kjburns
Prescott, AZ
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...is doing the same thing repeatedly, expecting a different outcome. Sometimes though, there is a different outcome.
I have an HP dv2000 laptop that was originally running Vista, then Windows 7 RC1 with no problems. I tried to upgrade it with a purchased Windows 7 Premium. The upgrade was not allowed since RC1 was Win7 Ultimate. I tried re-installing the original Vista disk and it failed with an error message about being unable to run winload.exe. I tried wiping the HD and installing Win7 Premium and it failed too, while expanding files.
Finally, after several failures, I bought an external drive caddy to see what was going on with the drive. It was partitioned to 24GB & 125GB. I repartitioned the drive to a single partition, then tried installing Vista again. No luck and it was back to the two partitions, so I used the external caddy again to put it back to one partition.
This time I tried installing Win7 again. It failed. I tried it again and it failed, but later in the installation. So, I tried it again and it worked! Then it was time to enter the product key...nope. You can't enter the key if the upgrade is installed on a system without a previous version already installed.
Then I read that you can leave the key blank and re-install Win7 upgrade over Win7 upgrade. This took a couple of attempts, but it finally installed and accepted the key.
I have no idea why the installations kept failing. Memory and drive tests all passed with no errors. I've been using the computer all day, installing things etc. and there haven't been any problems.
Sometimes you can do the same thing over and over, and expect a different result 
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bobcouch
Southeast Texas
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Perhaps the definition should be expanded to read "the definition of Microsoft and Insanity...."
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garym114
Bluff Dale, Texas
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Don't know if you did or not, but each you try to install a clean version you should format the partition where it is being installed during the install.
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FXSTOHIO
Ohio
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You might want to make sure you delete the partition on the install drive before each install. Also check the one weak link your cd / dvd drive since it is the constant in all your attempted installs.
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rtdra08
Alberta, Canada
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We had a similar problem with our HP 9205. We hated Vista so I took it into our local computer shop to have Vista removed and XP installed. The tech said he had a terrible time removing all of the vista software from the HP due to the HP frame work they install. The recovery partition was causing most of the problems. He said if he was to do it again, he would install a new harddrive! This would have been far easier and less time consuming. I will never purchase ANY HP products, Ever! We have had many issues prior to the Vista being removed and many after.
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kjburns
Prescott, AZ
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I was essentially using a new hard drive, deleting the recovery partition and then creating a new partition using the full drive size.
There is a possibility that the DVD drive might be a weak link and was causing the problems. It hasn't had any problems before and didn't when I installed Win7 RC1 a few months ago.
I also have a newer HP laptop with an 18" screen and Win7 installed flawlessly on that one.
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garym114
Bluff Dale, Texas
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rtdra08 wrote:We had a similar problem with our HP 9205. We hated Vista so I took it into our local computer shop to have Vista removed and XP installed. The tech said he had a terrible time removing all of the vista software from the HP due to the HP frame work they install. The recovery partition was causing most of the problems. He said if he was to do it again, he would install a new harddrive! This would have been far easier and less time consuming. I will never purchase ANY HP products, Ever! We have had many issues prior to the Vista being removed and many after.
If those were the problems he was having he needs a little more training. The recovery partition is just another partition.
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