When reinstalling Vista, it restarts and begins installation over again

[kissdemon74]

I have an older notebook...HP Pavilion dv9420ca (or dv9000...it has both numbers on it).

It had Windows 7 on it but I wanted to do a fresh install. Windows Vista was the native OS.

I have the iso on a bootable USB drive which I used successfully on a desktop recently. I boot to USB, enter product key and installation begins. Once installed, it restarts, only to begin the installation over again.

I've tried:

1. changing the boot order after to notebook HD after restart but no OS is found.
2. resetting bios to default....reboot trying both from USB and HD...no luck

Some things I've noticed....when it asks which drive to install to...the HD is split in half as Disk 0 and Disk 1. I believe that there is only 1 stock HD installed. I've deleted, formatted the drives and tried...nothing. On one drive, there is the warning that the bios may not support booting. I can't get rid of both disks to 1 disk.

Could I be missing some sort of driver?
Is there a setting I must change?

Please help!

 

[Dogsnake]

Does your Vista license permit installation on multiple systems? FYI Windows 7 creates a small partition (I bet it is your Disk 0) that contains essential information for the OS to operate. Did you format the disk? This will destroy the partitions and return a single whole disk. Since I do not know if you are doing a legal installation, I will say no more.GL Oh I would recommend Win7-8 as they are both more secure and far superior OS to Vista.

 

[kissdemon74]

I would think it's legal. I have the product key from the sticker on the notebook. I would assume that I may reinstall the OS on the same computer. Plus, the key is accepted and the install begins.

I had read about this hidden partition from Windows 7 that could be messing it up. Not sure how to check that. I have formatted both the listed disks. Tried deleting, formatting but they remain.....each the same size unallocated at 118 GB each ( I guess a 250GB HD inside). Is there another way of formatting now that I don't have access to an OS anymore? I have dban formatting program....wonder if I can boot it from usb.
Also...I am using the 32 bit version....it doesn't say on the label so by default, it should be 32. Also, the Windows 7 on it before was 32 bit. I haven't gone through the trouble of trying a 64 bit version.

I would love to put on Windows 7, however, I don't want to spend the money. I am a buy and sell store so each laptop I get, I like to reinstall windows if I can as opposed to manually cleaning out files and programs from the previous owner. As long as the Windows sticker is still on the machine, it would be a legal product key and I'm just restoring it to factory. I wish they were like iPhones.....have a restore function without having to manually add the OS.

 

[Dogsnake]

If it had windows7 as the original os and from what you say, it had an oem version of win7. You will need to install win7 to return to factory settings. I would think a buyer would pay the additional money to have the more secure OS that is current and stll supported by updates. However since this is your commercial venture I will not respond to the thread again. You need to learn your business, I think. GL.

 

[kissdemon74]

Windows 7 was on it when I got it but originally it came with Vista OEM.....the sticker is on the laptop with the product key.

Actually, this laptop is for personal use but have done reinstalls in the past for my store.....which rarely deals with laptops.