Yet another odd Win 7 clean install problem

[Hamhound]

Well, I stop for help!
New build with a Gibabyte GA-870A-UD3 MB with AMD Phenom II x2 555 Black and a new WD 500 GB SATA HDD.
Boot menu selects CD so in goes the 64 bit Win 4 UPGRADE disk. Windows begins to do its thing. I accept the EULA, and it offers up Disk 0 for the install location. Fine. I tell it Custom Install.
It makes it into the Expanding Windows files a little over 40% and issues this message: Install Cancelled. Any changes made ... will not be saved. The Error dialog box is "Windows cannot install required files. The file may be corrupt or missing. Make sure all files for installation are available and restart the installation. Error Code: 0x80070570.
Duplicated.

Then, installed an IDE HDD and successfully installed XP so I am thinking the system is generally working. I did try to upgrade on this HDD with and without the SATA drive plugged in. I could not upgrade with a clean install on this drive either. Got 67% into it and got this nice BSOD message: "A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. If this is the first ime you have seen this stop error screen, restart and check to make sure new HW or SW are properly installed. Blah, Blah".
So, I thought to install XP to the SATA drive but I have no driver disk since I bought an OEM HDD. WD shows no downloads for it. darn.

I have not tried the 32 bit upgrade disk. I'd rather know what is going on with this disk or HDD.

Ideas? Tnx!

[glc]

Set the SATA controller to IDE mode. Then XP should install without drivers. If you need drivers, you get them from Gigabyte, not WD. They should be on the motherboard support CD/DVD.

However, you may have an issue with your Windows 7 DVD - or the hard drive could be defective. Download and run WD Diags and test it.

[Hamhound]

Tnx for the tips. I got the diagnostic tool and will try to run it tonight.
The Win 7 Upgrade DVD was used as an official paid Vista Upgrade and worked fine.
Maybe I will try the 32 bit disk for another datapoint.
I assume 'Set the SATA controller' is done in BIOS. Will try that at atsome point.
Stay warm over there!

[Hamhound]

Well, the HDD checked OK with the WD tool. The 32 bit Win 7 disk, brand new, yielded a Blue screen that said: 'A driver corrupted pool memory used for holding pages destined for disk'.
RAM issue? My MB is good for 1333 MHz and can overclock to 1600 MHz (so it says). I have 2x2GB sticks as dual channel. Downclock to 1066 or pull a stick and see what happens. Annoying...

I really want to load Windows 7. Loading XP as a double install is the reason to consider it. Still not sure what it means to set the SATA controller to IDE.
Thanks again.

[glc]

You do that in the bios - you should have 3 choices - IDE, AHCI, or RAID.

Download and run Memtest86+.

[Hamhound]

I never imagined how much fun I could have and what I could learn!
Well, I changed both sticks of the memory with Kingston 1333 MHz and sutck in a fresh Hitachi 1TB drive. Voilla: Got Windows 7 installed without an activation key. Went to this site for guidance:
Clean Install Windows 7 With Upgrade Media and Product Key on Formatted or Empty Blank Hard Drive » My Digital Life

Tried to activate by calling the toll free number after entering the key. Could not activate. Repeated, same thing. Then did Workaround 3: did the regedit and gave the slmgr -rearm command. back to the activation and same result.

Then tried Workaround 1. Used cmd to manually enter the key, slmga ato and got the invalid notice. Tried to slmgr -arm again and got a different error message: On a computer running MS windows non-core edition run slui.exe0x2a0xC004D302
Another tip is the same so tend to believe is ought to work:
How To: Use Your Windows 7 Upgrade Disk On a Fresh PC - Page 2 | Maximum PC

So, back to the drawing board. I noticed that there are a lot of slmgr / commands. I wonder if I need to use some of these to get me back to square one so the workarounds work.

Once I get activated, I will replace the original ram to see if it is a problem.
Thanks again OM.

[Hamhound]

For those interested, Yes, my copy of Windows 7 is legit. Bought in summer of 2009 off Amazon for the pre-release price. What I failed to understand is that it was intended for Vista only and not for XP. I let it sit for a long time and even offered it to a friend but he was not interested even for the $50 I paid.
I then learned that it could be made to work as a clean install if XP were present but all my apps would need a reload. I then read that a clean install was possible on a clean disk so I built a machine, the one that now does not like my efforts to get Win 7 activated. I thought that entering the key was a problem so I tried to follow the links above and got messed up sosmehow.
Tips to solving this welcomed!

[glc]

Have you tried installing it again - this time, as an upgrade to what's on there - i.e. Windows 7?

[Hamhound]

Will try again. Probably by putting XP on and then upgrading. Only costs time. May format the drive too to ensure it is clean in every sense.

[Hamhound]

Gave up fixing and stgarted over. re-formatted the HDD, installed Win 7 64 bit. Called M$ on toll free and they activated.
Sometimes, it is best to cut losses and start over 'eraly' and not get mired in the OS muck...
Tnx to GLC for help. He(she?) is the real deal!