Serious problem happened when installing windows 8.1

Discussion in 'Windows 8' started by blueriver649, Aug 1, 2014.

  1. blueriver649

    blueriver649 MDL Novice

    Sep 6, 2012
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    Hi Gents,

    I was doing a clean installation of windows 8.1 on my Sony Vaio laptop model vpccw25fg, after booting in USB.....I click format , wait for a few second and click Next but it didn't let me install , now i have a dead laptop. Anybody here could help me, thanks! I wonder anybody have a DVD for this Sony vaio.
     
  2. burfadel

    burfadel MDL EXE>MSP/CAB

    Aug 19, 2009
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    The problem is likely due to the partition layout of the disk. Simply by clicking on the C drive and formatting it doesn't reset the partition information, and this can be problematic at times (like in your case).

    To fix your issue:
    • load Windows setup again
    • progress through the screens until you get to the disk selection screen (the last screen before you can't go any further)
    • press SHIFT + F10 (this opens a command prompt window)
    • type diskpart
    • then type list disk (this shows a lists of the actual disks installed in your system)
    • type select disk # (where # is the disk where you want Windows installed)
    • type clean (this cleans ALL partition information off the disk, including any other partitions on the drive)
    • type convert GPT (this is ONLY for UEFI systems, DO NOT do this on older legacy BIOS systems)
    • then type exit


    Reboot, load the setup again and it should now work.

    The reason why you want to list the disks is so you don't accidentally delete other disks in your system. Windows ideally should only be installed on a disk without any other partition (apart from the system partitions). Although you can install Windows on a MBR disk (since most UEFI computer have a legacy module in their UEFI bios), you should install as GPT on a UEFI system if your system is UEFI. A common 'mistake' is for people to install in legacy mode. I'm not sure whether your computer is UEFI or legacy BIOS, but if it is UEFI I very strongly recommend you install Windows in UEFI mode. If your computer is only legacy BIOS skip the 'convert GPT' step. An easy way to tell what your system has is to look inside the bios. For one, they usually say UEFI in the bios somewhere if it is UEFI, but secondly the UEFI bios will have a graphical interface (apart from some older UEFI bioses which may be text based), not just a more simple text based interface.
     
  3. blueriver649

    blueriver649 MDL Novice

    Sep 6, 2012
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    Hi Burfadel,

    Will follow your advice and report back, thanks.
     
  4. blueriver649

    blueriver649 MDL Novice

    Sep 6, 2012
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    hi Burfadel,

    After I done what you said, it still didn't let me install even with Windows 7. '' Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer 's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS''
     
  5. Shenj

    Shenj MDL Expert

    Aug 12, 2010
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    #5 Shenj, Aug 3, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 20, 2017
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  6. burfadel

    burfadel MDL EXE>MSP/CAB

    Aug 19, 2009
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    Yikes! DON'T EVER assume your main drive/SSD is Disk 0, it will only be assured to be disk 0 if you have no other disks installed in your system. It doesn't matter what disk number it is for Windows installation. For instance, my SSD is disk 1. If I followed that batch document I'd lose 3 TB worth of stuff and install Windows on the wrong drive!

    Your computer doesn't appear to be UEFI, so you have to make sure the disk is in legacy mode. Repeat the steps I gave above, but instead of typing 'Convert GPT', type 'Convert MBR', just to ensure it is in MBR mode for legacy boot. Non UEFI computers cannot boot from GPT drives, and you will get an error like the one you have.

    What version of Windows 8.1 is it? x86, x64? and is it RTM, or update 1?

    A trick to quickly update the USB flash drive for compatibility is to run the Windows setup on another computer from within Windows (same architecture, as in x86 or x64), and let it download the setup updates. This installs within a temporary folder on the computer's main drive called $WINDOWS.~BT. It's a hidden folder so you have to have enabled the show hidden files in the folder options. Copy the contents of the DUDownload\Setup folder over those in the USB's sources folder, and when you run the setup from boot it will already have the updated files (which you can't really download with the boot install method).

    These are compatibility fixes, so it might simply be a compatibility issue if it isn't related to the GPT/MBR I mentioned earlier.
     
  7. Shenj

    Shenj MDL Expert

    Aug 12, 2010
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    #7 Shenj, Aug 3, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2014
    One should have checked the release date of that laptop, certainly doesn't look like a UEFI laptop :biggrin:
    This wasn't for you, but for a laptop, when was the last time you saw a laptop with more than 1 drive? If you have have only one drive it's always Disk0, you aren't supposed to use any of that if it wasn't meant for you and have no idea what it does anyway :)
     
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  8. FaiKee

    FaiKee Misinformation spreader

    Jul 24, 2009
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    I believe the first series of this VAIO comes with win7, and therefore, not UEFI, my friend bought one last year, it came with win8 UEFI. :p
     
  9. Hadron-Curious

    Hadron-Curious MDL Guru

    Jul 4, 2014
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    It seems like a controller driver problem. I would advise you look for the controller from your HD maker site and install it at that particular stage of setup. You might want to revert the BIOS to default if you can get the controller driver.