Windows installation freezes!

The issue lies within the Virginia chipset... It's a notorious, long-standing headache. Honestly, the only way to get things running again is to follow what Jason Harris2 suggested—basically, you’ll need to play around with different combinations of RAM sticks and slots until something clicks.

I mean, why would he even bother hunting down a specific combo right now just to get Windows installed when everything else is running perfectly fine?

He can just copy it over to an external hard drive and run the install from there.

Jason Harris2 said:Why bother hunting down a specific combo just to get Windows installed if everything else is running perfectly fine right now?

He should just copy the files over to his hard drive and run the install from there.

That’s not going to work, honestly... zero chance. He’s going to run straight into IRQ conflicts; Via used to have those massive issues all the way up until the KT600 chipset era. Even if he manages to pull off the installation, his Windows will just keep freezing on him later on.

You've got a point there.👍 Man, it’s been a lifetime since I actually messed around with Via hardware.😬
He should try disabling ACPI in the BIOS if the option is even there, or maybe just manually assign the IRQs. He could also try tweaking the PCI latency settings, or when he's installing the OS, just select "Standard PC" to see if that helps things settle down.

Honestly, I've had enough headaches dealing with Via to last me a lifetime.😠 Back in the day, I used to throw a Sound Blaster Live! and a Skystar2 into the mix just to make my life a little more complicated.

Jason Harris2 said:You're spot on.👍 Man, it's been a minute since I messed around with Via hardware.😬
If there's an option in the BIOS, try disabling ACPI entirely, or just manually assign the IRQs. They could also try tweaking the PCI latency settings, or during the installation process, select "Standard PC" instead of whatever else is listed.

I've had my fair share of headaches with Via stuff.😠 Back in the day, I even threw in a Sound Blaster Live! and a Skystar2 just to keep things interesting.

👍 Those were the days, huh? 😁

It’s super likely that the BIOS APIC isn't handing over the IRQ to Windows properly, so the OS just gets lost and freezes up. I totally agree with everything you suggested they try!

Days and nights, honestly... 😁

http://www.a7vtroubleshooting.com/

via Tips and Tricks

I went ahead and disabled the ACPI function in the BIOS, but—honestly—it didn't change a thing. It seems like there’s just no chance of things thawing out before summer hits this year!

I ran into this exact same issue on one of my rigs.
The BIOS reported perfectly fine temperatures, but the second an installation started, the whole system would just freeze up—usually at the exact same point in the process every single time.

A quick application of fresh thermal paste and a deep clean of the fans did the trick...

slyorca65 said:I even tried disabling the Intel function in the BIOS, but no luck—it feels like this freeze isn't going away anytime soon!

Man, if only tech issues were actually that easy to fix... It’s tough to give a "silver bullet" solution that works every single time. You usually have to sink hours upon hours into it before you find anything, and you always walk away thinking you're some kind of genius who will never face this again—only to end up right back where you started. Honestly, the better your troubleshooting skills, the faster you'll crack it. Don't give up yet; keep digging, you'll eventually hit on something that works.

Look, you don't honestly think I’ve just spent the last three days disabling Intel and sitting there with my arms crossed, staring blankly at a trash can—of course I'm actually trying to pinpoint the root cause here.
I can't exactly document every single microscopic step I take, otherwise this thread would turn into a damn novel... So, moving on...

😛
After about yy attempts, the processor finally kicked the bucket—probably just been faulty from the start, I suppose—so I eventually stumbled upon a rather straightforward fix. I went ahead and picked up a new motherboard and a fresh CPU (not an Intel one, mind you), and now, predictably, everything seems to be running smoothly again.
My sincere thanks to everyone for the help!