Booting a Windows 7 DVD

I went ahead and burned a bootable DVD with Windows 7, popped it into my machine, and just got hit with a Code 5 error right at startup. This PC is a dinosaur, easily over a decade old now.
It’s running at 1.8 GHz
with only 1GB of RAM
I can't really stick with Windows XP because I can't find any supported applications anymore and I can't even run necessary updates, so I desperately need to get Windows 7 up and running. From what I've gathered through my reading, this error might not actually be caused by a bad burn on the disc, but rather an outdated motherboard that simply doesn't support the OS. I suppose I'm wondering if there is some sort of workaround or solution available here, or am I just stuck having to buy a new motherboard?

granitepuma10 said:I went ahead and burned a bootable DVD with Windows 7, popped it into my machine, and just got hit with a Code 5 error right at startup. This PC is a dinosaur, easily over a decade old now.
It’s running at 1.8 GHz
with only 1GB of RAM
I can't really stick with Windows XP because I can't find any supported applications anymore and I can't even run necessary updates, so I desperately need to get Windows 7 up and running. From what I've gathered through my reading, this error might not actually be caused by a bad burn on the disc, but rather an outdated motherboard that simply doesn't support the OS. I suppose I'm wondering if there is some sort of workaround or solution available here, or am I just stuck having to buy a new motherboard?

You aren't going to get Windows 7 running on that setup. 1 GB of RAM. Period. 🙂

Adam Moore3 said:You aren't going to get Windows 7 running on that setup. 1 GB of RAM. Period. 🙂

Hold on—are you saying it won't work because of some technical incompatibility, or do you genuinely believe the PC is just too weak? I suppose I might be able to upgrade the memory soon; if I can get it up to 2.8 GB by tomorrow or the day after, maybe that would actually be sufficient?

Could you send over the full system specs? I'm especially interested in knowing which motherboard is being used. I have a feeling it’ll work just fine.

granitepuma10 said:Hold on—are you saying it won't work because of some technical incompatibility, or do you genuinely believe the PC is just too weak? I suppose I might be able to upgrade the memory soon; if I can get it up to 2.8 GB by tomorrow or the day after, maybe that would actually be sufficient?

If you're adding more RAM, then fine, you can make it work somehow. It won't be great though, since you're likely running a Pentium 4 or something similar that'll struggle just to browse the web, but it'll be okay. Regarding the installation, I wasn't saying it specifically causes an error; I just meant there's no point even trying to put Windows 7 on a system with only 1 GB of RAM. Even if you manage to get it installed, it'll be totally unusable. Windows 7 is going to eat up at least 800 MB once you have an antivirus and the basic software needed for normal operation, leaving you with maybe 200 MB of RAM for actual tasks—which, as you can probably figure out, is way too little. But if you upgrade the RAM, then sure, the processor will slow things down, but it should function relatively well. As for the issue itself, you can find some useful info HERE by searching 🙂 Google, which is a miracle 👍

Look, I've gone ahead and uploaded the file because there's simply too much data here to bother copying and pasting manually...
Link:

Everything you need should be right there in the document.

Hey, could you just grab that log and put it on Pastebin instead of those sketchy sites?

http://pastebin.com/

Larry Ortiz5 said:Hey, could you just grab that log and put it on Pastebin instead of those sketchy sites?

http://pastebin.com/

What do you mean by a "sketchy" site like Speedyshare? Honestly, I don't even know which file format I'm supposed to be using here.

That old Soltek motherboard uses a VIA chipset... Check out that link I sent you; it breaks down exactly what to do when the board itself is acting up. Give that solution a shot, maybe it'll actually work for you.. Honestly though, I have no idea why you're even trying to run Windows 7 on such ancient architecture..

A quick Google search suggests this might be a BIOS issue, so it’s possible your hardware just doesn't support Windows 7.

Even if you somehow manage to get it installed:

- your processor is pretty weak
- your motherboard manufacturer is likely out of business, making drivers nearly impossible to find
- you've only got 768MB of RAM instead of a full gig. Windows is going to hog all that memory immediately, forcing everything else onto a page file on an old, sluggish hard drive. It'll probably be slow enough to drive you crazy
- your graphics card is underwhelming and will likely stutter even within the OS, plus it probably lacks drivers for the seventh iteration anyway

I guess it's not worth the headache; just stick with Windows XP on that rig. If you really want Windows 7, you're probably better off buying something new—or maybe just grabbing a used Core 2 Duo desktop off Craigslist for like $500.$233

Yeah, it's a total waste of money. Like we told you, even if you actually manage to get Windows 7 running on it, the thing will be completely useless. There's really no point in even trying...

Maybe you could just stick with Windows XP for now—and let me know which specific apps aren't updating on Windows XP? I'm curious why those updates are actually necessary for you.

Guys, looking at everything you've all pointed out here, I'm starting to realize this might actually be a terrible idea... honestly, it feels nearly impossible. I was considering installing Windows 7 for pretty much two specific reasons: I need it for CS 1.6 (even though playing CS on my current setup is perfectly fine), but the real headache is the tournament scene. I need to run Ucp anti-cheat, but every time I try to install it, I get hit with either a kernel32.dll error or a message saying the file is corrupted. It’s incredibly inconsistent—sometimes it works, then the next time I boot up, it just fails again. On top of that, there's Steam; once it finishes an update, it throws a steamui.dll error and won't even launch. I've been searching like a madman and sent emails to support for both issues, but nobody seems to have a solution...
Right now, I'm sitting at 768 MB of RAM, but in a day or two, like I mentioned before, I should have 2.8 GB. Given those specs, it's probably just impossible to run Windows 7 on this machine. I do have a laptop, but whenever I fire up CS, the FPS drops down to 20 after about three rounds. I suspect it's a thermal issue or something similar, but I haven't figured out how to fix that yet. I don't want to mess anything up, but the FPS on this old desktop is actually brutal—it stays rock solid at 100.
It's highly likely that the Windows installation on this old PC is just completely trashed or messed up from a reset. I'm really hoping someone out there might have a solution or some decent advice. 😁

Officially, Steam still offers support for Windows XP (http://store.steampowered.com/about/) — and so does Cup anti-cheat.

You mentioned you already tried some things, but one possible fix for that steamui.dll error might be this
If your processor doesn't support SSE2 (you can double-check that with CPU-ID), then I guess none of the methods in this thread will work for you. You should probably look here instead:
http://steamcommunity.com/discussion...5136051112046/
or maybe
http://steamcommunity.com/discussion...8415060731415/

Since you admitted your Windows installation is pretty much a mess, I suppose a real solution would just be reinstalling Windows XP from scratch and then running all the updates.

Do you have every single update installed for Windows XP (Service Pack 3 and everything released after that)? And how clean is the Windows setup on that machine?

George Sanders37 said:Officially, Steam still offers support for Windows XP (http://store.steampowered.com/about/) — and so does Cup anti-cheat.

You mentioned you already tried some things, but one possible fix for that steamui.dll error might be this
If your processor doesn't support SSE2 (you can double-check that with CPU-ID), then I guess none of the methods in this thread will work for you. You should probably look here instead:
http://steamcommunity.com/discussion...5136051112046/
or maybe
http://steamcommunity.com/discussion...8415060731415/

Since you admitted your Windows installation is pretty much a mess, I suppose a real solution would just be reinstalling Windows XP from scratch and then running all the updates.

Do you have every single update installed for Windows XP (Service Pack 3 and everything released after that)? And how clean is the Windows setup on that machine?

Whether it's Cup or Ucp—if we are even talking about the same thing—I've looked into it and I know both still offer XP support, so the issue is likely just a broken setup... for instance, my downloads won't finish; they just hang at a certain percentage before throwing an error saying the download failed. I suspect I'm missing some updates. If I recall correctly, the last time I updated it was two years ago. To make matters worse, I have two different Windows installations running... Windows 0 and Windows 1, and honestly, I don't even know which one I'm actually using anymore. Neither of them will accept updates, so it seems like I might just need to wipe Windows entirely?

granitepuma10 said:Whether it's Cup or Ucp—if we are even talking about the same thing—I've looked into it and I know both still offer XP support, so the issue is likely just a broken setup... for instance, my downloads won't finish; they just hang at a certain percentage before throwing an error saying the download failed. I suspect I'm missing some updates. If I recall correctly, the last time I updated it was two years ago. To make matters worse, I have two different Windows installations running... Windows 0 and Windows 1, and honestly, I don't even know which one I'm actually using anymore. Neither of them will accept updates, so it seems like I might just need to wipe Windows entirely?

Man, just format the entire hard drive and do a fresh install of Windows XP. Run all the updates immediately and reinstall your software. That’s honestly the smartest move. Why bother struggling with Windows 7 when it's such a total wreck?

You probably won't even hit 2.8GB of RAM since there's still an open slot on that board. And you aren't actually planning on buying more RAM for this thing, right? I wouldn't spend another dime on it if I were you.

Kernel panics and random errors can definitely come from a crappy Windows install, but they're just as likely caused by a dying hard drive or faulty RAM.
Like, maybe it tries to load steamui.dll from the disk, hits some bad sectors, and just fails.
Or if the RAM is glitching, it might load it but flip a 0 to a 1 somewhere, leaving you with a corrupt file and an error.

The thing is basically a junker at this point, so anything could be going wrong. You should probably:
- crack it open and blow out all the dust
- check the power supply too—clean the dust out and see if any capacitors are bulging
- check the capacitors on the motherboard as well
- grab a Hiren's boot CD, run a memtest, and then check the drive's SMART status to scan for bad sectors

Until you do a bit of actual maintenance like that, trying to reinstall Windows is basically just gambling. There's a huge chance something will just screw you over again.

fadedorca66 said:You probably won't even hit 2.8GB of RAM since there's still an open slot on that board. And you aren't actually planning on buying more RAM for this thing, right? I wouldn't spend another dime on it if I were you.

Kernel panics and random errors can definitely come from a crappy Windows install, but they're just as likely caused by a dying hard drive or faulty RAM.
Like, maybe it tries to load steamui.dll from the disk, hits some bad sectors, and just fails.
Or if the RAM is glitching, it might load it but flip a 0 to a 1 somewhere, leaving you with a corrupt file and an error.

The thing is basically a junker at this point, so anything could be going wrong. You should probably:
- crack it open and blow out all the dust
- check the power supply too—clean the dust out and see if any capacitors are bulging
- check the capacitors on the motherboard as well
- grab a Hiren's boot CD, run a memtest, and then check the drive's SMART status to scan for bad sectors

Until you do a bit of actual maintenance like that, trying to reinstall Windows is basically just gambling. There's a huge chance something will just screw you over again.

What would you all recommend I get? $17 I suppose I should ask myself if adding another 2.8GB of RAM is actually worth the effort, or if I should just stay put with my current 768MB. It’s a bit of a dilemma, really. Given the hardware constraints we're dealing with, I wonder if the upgrade would provide a meaningful difference or if it's just more overhead I don't need. Perhaps it's worth it, but then again, maybe not. What do you all think?
So, how am I supposed to figure out which RAM stick is actually decent and which one is garbage? The real issue here is that I’ve never really bothered to inspect the capacitors—not on the power supply and certainly not on the motherboard. Now, I’m feeling a bit hesitant about tearing everything apart because, let’s be honest, I wouldn't exactly call myself an expert in hardware teardowns, which is a concern. If I use Hiren's, will I be able to run those memory tests and check the SMART status properly? Also, I suppose I should wonder if it's necessary to wipe the hard drive before I start messing around with all this... or is that overkill?

If I were you, I'd just set those $17 aside and start saving up for a whole new tower. Honestly? You might grab those RAM sticks only to realize they aren't even compatible. Or maybe they work, but then you find out your hard drive is acting up. Or it's the motherboard, or the power supply... it’s a rabbit hole. Before you know it, you've bought new RAM and now you need something else. It's a money pit, and you can probably find a prebuilt on Newegg for $167 that would run circles around this setup anyway.

I managed to track down a copy of Windows XP that includes all the updates through November 2014, so I’m definitely going to proceed with that installation. I've already given the power supply a thorough inspection, checked the motherboard, and made sure everything is blown out and dust-free 🙂.
Is there anything else I should probably tackle before I start tearing things down? Currently, I have this dual-boot setup—two separate Windows installations on one machine—and I was wondering if I should try some way to merge them into a single OS, since running both seems somewhat redundant, if you ask me?
As for those RAM upgrades, I think I'll pass; looking at the specs, it feels like chasing ghosts to me...