Windows 10: Can't boot clean install(s) of Win 10 Home on Gateway SX2840

Newly acquired Used Gateway SX2840. It WAS running Win 10. Nobody has been touching or using it but five days after starting it running, it was sitting with blank black screen. First action was to try reboot and it wouldn't and wound up at repair/recovery display. The only obvious activity during the 5 days was that Windows Update had run (which I saw on the recovery display.)

The Gateway SX2840 has an old AMI BIOS which is admittedly vintage, but I thought that would make it pretty easy to deal with.

Go back to restore point did not work. (Error was reported.)
Roll back feature update did not work.
Roll back maint update did not work.
RESET did not work (I didn't care about data on it.)
All of the above reported that they couldn't work.

So I tried a clean install of Windows 10 from USB install media created with Media Creation Tool. I skipped over key because I expect the PC already acquired digital license that would work once the PC is running again.

The PC still would not boot. So I tried all the usual corrective steps I could find published anywhere:

I ran chkdsk (disk is healthy!)
I checked "Smart" info for disk --- good health.
I reset BIOS settings to defaults.
I've tried bootrec commands.
I've tried "bootfix" command.
I've tried rebuildbcd.
None of the proposed solutions I located (various articles on web) worked.

I tried removing all partitions and starting entirely from scratch with newly created partitions. During that step, I let the Windows 10 installer make the new partitions it wanted for the install. Win 10 can install itself, and yet still will not boot from Win 10 after install.

I tried diskpart and noticed during these struggles that the installed partition was not "active" so I made it active. No success.

I tried bootrec /scanos and found that 0 operating systems were found, so I ran the recommended fix for that and got 1 windows installation. But no success in actually booting. Still won't boot from Win 10 install to HDD.

I DID find a sheet of paper in a file along with this computer that contained printed instructions about creating an EFI partition and booting from EFI. I wasn't sure if these instructions were even relevant to the computer or were sitting in the file on accident, but couldn't even get an EFI partition created --- error because disk was not GPT. Oh my.

This PC is booting from the USB windows 10 installer just fine. In fact, basically all computing seems completely normal except being able to boot from the Win 10 install onto the HDD.


I feel that I've pretty much exhausted all possibilities. This is a first for me. I've never before met a mass-market, functioning, PC that simply would not accept a Windows install. I'm super frustrated and puzzled as well.

Does anyone know of secret sauce that I'm missing, or see the problem from this description, or have guided next steps to try (which hopefully are likely to have a positive, deterministic, outcome)??

:)

 

Clean Install Workaround for Vista

You may remember this news story on techPowerUp! a couple of days ago relating to the lack of clean installs when using the Upgrade Editions of Vista, which required an old OS to be installed. However, Paul Thurrott has managed to find a workaround for this issue, which ironically lets users do a clean install Vista without any previous version of Windows, albeit a little tedious. Here are the steps:

• Boot from the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD as normal
• When prompted for a product code, leave this blank
• Select the version of Vista you have purchased and let Vista install
• When you boot to your desktop for the first time, run the Vista setup from Windows
• This time enter your product key
• When asked whether you want to do an Upgrade of Custom install, select custom and choose a clean install
• Windows will now install for a second time and you should be able to activate it

Remember, these steps are only advised for use in order to achieve a clean install of Vista, it is only legal to use the upgrade editions if you have previously purchased the appropriate version of Windows.

Source: DailyTech

 

Win 10 clean install question

So I spend the day yesterday installing the computer, using a prepared usb key with windows 10 on it.

I got it all sorted in the end but I'll share my fails anyways so others might learn:

Do not try to do a clean install win with win 10 home N, when you come from a machine with just win 10 home. It won't activate *Wink After reinstalling with the right copy, it was already activated right away after the first boot, didn't even have to initialise it.

There hasn't changed a whole lot in making clean install compared to older versions of windows, it's slightly better streamlined, though being asked at 3 different stages to enter a product key when it's not needed during install seems a bit annoying.

Further more it would be lovely if Microsoft finally learned to ask ALL questions regarding preferences updates and whatnot in one go, so you can then go away from your computer and come back to a fully installed/updated system including reboots.. Not impossible I would say.


There's still some little bugs, like when I installed realtek audio drivers, they'd go into an infinite loop asking for reboot and install the driver. And as a PDF reader isn't in the list of standard programs to select, foxitreader keeps saying it is not the default reader for pdf's even though I had said yes to the question 3x. If this fails to get file associations for PDF's I do hope Microsoft will fix this asap.


Thanks for the fast answers earlier guys, it gave me the confidence that all would be well, even when I cocked up the first install with the N version.

 

Win.10 won't boot after installing Win.7

Hi,

So i installed Win.10 via the UEFI and after installing Win.7 on Legacy Mode onto a different HDD i can't boot into Win.10 (I believe can only because Win.10 was installed via UEFI)

I tried installing the BCD Software but nope. I even tried to select my HDD but say Winload.exe error

Even tried going into the USB and try repairing but the same thing happens