Older PC won't install an OS correctly.

[Kanna]

I have this older gaming PC for older games, but I have ran into an issue that just won't let me install any OS most of the time, it would be that I'm just casually installing like windows 7 or another OS and during the installation it like blacks out and shows me the usual boot screen, and the times it has installed an OS this could happen at any time still. 
The current parts are 
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L
Ram: 2x2GB corsair DDR2
GPU: XFX 8800 GTX
PSU: Corsair CX600M
So as you notice it's quite an old build, when I checked the event viewer the times I had an OS it said kernel power, but I tried 2 different PSUs with sufficient wattage so that doesn't seem correct, I also tried a different set of ram sticks and another HDD with no difference, I just need some general idea on what the issue could be and some troubleshooting steps I could take. I do have the availability to attach a video of the times it happened if wanted. 

[JeffreyLF]

What OS are you currently trying to install, 7 or 10? I see you said 7 but you said any OS isn't working. 

[Kanna]

Just now, JeffreyLF said:

What OS are you currently trying to install, 7 or 10? I see you said 7 but you said any OS isn't working. 

Currently I'm trying to install windows 10 just as an experiment, but in the past I have tried to install windows vista and 7, sorry for the confusion but it has worked a few times with this instability as a side effect.

[JeffreyLF]

7 minutes ago, Kanna said:

Currently I'm trying to install windows 10 just as an experiment, but in the past I have tried to install windows vista and 7, sorry for the confusion but it has worked a few times with this instability as a side effect.

Immediate results on google look like your processor might not support windows 10, but it looks like people have found workarounds. Unfortunately I don't know enough about it to help you but this is what I found. 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-rejected-intel-q6600-as-insufficient/716dc407-5be7-4395-9bef-1616f5b1af6c

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/you-cant-install-windows-10-because-your-processor/90ad5b3f-7a4b-49a2-8788-57a9dbd29ba4

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/solved-upgrade-fails-with-nx-bit-not-supported/beeff1bf-9acd-4cff-aac4-03ee129840d2

[Kanna]

3 minutes ago, JeffreyLF said:

Immediate results on google look like your processor might not support windows 10, but it looks like people have found workarounds. Unfortunately I don't know enough about it to help you but this is what I found. 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-rejected-intel-q6600-as-insufficient/716dc407-5be7-4395-9bef-1616f5b1af6c

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/you-cant-install-windows-10-because-your-processor/90ad5b3f-7a4b-49a2-8788-57a9dbd29ba4

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/solved-upgrade-fails-with-nx-bit-not-supported/beeff1bf-9acd-4cff-aac4-03ee129840d2

Well that would make sense for windows 10, but it really wouldn't make sense for this issue on the older operating systems. But TY anyway

[Tetras]

48 minutes ago, Kanna said:

but in the past I have tried to install windows vista and 7, sorry for the confusion but it has worked a few times with this instability as a side effect.

I'd still expect it to work, but FYI: Windows Vista and Windows 7 are still relatively modern for this system. E.g. the Q6600 released in January 2007 and Windows Vista also released in January 2007 and Windows 7 in October 2009. Unfortunately a lot of the knowledge/awareness of issues with these PCs has long since phased out of the forums.

[Kanna]

17 minutes ago, Tetras said:

I'd still expect it to work, but FYI: Windows Vista and Windows 7 are still relatively modern for this system. E.g. the Q6600 released in January 2007 and Windows Vista also released in January 2007 and Windows 7 in October 2009. Unfortunately a lot of the knowledge/awareness of issues with these PCs has long since phased out of the forums.

Yeah, it was mostly a long shot asking here, the CPU isn't too bad, it definitely runs windows 7, I just can't get it to work for some possibly other reason

[Beerzerker]

Let me see if I can help.
First off, it's possible (From what you described) it's simply an HDD setting causing all the headaches.
For a PC of that vintage you would have either IDE or AHCI modes available in the BIOS, Win 7 doesn't mind either one but Win 10 could be picky about it.

Whenever I'd had that to happen (Win 7 or 10) what happens is it completes the install and upon reboot it gets to the Windows logo screen and stops.....
Sometimes the screen might blackout but usually it just hangs and that's it. Normally what you have the BIOS set for is what it goes with and it's not a problem, it's when you use an HDD mode the OS doesn't "Like" is when you'll see this or if the setting changes for some reason - That can cause it too.

Make sure the BIOS settings you want to use for your HDD/SATA drive are AHCI and also make sure the system is saving and holding this setting. Once you do that, install the OS and see what happens.
If the drive setting didn't change it should work without hanging at the OS logo screen and boot.
If using an older IDE cable connection you definitely want to use IDE as the setting, then do the install BUT I cannot say if Win 10 likes that setting or not - I've never tried it before with an IDE cabled setup before to know but Win 7 I can say is fine with it.

BTW if the setting is wrong there is no need to reinstall the OS itself, simply change the drive setting in the BIOS, save and try to boot the system and if it does, problem solved.
Another thing is some boards of that age will try to boot a removeable device "By default" and you'd need to disable this function in the BIOS so it seeks and finds the correct boot device (Drive) to work.

Check all that and see what happens.

BTW Win 10 really wants more RAM than you currently have in the system to work properly but it can run with just 4GB's worth as you have now - It just won't be too happy about it but Win 7 is usually fine with it.
 

[Sawa Takahashi]

2 hours ago, Kanna said:

Yeah, it was mostly a long shot asking here, the CPU isn't too bad, it definitely runs windows 7, I just can't get it to work for some possibly other reason

Are you trying to install from USB or from a DVD drive ? I found that I get better results when using a DVD media.

Also, you may want to install a SATA SSD on your computer. They are as cheap as they get and it would make a ton of difference for boot and load speeds.

4GB of RAM would be plenty for Windows 7 but even if it was enough for early Win 10 but updates made it that you need at least 8GB and even that isn't enough for a smooth experience nowadays.

You can also take a look at the BIOS and try disabling sleep states. Most people don't use them but they also can be problematic for some OSes due to how their implementation changed over time.

Good luck !

[Kanna]

2 hours ago, Beerzerker said:

--snip--

I didn't really find any setting similar to what you said, and it was said there wasn't such setting on my board either, and yeah 4GB is quite low, but my older board died so unfortunately had to retire my other 2 sticks.

26 minutes ago, Sawa Takahashi said:

--snip--

I'm trying for USB as I don't really have any DVDs with any OSs except windows XP SP2, but maybe it would be worth getting my hands on if it could perhaps mean a better install. And as for the SSD part that was my plan if I got this working first as I don't really want to spend any money on something I may not use. Also yep 4GB is not a lot as I mentioned earlier in this reply, but it's mostly a proof of concept and if it were to work maybe I could get a LGA 775 socket board that supports my ram sticks so I could get a somewhat nice experience with windows 10 / a Linux distro.

[Robchil]

34 minutes ago, Kanna said:

I didn't really find any setting similar to what you said, and it was said there wasn't such setting on my board either, and yeah 4GB is quite low, but my older board died so unfortunately had to retire my other 2 sticks.

I'm trying for USB as I don't really have any DVDs with any OSs except windows XP SP2, but maybe it would be worth getting my hands on if it could perhaps mean a better install. And as for the SSD part that was my plan if I got this working first as I don't really want to spend any money on something I may not use. Also yep 4GB is not a lot as I mentioned earlier in this reply, but it's mostly a proof of concept and if it were to work maybe I could get a LGA 775 socket board that supports my ram sticks so I could get a somewhat nice experience with windows 10 / a Linux distro.

use USB 2.0 port to install that system.. it don't support your chipset for usb3 before drivers are installed. 

 

that's soo.. november 2006... ish.. i got my old core 2 extreme august 2006  .. but it's dead now anyway. 

 

ahh.. usb2 is the enhanced part ... use usb 1.0  you might have to make a win7 install on a fat32 formated usb. 

 

 

 

[Kanna]

20 minutes ago, Robchil said:

use USB 2.0 port to install that system.. it don't support your chipset for usb3 before drivers are installed. 

 

that's soo.. november 2006... ish.. i got my old core 2 extreme august 2006  .. but it's dead now anyway. 

 

ahh.. usb2 is the enhanced part ... use usb 1.0  you might have to make a win7 install on a fat32 formated usb. 

 

 

 

I don't think I have any usb 3.0 ports, it's all 2.0 and lower probably, also how would you recommend making a FAT32 formatted USB with an installation, because rufus sets me on NTFS if I use MBR and a windows ISO

[Robchil]

19 minutes ago, Kanna said:

I don't think I have any usb 3.0 ports, it's all 2.0 and lower probably, also how would you recommend making a FAT32 formatted USB with an installation, because rufus sets me on NTFS if I use MBR and a windows ISO

what ISO are you using? 

 

[Kanna]

4 minutes ago, Robchil said:

what ISO are you using? 

 

for the windows 10 ISO I'm using an ISO created using the media creation tool and for the windows 7 ISO I'm using a copy that was on a disc I had before.

[Robchil]

Just now, Kanna said:

for the windows 10 ISO I'm using an ISO created using the media creation tool and for the windows 7 ISO I'm using a copy that was on a disc I had before.

have you tried doing a 32 bit install? 

alot of systems still had problems with 64 bit back then.  altho it should be fully capable.. but if it works not upgradable.. 

i assume you have latest bios on it?. tried going back one step on bios or when did the issue start to happen? 

 

[Kanna]

2 minutes ago, Robchil said:

have you tried doing a 32 bit install? 

alot of systems still had problems with 64 bit back then.  altho it should be fully capable.. but if it works not upgradable.. 

i assume you have latest bios on it?. tried going back one step on bios or when did the issue start to happen? 

 

I have not tried a 32 bit install besides XP, perhaps I should try. And also I couldn't update my bios for whatever reason, just stated error when I had a FAT32 formated usb with the correct file for the mobo.

[Robchil]

2 minutes ago, Kanna said:

I have not tried a 32 bit install besides XP, perhaps I should try. And also I couldn't update my bios for whatever reason, just stated error when I had a FAT32 formated usb with the correct file for the mobo.

make sure the filename don't exceed 7 letters/numbers before the . and 3 after. 

 

what revision mainboard do you have?

 

[Kanna]

8 minutes ago, Robchil said:

make sure the filename don't exceed 7 letters/numbers before the . and 3 after. 

 

what revision mainboard do you have?

 

the file looked to not exceed it, but I can check again tomorrow, as for revision I'm not too sure exactly what I got.

[Robchil]

2 minutes ago, Kanna said:

the file looked to not exceed it, but I can check again tomorrow, as for revision I'm not too sure exactly what I got.

look at the board and look for some rev. and a number. i couldn't find your board on the GB site. 

[Kanna]

17 minutes ago, Robchil said:

look at the board and look for some rev. and a number. i couldn't find your board on the GB site. 

I noticed just now I forgot an L in the name which probably is what caused this confusion here.

[Robchil]

5 minutes ago, Kanna said:

I noticed just now I forgot an L in the name which probably is what caused this confusion here.

it's still 4 revisions of it.. 1.x 2.x 2.3 and 2.4..

if you know the color of your chipset heatsink it might help

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-G31M-ES2L-rev-1x#ov 

click on the revisions

 

[Kanna]

32 minutes ago, Robchil said:

it's still 4 revisions of it.. 1.x 2.x 2.3 and 2.4..

if you know the color of your chipset heatsink it might help

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-G31M-ES2L-rev-1x#ov 

click on the revisions

 

Oh wow that's a lot, well this is all text really visible.

[Robchil]

44 minutes ago, Kanna said:

Oh wow that's a lot, well this is all text really visible.

looks like 2.x or 2.3 .. since the pcie 1 port is white. 

altho the board ID nr (D33006)  is correct for that,  it's on the spot where the 1.x has the id..

it most likely says in the bios screen tho. 

what is the current BIOS version?

FI seems to be the latest.. and same file for either 2.3 or 2.x .. bios-link

[Kanna]

17 hours ago, Robchil said:

looks like 2.x or 2.3 .. since the pcie 1 port is white. 

altho the board ID nr (D33006)  is correct for that,  it's on the spot where the 1.x has the id..

it most likely says in the bios screen tho. 

what is the current BIOS version?

FI seems to be the latest.. and same file for either 2.3 or 2.x .. bios-link

There wasn't much saying beside the fact I was on F8, and also here is the error when I try to update using the .FI file I get in QFlash

[Robchil]

28 minutes ago, Kanna said:

There wasn't much saying beside the fact I was on F8, and also here is the error when I try to update using the .FI file I get in QFlash

well.. F8 means it's a rev. 1.x mainboard.. so newest is F10.. since rev.2x boards never had F8..