Problem upgrading from XP Media Edition to Vista Ultimate x32

I have an Averatec 7170 EC-1.
Specs:
Manufacturer AVERATEC
Manufacturer Part # AV7170-EC1
System Type Notebook
Processor Type AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-50 1.6 GHz
Multi-Core Technology Dual-Core
64-bit Computing Yes
Chipset Type NVIDIA GeForce Go 6100 / nForce Go 430
Cache Memory Type L2 cache
Installed Size 512 KB
RAM Installed Size 1 GB (512 MB x 2) / 2 GB (max)
Technology DDR II SDRAM - 533 MHz
Memory Specification Compliance PC2-4200
Storage Controller Type Serial ATA
Storage Hard Drive 100 GB - Serial ATA-150
Optical Storage Type DVD±RW (+R DL) - integrated
Card Reader Type 5 in 1 card reader
Supported Flash Memory Cards SD Memory Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, MultiMediaCard, xD-Picture Card
Display Display Type 17" TFT active matrix

Max Resolution 1440 x 900 ( WXGA+ )
Widescreen Display Yes
Features AveraBrite
Video Graphics Processor / Vendor NVIDIA GeForce Go 6100
Audio Audio Output Sound Card
Audio Input Microphone
Input Device(s) Keyboard, touchpad
Telecom Modem Fax / modem
Max Transfer Rate 56 Kbps
Networking Networking Network Adapter
Wireless LAN Supported Yes
Data Link Protocol Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
Compliant Standards IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
Expansion Expansion Slots Total 2 memory - SO DIMM 200-pin
1 ExpressCard
1 PC Card - type II
Interfaces 3 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type A
1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
1 x display / video - S-video output
1 x display / video - VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15)
1 x microphone - input - mini-phone 3.5 mm
1 x audio - line-in - mini-phone 3.5 mm
1 x headphones - output - mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm
1 x modem - phone line - RJ-11
1 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T - RJ-45
Miscellaneous Features Stereo speakers, wireless LAN antenna
Embedded Security Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Security Chip , fingerprint reader
Compliant Standards ACPI, APM 1.2, CE, CSA, UL, VCCI, BSMI, GOST, EPA Energy Star, GS, SABS, CCC, MIC
Power Power Device External
Voltage Required AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Battery Technology 6-cell lithium ion
Installed Qty 1
Run Time (Up To) 6 hour(s)
Operating System / Software OS Provided Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition


I am trying to upgrade from XP Media Edition to Vista Ultimate x32 (even though theoretically it could take x64). It will load the disk and go through the install process, but when it goes through it's first reboot, it hangs at the green scroll screen...forever. There isn't any hard drive activity going on, either. I have disabled everything that I can think of in the BIOS that could interfere with installation. I have updated every single driver that I could get my hands on. I have tried a clean install, and the exact same thing happens, it hangs at the scrolling screen.

I am desparate to find out what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

What specific version of XP Media Center do you have, 2002, 2004, or 2005?

 

XP Media Edition 2002

 

According to this Microsoft article, you cannot do an upgrade installation from XP Media Center Edition 2002 to Vista Ultimate; instead, you must do a clean install. That is most likely your problem.

 

I must have overlooked that one. I've tried a clean install before, but I can try it again.

Thanks for the info! I'll update on progress soon...

 

No luck on the clean install. I inserted the full installation disk of Ultimate x32 into the drive, rebooted and made sure that it would boot from the DVD first instead of the hard drive, and I'm still stuck on the green scroll screen with no hard drive activity.

Any ideas?

 

Have you already formatted/wiped the hard drive, so that the install disk won't get "confused" by any preexisting installation?

It's possible that the hard drive is going bad (or the optical drive), have you had any troubles with either one in the recent past? I'd download the diagnostic utility from the website of the company that actually manufactured the hard drive and run it to see if the hard drive is still within spec.

 

I haven't "pre-formatted" the drive before installation. I'll try that.

I did enable "Legacy USB" and tried installing from an external DVD drive that I know is good, but I'm still stuck on the green scroll scrren (as we speak).

I've never had any problems out of the hard drive. Just out of kicks and giggles, I did purchase another SATA hard drive and tried to install Vista Ultimate x32 on it instead of my regular hard drive, but I got the same results. Best as I know, the "newer" hard drive was clean and didn't have an OS on it.

I'll look for a diagnostic utility from Samsung for my original hd and run it.

*sigh*
Thanks again!

 

Well, there's also the condition of your _Vista install disk; does it have any scratches or whatnot on it?

 

Nope-it's brand new. And actually, I have 3 Vista Ultimate x32 full install/upgrade disks and 2 Vista Ultimate x64 disks (I got a deal through the Ultimate Deal college program.) I've tried all 5 of them...

 

Ok. I just formatted the drive and tried loading Vista Ultimate x32 on a clean hd, and I've still got the never-ending scroll screen. It will load the files, but when it's hits that scroll screen, it scrolls for forever. The dvd will spin for about 10 second and then gears down and stops spinning. No hard drive activity... but it does kick out the installation disk after about a minute.

 

Ok. Can you get into the BIOS setup console to determine what your actual boot order is? This is just a shot in the dark, but is it possible that you still have the hard drive in the first place in the BIOS boot order? I ask because I'm thinking that it might be that the installation sets up certain files on the hard drive, and then does a reboot, which doesn't go properly because the BIOS "sees" the half-completed _Vista install as a valid boot partition, and tries to read the boot sector from there instead of going to the CD/DVD drive.

 

Bios says this:
1st Boot Device : CD/DVD S-Slimtype
2nd Boot Device : Sata:3M-Samsung HM100JI
3rd Boot Device: Network: Reaktek Bo

 

Ok, then it's not a problem with the thing trying to boot from a half-baked installation. Do you have a BIOS setting for choosing between IDE/ATA and AHCI?

 

Not that I see. In the BIOS, I have the Hard Disk hilighted part to say "Serial-ATA Primary Channel." The Primary IDE Slave is ATAPI CDROM.
It does give me options for both but I'll be perfectly honest, I don't know what they really mean, but I don't see anything that screams "IDE/ATA or AHCI"

 

Ok, if you don't see an option to set the hdd for AHCI, then that's probably not the problem.

 

Ok. Here's a suggestion from an old NBR thread, pull the memory modules and reseat them, and then run a memory diagnostic to make sure there aren't any problems with your memory modules. I realize that you don't currently have an OS installed, so if you don't feel like putting XP back on to test it, you could download and burn either a linux LiveCD or the Ultimate Boot CD and run the memory diagnostic that way.

 

I ran a memory diagnostic right before I wiped the drive, actually, and everything checked out OK.

 

OK-I re-seated the ram (and actually swapped their postions)-boy were they warm!

Still no love from Vista...

 

I just removed my upgraded RAM and stuck just 1 of the original 512mb strips in there. Still no luck. I don't think it's the RAM.

 

Would you happen to have any external devices hooking up to your comp during the installation?

cheers ...

 

Ok...I tried yet another hard drive (Toshiba). Still no luck. (I'm running out of options, aren't I?)

 

Nope-not a thing. Not even the cool pad that I usually run with it.

 

I dug up some more and read that you are having the EXACT problem that occurred to someone back in 2007. No further input was being given. Funny thing is that the Vista Adviser flags the system as upgradable.

How about looking into a BIOS update? Gasping for air here.

Another thing just came to mind ... Did you remove the Vista disk before the reboot? If no, remove it.

cheers ...

 

I would definitely concur with you on that point.

 

I've found a number of hits where the exact same thing happened, and either there was no resolution posted, or the resolution was something we've already tried (like boot order, bad memory, etc...).

About the only thing I can still think of is the onboard optical drive might be out of spec, or the computer itself might actually not be able to handle Vista; I believe that this system was released as a "Vista .Capable" system just prior to the RTM release of _Vista, and may actually not have been fully "capable" - have you checked all of the hardware against the minimum system requirements for _Vista from Microsoft to make sure that it meets them?

 

I would LOVE to do a BIOS update, but I've never done one, so I'm not exactly sure HOW to do one.

After attempting the full install (which XP Media Edition 2005 requires), I get hung on the green scroll screen, so it doesn't even GET to the part where it reboots itself. In turn, I can't really remove the disk because I'm not given the option to at any time.

 

I troubleshooted the optical drive problem two ways:
a) I updated the optical drive as far as I could go with every driver I could get my hands on-including the one from Averatec's website
and
b) I attempted to use an external drive that is brand-spankin' new (and I did modify the BIOS to tell it to boot from the external DVD drive, not the internal DVD drive.) Still, no luck.

I ran the Vista Upgrade Advisor and the only issues were with software that would need updates after the installation finished. Nothing that would have prevented the install. I uninstalled them anyway and still hit the big black wall.

I did find a page of hardware that does and does not meet the Vista requirements/compatability, and everything that I've got is on the OK list.

On another interesting note, I was on the phone with Averatec today for about an hour, and the (honestly very helpful but puzzled) tech support guy said that there had been only one other Vista install problem that he knows about, but it was for a laptop much older than mine. He double checked and confirmed that everything that I had was Vista compatable.

My brain is seriously starting to hurt now. The only thing left that I can think of is to do a BIOS update, which was mentioned earlier. However, I have no clue of how to do one or where to even begin to find what I need.

 

For what it's worth, I did a little digging and found that Newegg sold the 7170-EC1 a while back. Several of the reviews were complaining about the optical drive. Here is my question: Could the CD/DVD drive in my system be bad (to install Vista) if I've burned God only knows how many music cds, DVDs, and dual layer DVD's? Doesn't really make much sense to me...

 

You bet! A drive can burn CDs, DVDs, etc, and work great for nearly every task, but you can have one operation that just doesn't work.

 

Dang. I was really hoping that wouldn't be it. LOL. Dumb question: would it matter that I've tried another DVD drive (even though it was external) with the same results? Wouldn't that kinda shoot the bad dvd drive theory down?

 

Yes, IMHO the drive isn't really the problem. XP was installed originally, so it should reinstall. Have you tried resetting the BIOS? There might be something odd going on, and resetting to default values might help. A BIOS upgrade, if one is available (and I didn't see any BIOS available on the TriGem/Averatec support website), might help. A phone call to their tech support might be necessary to get the BIOS file - and since you don't have an operating system at the moment, it would have to be DOS based and something you can burn to a bootable CD.

 

On the contrary, I do have the recovery disk for my laptop and I have already reloaded so things are workable again.

How do you reset the BIOS?

 

Sorry I keep popping in and out. I think that what kegobeer is really talking about is resetting the values stored in the nonvolatile RAM, more popularly known as the CMOS values. To reset them, you'll need to unplug the system, remove the battery, push and hold the power button for a 10-second count (just to make sure everything's discharged) and then see if you can locate the CMOS battery on the motherboard. Once you do, remove the battery and keep it out for a couple of minutes. That should cause the NVRAM to lose the stored values; that will cause the BIOS to go use the default values that are hard-coded in the BIOS itself, and the BIOS will then renew the CMOS values. Of course, if you had made any changes in the BIOS setup, those changes will be lost and you'll have to go back in and reset them (although I'd do that after trying the install, just as a precaution).

 

I've never taken the case (the full case) off the back before. Is there any tricks I should know before I go taking it off? I imagine it just won't fall off when I take the screws out...

Thanks!

 

Get the service manual (if you can) and use an anti-static wristguard - it could save you from some serious grief.

 

You laptop is made by MSI. Your Averatec 7170-EC1 Notebook it a MSI model L730 laptop.

My father in law had the same problem loading Vista on his Averatec 7170. I load the L730 Vista completable firmware on his Averatec and now Vista load just fine.

Biso download: http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=bios&maincat_no=135&prod_no=1077

Download the vista version of the BIOS. Have fun

 

Thanks! I'll try that one! I tried a BIOS update a while back, but nothing worked (this BIOS update I did not try, though.) It's somewhat comforting to know that I'm not the only one that had tried just about everything and still couldn't get past a brick wall. Thanks again! I'll post if it works...

 

I have tried what you suggested, but I get the error "This program can not run under this operating system" when I load the Vista BIOS version. Have I missed something?