Windows woes

[MDK42]

Hi all,

 

After 6 months of research I finally bought my system and built it. 

 

i7 6700k

ROG Gene Maximus VIII MATX 

32gb DDR4 2666mhz

1TB Samsung SSD

 

Now after 2 days of trying to install windows 7 I'm at a loss. 

 

I've tried all 3 methods outlined in the manual with no luck. I've even downloaded iso copies from the kinguin referral link and also from windows website. Still, I always get stuck at the same place, it says "Setup was unable to create a new system partition". Of course I've googled that and the answers on there for using XP to format the HDD or using command prompt through dos don't seem applicable.

 

I'm currently 5 hours into my marathon download for Windows 10, sitting at 44%.....

 

I don't know what else to do except take it to a computer shop, which is tantamount to accepting defeat and never learning how to do this on my own; or waiting for Windows 10 to finish downloading and praying that the USB works.

 

Just FYI, I'm using the Fractal Node 804 case with a slot load DVD drive, that is terrible because everytime I want to change the disc from Windows to Asus support CD I have to disassemble the ODD and remove the disc and put in the next disc.

 

[MDK42]

[StevenSensei]

Sorry to hear that you are having trouble. But hope is not lost. First update your BIOS. You should be able to do it through the ASUS Bios Flashback using a thumb drive and power connected to the board. You don't even need anything else connected to the board including a processor or ram. 

 

Once your bios is updated connect everything else up and make sure that you are able to POST into the UEFI Bios. Once there you should verify that your ram, processor, video card, and storage are all being detected correctly and reported by the Bios. 

 

If everything is ok there then go ahead and try to boot from your windows 10 thumb drive and install. Report back with how it goes. 

[MDK42]

Thanks, but I'm still trying to get windows 7 ultimate installed, I paid good money for it years ago and I don't see why I should abandon it because of install issues. I'll try preparing a USB flash drive to update the bios but I'm not sure if it will accept USB 3.0 to flash or needs a USB 2.0?

[SkepticKrab]

I think you should try USB 2.0 first since it is more common. Check the manual to be sure though.

 

Cheers

[Yongtjunkit]

1 hour ago, MDK42 said:

Hi all,

 

After 6 months of research I finally bought my system and built it. 

 

i7 6700k

ROG Gene Maximus VIII MATX 

32gb DDR4 2666mhz

1TB Samsung SSD

 

Now after 2 days of trying to install windows 7 I'm at a loss. 

 

I've tried all 3 methods outlined in the manual with no luck. I've even downloaded iso copies from the kinguin referral link and also from windows website. Still, I always get stuck at the same place, it says "Setup was unable to create a new system partition". Of course I've googled that and the answers on there for using XP to format the HDD or using command prompt through dos don't seem applicable.

 

I'm currently 5 hours into my marathon download for Windows 10, sitting at 44%.....

 

I don't know what else to do except take it to a computer shop, which is tantamount to accepting defeat and never learning how to do this on my own; or waiting for Windows 10 to finish downloading and praying that the USB works.

 

Just FYI, I'm using the Fractal Node 804 case with a slot load DVD drive, that is terrible because everytime I want to change the disc from Windows to Asus support CD I have to disassemble the ODD and remove the disc and put in the next disc.

 

you can't install windows 7 on Intel 6th gen processor, you will need to use windows 10.

[MDK42]

The manual doesn't say. 

 

MY windows 10 download is now at 62%.

[Yongtjunkit]

2 minutes ago, MDK42 said:

The manual doesn't say. 

 

MY windows 10 download is now at 62%.

Microsoft  announced that intel 6th gen processor will need windows 10

[MDK42]

okay, and if I give up on this Windows 7 install, the manual doesn't say anything about installing Windows 10. Do I just pop in the DVD and boot to it and it will work? or Do I need to do it by copying the contents to a USB stick and going that way? 

[Yongtjunkit]

2 minutes ago, MDK42 said:

okay, and if I give up on this Windows 7 install, the manual doesn't say anything about installing Windows 10. Do I just pop in the DVD and boot to it and it will work? or Do I need to do it by copying the contents to a USB stick and going that way? 

cd/usb of windows 10 would do. be sure to boot from it

[MDK42]

okay, so Via Kingwin, I can just wait 10 hours to download the Windows 10 via the tool and enter the Kinguin key for about 30$. not as bad as buying a full retail copy but still this has been a huge disappointment all round.

[You_are_a_cunt]

1 hour ago, Yongtjunkit said:

Microsoft  announced that intel 6th gen processor will need windows 10

Technically true, but Microsoft gave Windows 7/8 users until mid-2017 to update to Windows 10. In theory that would still mean that it's possible to install Win 7 on a 6th gen machine.

To be honest it doesn't seem a hardware problem at all, and more of an outdated ISO problem.

 

Obvious things to try/do:

- Use USB 2.0 when installing from USB drive (no-brainer, since, afaik, USB 3.0 needs drivers to work properly)

- Download a Win 7 Ultimate ISO from Microsoft (stay away from third parties, since you don't really know if the ISO was tampered with) and either burn it to a fresh disc OR make a bootable USB drive using the downloaded ISO

- Update motherboard BIOS/UEFI (although it shouldn't need updating since it's a fairly new board and win 7 compatibility should be there)

- make sure you don't have an actually DoA SSD (could happen) ~ plug the SSD into a working PC and format it there

[StevenSensei]

The Bios Flashback port will be a USB2 port and will be labeled as being for Bios Flashback on the IO shield and in your manual. It is the only port that will work for bios flashback. 

 

it is best to do with a USB 2.0 drive but if you don't have one your usb 3 thumbdrive should work fine. 

 

Once bios is updated then go ahead and try to do your windows 10 install. 

BEFORE you buy a kinguin key, try using your windows 7 key at windows 10 install. It is quite possible that it will accept the windows 7 key and just upgrade the license (various sources say it is possible to do a clean install of windows 10 with a valid windows 7 license). It's worth a try...if it doesn't work then you can spend the $30 at kinguin. 

[Blake]

when you turn on the computer, go to the boot menu (normally F12) you will see two entries for the usb. 1 has "UEFI:" at the start, use the OTHER one.

 

Then, do a custom install during installation, and delete all the partitions on the drive, you'll be left with unallocated space, then just highlight the drive and click next, windows will worry about making the partitions.

[typographie]

On 3/30/2016 at 3:19 AM, Yongtjunkit said:

Microsoft  announced that intel 6th gen processor will need windows 10

 

On 3/30/2016 at 5:13 AM, revsilverspine said:

Technically true, but Microsoft gave Windows 7/8 users until mid-2017 to update to Windows 10. In theory that would still mean that it's possible to install Win 7 on a 6th gen machine.

I think you guys are conflating two different things: Windows 7 requires workarounds to install on a Skylake machine because it lacks certain USB drivers. ASRock apparently has a utility that should fix it, but I don't know if it works with boards from other vendors. I also don't know if the OP's problem is related to this particular problem.

 

Unrelated to that, Microsoft announced that Skylake systems would stop receiving any but the most critical security updates when running Windows 7/8/8.1, and then later relaxed the policy slightly. As far as Microsoft is concerned you can install older Windows versions on a Skylake system just fine, even after the 18 month grace period, they just don't want to support it once you do.

[StevenSensei]

@MDK42 - How goes the battle? Any luck? Still here to help if you need it!

[MDK42]

Okay, so as a final update, I bought an OEM license for Windows 10 and poof! worked without any interaction. I suspect this is a case of engineered obsolescence, but on the other hand, I really enjoy Windows 10 more than 7. It's got a bunch of new easy to find and view stats on computer hardware and I find the other menus are easy to use too. 

Also, my computer was having VSYNC issues with my monitor and TV for years but now with Windows 10 its perfect! Furthermore, the resolution being detected as native on my TV is now correct at 1920x1080; before it was some weird resolution I had to manually adjust the borders of the screen to fit with.

 

 

 

Thanks for your help everyone! 

[StevenSensei]

2 hours ago, MDK42 said:

Okay, so as a final update, I bought an OEM license for Windows 10 and poof! worked without any interaction. I suspect this is a case of engineered obsolescence, but on the other hand, I really enjoy Windows 10 more than 7. It's got a bunch of new easy to find and view stats on computer hardware and I find the other menus are easy to use too. 

Also, my computer was having VSYNC issues with my monitor and TV for years but now with Windows 10 its perfect! Furthermore, the resolution being detected as native on my TV is now correct at 1920x1080; before it was some weird resolution I had to manually adjust the borders of the screen to fit with.

 

 

 

Thanks for your help everyone! 

Glad you got it all worked out! Enjoy your new machine