Hey guys, long time reader first time poster. I have a terrible problem. I recently got a copy of vista ultimate and had XP before. I installed it fine and I believe I skipped the step where you provide vista with the drivers before it installs it. Now when I try to install my mobo driver or video card driver, when I restart the computer it wont get past the vista load screen, I must restart the computer and run windows at the setting it last worked at. Also, my computer doesnt detect my 8800 GTS graphic card... it just says its standard vga when I know in fact it was working right before I installed vista. What do you guys think I should do, re-do the vista installation and provide mobo and graphic card drivers or what? Tried a lot of things and nothing seems to work -Thanks Edit: I just now realized that it kept all my old folders and files on windows xp.. and I have 5gigs of space.. how do I delete the old files?
Did you do a Windows Vista upgrade or fresh install? If you are performing a fresh install, their is a part where it asks you on which partition you want Vista installed, there is a button called format. It will perform an ultra quick format on to the partition, and all files will be gone. This for installing SATA drivers, If you have a new Vista compatible computer or a very high-end computer purchased in 2006, and you thought of Vista back then when picking your hardware, you don't need it, as Vista fully supports SATA (Unlike XP). However the problem that you are facing sounds like a wither a BIOS problem or bad driver for a hardware taht prevents Vista to properly shut down. First make sure you have the LATEST Vista updates and that your hardware has the latest drivers installed (see company website, not Windows Update). If that does not help, see your motherboard manufacture site onto downloading and installing the latest BIOS version. If their is no BIOS version, it could mean that your motherboard or a hardware (or its drivers) inside your computer is not Vista compatible. In reality what is a Vista compatible hardware? Simple, one that was build with care, and the drivers and the hardware circuitry is very well build. Vista does not like half-ass done job, and this is the reason why Vista is better, impressively stable, and faster. That is what I conclude based on what you said.
I'm not sure but i think you should be able to install the drivers correctly without Vista hanging on re-boot by installing them in safe-mode, to do this when Vista is booting press F8 which will give you a set of options to boot into. If you have installed Vista on the same partition, there is only one drive example C:\ then i believe you will have to re-install Vista completely and format the partition before you install anything on it.
Ok guys, I've tried everything you've said with no luck. Yes, there is a bios version and I have the most updated one. I went into safe mode and installed the nforce mother board driver and the nvidia graphic card driver, both installed thru and when I restart it's as if they did not install at all, even though it said it did. Also, the problem of the computer saying I only have a basic VGA onboard graphic persists, when I have my 8800 inside. Another huge problem now is now my computer doesnt recognize my CD-ROM... It's as if this problem happened within one of the restarts, it was working before, the next restart later it only detected my Hard Drive as the only hardware.. Here is my question, how do I fully delete my vista and old windows xp and replace with a fresh copy of vista without using a cd because it doesnt say I have my CD-ROM in.. my brother said there is a command you press in the beginning in dos to fully delete your harddrive including all drivers, is this true? Thanks
Whoa, ok ok it seams that Vista is conflicting on something, probably because you installed over WinXP. A format is a must. Or even better (however more complex and does not promise anything over a normal complete format), a return to 0 state (that will place every magnet to position 0, like when you purchase your HDD. I am sure you can find this tool online for free, or on your HDD manufacture site. I know that Western Digital has it's own tool that you can find on their site. This is what I did before installing Vista on my used HDD. It does take some time to perform, but it also fixed some HDD sector errors. dos? command? Wow... No, DOS does not exists anymore since Windows NT. All you have is Windows Command Prompt is a command based system to communicate directly with Windows Kernal (Core system). Also you cannot format your Windows partition while being in Windows. If you somehow force it to do it (which is impossible), the formatting tool will format itself at a certain point in time, and the job won't be done, and you will create some sort of worm/black hole in the time continuum. (ok, maybe not). Here is a solution for doing a complete format, remove your HDD from your computer (it it is an HDD on IDE (using those extra large cable), make sure you set it to Slave) and ADD the HDD to another computer. Turn on the other computer and let it go in its own Windows, in "My Computer" or "Computer" (depending on your Windows), you will see your added HDD, right click on it, select "Format". And perform a complete (not quick) format to it. The time of such task depends on your HDD speed and size, (bigger it is the longer it will take). Finally, turn off the computer, remove YOUR HDD, and set it back to Master (if it is an IDE), and attach it to your computer and re-install Vista. Once you re-install Vista, let it go trow, once the setup is complete, perform a Windows update (check again Windows update to make sure you did all updates)
awesome goodbytes, ill try that. Now, when I format my HDD fully do you think when I put it back into my computer it will detect my CD-DRIVE again so I can even install vista? Njafari
it's been a long day so maybe I missed something, but why cant he just boot from the vista cd and format the hard drive during the installation like you could with winxp? and I know that the cd drive isn't working but isn't that just in windows? you should still be able to boot with it. that would be a lot less work than taking it out and putting it in another pc.
No, the drives are NOT recognized in bios, the only drive recognized in BIOS and windows is my HDD... Edit: I remember seeing the CD-DRIVES in BIOS showing up fine.. I then switched it to boot to my DVD drive because I had the vista cd in it, I saved and exited fine but it didnt boot the cd, instead it just normally signed into vista. I think after that, in windows and bios I could not see any of my 2 CD drives...
This is another question. If I buy a new HDD will it fix the problem? And im worried even if I get a new HDD if it will even detect my CD-DRIVES, to install vista.
it would seam to me that if the pc doesn't see the drives in the bios that formatting a hard drive isn't going to fix a thing. If you want proof of that just disconnect the hard drive and try booting with the cd drive only.
Are the drives IDE or SATA? If IDE, check the jumpers. If SATA, you might try different slots and/or cables.
