So Apparently The Tech-Gods Scorn Me

[Skane]

I'm an active gamer. A PC gamer at that. I don't, however, upgrade frequently unless my current rig starts becoming obsolete.

I was happily running a 32-bit WinXP with Quad-Cores, but with all these newdangfangled 64-bit stuff and DX-11 drivers, I felt it was time to change the rig to something more... end of the line.

So I heard good stuff about Win7, and Intel i7 was apparently one of the latest CPUs. Sounds like lucky sevens right? The Hell it is. I haven't had this much agony setting up a rig since Win95.

I set up the tower all nice and easy, and quickly ran into trouble trying to install the OS. Well... I be damned... All the parts were new, whatever could be the problem? A quick google search on my Android and when I read the cause of the problem, I didn't know whether I wanted to laugh at the engineers who made the OS, or punch them in the face.

I had to unplug all the USB ports first (minus the keyboard) before installing the OS.

What?

You're serious? I never had this issue with Win98 SP or WinXP Pro and the so called newest kid on the block (Win7 Ult) stumbles on something so basic?

I didn't want to believe it, but lo and behold, after unplugging the ports, it actually installed. End of the problems right? Riiiight? I so wish it was the case.

Put it this way... not since the days of yore when Win 3.1 and Win95 inhabited our PCs have I ever, EVER, seen this many BSoDs. Restart CPU after installing motherboard drivers, BSoD. Install VGA drivers, BSoD. Install Google Chrome, BSoD. Scream obscenities at the Gods of Tech, BSoD.

I think one of the more priceless ones was finding out that my Windows Update was corrupted, and I had to google for a solution for it to work. The scary thing is that it is a common problem. Oh, and I encountered another 5 BSoDs just from running Windows Update alone.

At one point, I had to imagine the mewling of boiled kittens to amuse myself and keep my spirits up. Upgrading a PC should be a joyous event, not a Hellish one. I'm f***ing amazed my Internet Connection worked on the first try, really.

Just so upset at how much time I have lost just configuring the thing, and I haven't even re-installed the games yet, or installed Office, or transferred my backup data from the external harddisks (speaking of which, another BSoD when I plugged in one).

The system is more stable now, ever since I completed the Windows Updates, but oh man... is Win7 really suppose to be this nightmarish? I want to chew the manual that mockingly tells me, "Welcome to your PC, simplified."

Urgh!

[LoweGear]

I can't speak for Windows 7 Ultimate, but my Windows 7 Home Premium has been quite the dream compared to XP or Vista. Also, I use an external USB DVD-Rom to reformat this PC, so I don't have the USB port problem you seem to be having.

Either it's a problem with your hardware, or Win7 Ultimate is just incredibly fickle (I stick with Home Premium because I don't need all the features for Professional and Ultimate).

[Gamer_2k4]

I use W7 Professional, and I've never had a problem with it. It's a huge step up from XP.

[Paranoid Android]

I use Ultimate on my laptop and that came with it. It works fine after installation, but I 've never had to reinstall it.

I've only installed home premium on my PC and like LoweGear said, I haven't had any issued with the installation whilst usb port was plugged-in

I've never had a BsoD since I changed from XP SP3 to 7 Home prem. It was actually unbelievably easy for me since I just ran the install disc with my windows xp already booted. and everything was automatic from there.

[Endless Soul]

I use Win 7 Home Premium that came with my laptop and I have had no problems. I've also never had to re-install it. I still have Win XP on my personal desktop and my destop at work (the one I'm on right now)

Endless "Problem Free" Soul

[Hiroi Sekai]

My physical laptop broke so I had to get a new one with Windows 7 built-in. Win7 itself is quite nice for me and hasn't attempted to kill me yet, but nothing ever beats the reliability and simplicity of Windows XP for me, ever.

Vista's an ass though, did absolutely nothing wrong to it and it KSoD'd on me just one day. Sorry to hear about your complications, is it all go at the moment at least?

[NorthernFallout]

Contrary to you, my experience with W7 Ultimate 64-bit has been pure. It installed faster and easier (3 times I've done it since I format sometimes), and it has run for a year and a half without any BSOD whatsoever.

Perhaps you managed to get that one-in-a-thousand configuration that will, totally, not work easy.

[Kokukirin]

Only problem I have with Win7 is when I try to play 10 year old games. Sometimes it is tricky to get the right configuration. Other than that Win 7 has been a good experience.

[Flower]

Same here - win 7 ultimate and win 7 pro on my two laptops ... never had a problem with either to be honest.

But I must admit that almost all the pcs at the office still use win xp pro. I have seen many small businesses still doing this too.

[iceyfw]

sorry to hear for your first experience of installing W7. i have installed W7 Ultimate x64 countless times on multiple computers via DVD or usb flash drive and all of them installed successfully without a problem. and no BSOD has occurred so far on any of them.

[DonQuigleone]

I've built my own rig before, sounds like you're having compatibility problems between your motherboard and hardware. My first guess is that your BIOS might be the problem.

When I built my rig (with an XP install), I had constant random crashes and restarts and BSODs, turns out it was the BIOS that was the problem.

Though it's a real pain, you probably need to flash and replace your BIOS. If that doesn't work, look at your hardware compatibilities and drivers.

This reminds me of that "How do I patch KDE2 under FreeBSD?" meme.

-- Hello, is this an anime channel?
-- Yes.
-- How do I patch KDE2 under FreeBSD?

[blaze0041]

The current desktop PC I use now used to have Windows XP SP3 on it, packing a rather shoddy Nvidia 9800GTX. Installed Windows 7 Ultimate the day it came out, and I haven't looked back since (well, I still use Windows Virtual PC + Windows XP Mode, but I honestly don't use it that often). Like Kokukirin, I find that playing some older games is a hassle on Windows 7.
I've since abandoned the 9800GTX for a GTX560 (mainly for BF3)- you might not be able to immediately tell the difference between DX9, DX10 and DX11, but the games that do take advantage of it generally look alot nicer (sorry I can't be more specific about this).
Upgrading from XP to 7 does require to reformat your PC, I believe.

[Larthak]

Originally Posted by Skane

Urgh!

Skane, you are the unluckiest person I know about, when it comes to Win 7 experience.

Good thing you skipped Vista. Now, THAT was a disaster.

[Reckoner]

Wow, what a horrible experience. I went for win7 with an i5 when i decided to upgrade myself sometime ago, and my computer building experience went completely smooth unlike yours so that really sucks. I think there could be some hardware related issue, otherwise it doesn't make much sense to me. Windows 7 has been oh so much better than vista and offers the same stability as XP for me.

[Flower]

Originally Posted by Larthak

....Good thing you skipped Vista. Now, THAT was a disaster.

Lets not even go there.

[chikorita157]

I have used Windows Vista and 7 (on Bootcamp) and I don't really have problem with either nor I'm really frustrated by UAC. On the other hand, I haven't used Windows as my main operating system since 2006 since I got sick of maintaining Windows, having to check for spyware and all that jazz. I haven't have many problems with alternative OSes, most namely Mac OS X and Linux. I only use Windows now to play Windows-only games and that pretty much it.

From the looks of Windows 8, i'm avoiding it like the plague... the tablet interface is horrible on desktops/laptops and there is no option to turn it off yet.

[Rising Dragon]

I didn't get any BSoDs when I installed Win7 Ultimate onto a new computer I've built, though I did get a faulty update that seriously slowed down the other update installations and made shutting down impossible. Once I got around that, though, I haven't had any problems with the OS itself.

Ironically, my old computer can't run the install DVD. The same one that worked just fine on my new computer.

[SaintessHeart]

Where did you get your parts from? Sim Lim?

If so, you should have let the shop owner do it for you while you enjoy your lunch/dinner at the basement level's hawker centre.

Also, apparently there is a rumour of imbalance issues (buying an i7 with a cheapo GPU can cause crashes more frequently due to wide disparity in computing power), so you might want to post your rig specs here. Hopefully you haven't maxed out your 7-day exchange warranty.

I used Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit only for one reason :

[Kyuu]

I don't mind using Windows 7; and I have yet to see the BSoD on my laptop.

[sa547]

@skane: first off, can we see what's the specs on your rig?

Make sure that the rig has all the plugs properly stuck in, the CPU bolted flat and straight with a thin application of thermal compound, and the memory modules seated in firmly. Then download, burn and run Memtest86 to check if there's a problem with the RAM.

And yeah, I hope the PSU is a good brand, not some cheap, nameless generic box from Guandong; for starters, FSP is great for both your money and stability.

Finally, have your dealer go over and check the rig.

@ontopic: I use both WinXP and Win7, but because my rig's specs are slightly lower than what's needed, I'll install Win7 only when I have enough bank for a full-blown system upgrade.

But when it comes to stability, I like Win7 better in that like most of the guys here, I rarely had a BSOD while it was installed in my Pentium 4 2.4Ghz rig for evaluation and testing (did installed Adobe Type Manager 4 and it worked; installed the XP-only SB Live! drivers and that also worked!).