be fast but bear with me here.

When installing Windows (any version) it has to cache files to the hard drive for the installer. Windows XP's biggest file was the DRIVER.CAB file (as far as I'm aware) At 250+mb it was a large file and thus took extra time to copy. Windows Vista and Windows 7 have their INSTALL.WIM files. Which are pretty much HUGE images. So I'd be keen to know if it's actually freezing the whole machine, or if it's simply just taking it's time to transfer a massive file to an SSD.

Other questions:
Is it a copy or an original Win7 disk?
Is it original or V-Lited in some way?
Have you tried installing from WinXP, but before doing so, uninstalled the updated controller drivers, and just run from what Win XP puts in by default? (Micro$oft drivers vs Intel Drivers)

 

I am thinking of trying to install Win 7 on an 16GB SSD. Should I give up on the idea?


Thanks

 

In my personal opinion - No! Especialy if you have XP installed. You'll use up too much of your drive. While 7 is really fancy and all that, it's really simply a service pack for Vista.

I spent 6 months with Win 7 on my Aspire One and have recently replaced 7 with XP from my Acer restore discs. Plus, next month, I'm going to replace Vista on my other laptop with my XP Pro disc I bought years ago.

Save your money.

 

Thanks that is really helpful. I currently have Linux, which is OK because I mostly use the Aspire One for emails and surfing. However, I now want to use a web security cam and for that I need Active X, so I need Windows, any version will do.

 

I have an 8gb ssd Acer Aspire One: an original! ....and have had great success with "Tiny7rev1". Very stable. (about 1 year) Plus "flashfire" (available on another thread) boots in 1 minute. and is much quicker than xp! Give it a try.
James