Solved Cannot install Windows whatsoever through whatever media

[caperjack]

why not try installing another version of windows ,like vista or 7 or even xp ,just to see if it a win8 incompatibility issue ,and my google search of the model shows it was first release 9 years ago ,so it could be [hardware issue likely ]just to dang old, lol

 

[Coke Robot]

Well this got awkward...

So I tried this ALL again, but the USB installer kept failing to boot then I went back over to the DVD installer. Oddly enough, I wasn't able to rerun the DVD installer even though it worked before. It gave me a BIOS error of no system boot disk found, press enter to try again. Ok... Then I swapped out to the non-partisan third party hard drive to see if the hard drive ACTUALLY is at fault, and then reran the DVD installer. It boots off the DVD. Then before I get anywhere, I got an error code of 0xc00000e9 and that an unexpected I/O error occurred. Reran it one more time to see if that was a fluke, same thing.

Then I went to the next step of using a non-partisan third party DVD drive of mine and ran the DVD installer and installed Windows on said non-partisan hard drive. That freaking worked. Granted, this installer is of Windows 8 Enterprise trial 64 bit, but it freaking worked! Wow! I believe that exorcism did work...huh.

I've already reset BIOS settings to default and installed Windows with that one gig of RAM. I put back all sticks and rebooted, everything is functioning fine and am doing five thorough runs of memtesting to see if the RAM has any issues.

If I have to point blame to something, it's got to be the hard drive. I need to do some more extensive testing on that to see if it is, but all my first runs of testing with HD Tune Pro show it's all ok with no I/O errors, Windows doesn't report any issues either. But that still doesn't explain why I can't boot the Windows installer off a USB drive all the way without any issues, even with NOTHING connected to the system.

 

[MasterChief]

Well, glad to hear of success! Nice!

 

[Coke Robot]

After some poking around, it seems as though the CPU in this PC doesn't support a newer 8.1 spec for the 64 bit version; which perfectly explains why my 64 bit installation of 8.1 I deployed would not even boot up, nor even install. The 64 bit version of Windows 8 works just fine. I tested it out with a 32 bit image of 8.1 and it's capable of running it sans proper graphics driver support but nonetheless. It doesn't matter too much that it's not running 64 bit as I've been told it's not trustworthy enough to be used frequently.

Well, enough of that.

The problem I do have now is trying to get a 64 bit OEM license key for Windows 8 Pro to work with Windows 8.1 Pro 32 bit. That I don't think will happen....

 

[alphanumeric]

In the normal scheme of things your product code is good for 32 bit or 64 bit, its your choice and you can switch back and forth. You just have to use that OEM key on the PC it came with. The way I understand it your License/Product code is for 8.x, 32 bit or 64 bit, the OEM just happened to install the 64 bit version. You should be able to use the same code to install 32 bit. 8.1 isn't going to know or care if 8.0 was 32 bit or 64 bit as long as its a valid product code.

 

[Coke Robot]

Hmmm...good to know.

I was testing that key out in a VM to be totally sure it'll work, I can input that key either 64 or 32 bit of 8.1 just fine but it doesn't activate. It seems I probably have to call up their machines and see if they'll allow such a key.

 

[alphanumeric]

Hopefully it works out for you. I haven't installed a 32 bit version of 7 or 8, or switched from 64 to 32 bit. A VM would use virtual hardware so it would appear to be a different PC hardware wise. That's likely why it won't activate.

 

[genet]

If you receive an error message: This key didn't work, please check it and try again, or try a different key.

Select Cancel.



Now you will see text that says: This product key is being used on another PC. Please try a different key.

Then you need select Call support.

NOTE: The activation robot asks you how many PCs you have installed Windows on. The correct answer is number 1.



Activate Windows 8 by Phone