Christopher, if you have a MoBo before the Z390 format, you may be able to boot via that USB drive, with Windows 7 as the Asus Z390 motherboards will not recognise USB devices until Windows 10 is installed. So, you may have luck booting with a USB keyboard and mouse and then get the W7 drivers,and thus dry-run your new rig until you get that new disk.

Just an alternative suggestion.

As I know Ulverston well, Compliments of The Season to you.

My new PC reboots after maybe ten seconds of the Windows 10 logo screen with either the current DVD (when it can be bothered to spin up at all) or two alternative USB drives (one formatted as FAT32, and the other NTFS). However, the Windows 7 DVD starts loading the setup files (that white bar at the bottom of the screen), and then switches to the "Starting Windows" screen. At this point, the Windows 7 logo does not appear, and it seems as if the PC is frozen. Nevertheless, it does not reboot like the other options. I noted when searching the internet that this freeze could be because Windows 7 is "tied" to my existing PC. Of course, it could be due to something else....

I also removed two of the RAM sticks for testing purposes (and then the other two; using alternative slots so that I could test the RAM sticks and RAM slots at the same time), but this made no difference.

Edited December 27, 20196 yr by Christopher Low

Just out of curiosity.....would it be possible to install Windows 10 on one of the hard disks in my existing PC (without providing the activation key), and then transferring the hard disk across to my new PC to activate it there? My copy of Windows 10 is only installable on one PC, but is the information gathered at the tine of installation, or when the activation key is registered?

You can do this only if all your hardware on the 2 PCs is identical. Windows uses a hash of various components to link the installation to a PC. Also, if not the same, the drivers will be different. 

19 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

Sadly, I have already tried that option.....and I have been tearing my hair out all afternoon trying to get my new PC to boot up from the USB drive. It simply will not do it. I am starting to think that something else is not quite right, but I will have to wait and see if the replacement DVD works.

There may be an option in your BIOS that makes USB drives bootable. You can also see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server-essentials/install/create-a-bootable-usb-flash-drive or 

 

Make sure you install the latest BIOS. Prior to attempting to install W10. 

 

Installing W10 from a bootable USB is usually a piece of cake. I did it a few hours ago on an new HD for my sons PC. Upgrading him from W7 to 10 due to no support for 7 after 14 Jan. Used W7 key to activate W10. 

 

Just to mention, installing W10 and issues, ring Microsoft. They're usually VERY helpful. Helped me out with a copy of W10 that wouldn't activate a month or so ago. 

I had an issue with Windows not installing some years ago, Turned out to be a faulty stick of RAM... but you say you have checked that. 

Edited December 27, 20196 yr by martin-w

Is it possible that a weak CMOS battery could cause problems of this kind? I have noticed that the BIOS clock loses a relatively significant amount of time (maybe ten minutes over the past two days), and I wondered whether this could be a sign that the CMOS battery is weak?

Martin, if I can slightly hijack Christopher's thread, as you are the guru of all things hardware, I had a delivery today of a 9-pin male to 2 x 9-pin female adaptor which I ordered so that I could connect my front-of-case 3.5-in bay mounted Akasa card reader, which I bought mainly because as a photographer, I wanted the ability to read high-capacity Compact Flash(CF) and SD cards. It also has a USB3.0 port on the front. The USB 3.0 works, but the cards do not read. The Akasa has a 4-pn USB header and a USB-A connector. The USB-A connector I managed to plug into a PCI-e expansion card USB3.0 port  I had to buy as the MoBo has no USB 3.0 ports.

Any ideas why the card reading part of it does not work, yet the USB 3.0 does?

No luck with the new DVD, or the USB stick. However, I have confirmed that the USB stick is set up correctly and bootable by testing it in my existing PC. When I do this, it displays the Windows 10 logo for maybe ten seconds, the hard disk light then flickers, followed by a few more seconds of the Windows 10 logo with that rotating circle of lights load sequence below it, and then the initial setup screen appears. Sadly, this never happens on my new PC. The best I get is that Windows 10 logo for maybe ten seconds again, my monitor switches to standby mode, and then the PC reboots. It may be worth pointing out that this occurs when the hard drive light flickers (like it does with my existing PC), but something is stopping it from going any further.

I am starting to think that there is a more serious hardware fault. Would it be possible to (temporarily) install the 16GB DDR3-1600 RAM from my existing PC onto the Asus Maximus IX Hero motherboard in the new PC? Would it work properly? I am just thinking that this might be a way to determine if the new RAM is a possible source of the problem....

It may aslo be worth asking the question......is the G.Skill Trident Z DDR4-4266 RAM compatible with my motherboard?

 

On 12/27/2019 at 4:20 PM, Christopher Low said:

Is it possible that a weak CMOS battery could cause problems of this kind? I have noticed that the BIOS clock loses a relatively significant amount of time (maybe ten minutes over the past two days), and I wondered whether this could be a sign that the CMOS battery is weak?

 

Losing time is the main symptom of dead or dying battery. Swap it and find out Chris. Cheap and easy, why not. 🙂 

5 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

No luck with the new DVD, or the USB stick. However, I have confirmed that the USB stick is set up correctly and bootable by testing it in my existing PC. When I do this, it displays the Windows 10 logo for maybe ten seconds, the hard disk light then flickers, followed by a few more seconds of the Windows 10 logo with that rotating circle of lights load sequence below it, and then the initial setup screen appears. Sadly, this never happens on my new PC. The best I get is that Windows 10 logo for maybe ten seconds again, my monitor switches to standby mode, and then the PC reboots. It may be worth pointing out that this occurs when the hard drive light flickers (like it does with my existing PC), but something is stopping it from going any further.

I am starting to think that there is a more serious hardware fault. Would it be possible to (temporarily) install the 16GB DDR3-1600 RAM from my existing PC onto the Asus Maximus IX Hero motherboard in the new PC? Would it work properly? I am just thinking that this might be a way to determine if the new RAM is a possible source of the problem....

It may aslo be worth asking the question......is the G.Skill Trident Z DDR4-4266 RAM compatible with my motherboard?

 

 

Last time I had issues installing an OS in a new build it was indeed the RAM that was at fault. By testing one stick at a time I discovered one of the sticks was faulty. Swapped the kit and all was well. 

You could order new RAM kit and then send it back for a refund if no dice. If it works RMA the faulty stuff.

Are you using the latest BIOS for your board?

Are you sure you have the correct RAM for your board? 

 

Quote

Would it be possible to (temporarily) install the 16GB DDR3-1600 RAM from my existing PC onto the Asus Maximus IX Hero motherboard in the new PC? Would it work properly?

 

No! You cant  use DDR3 in DDR4 boards, they are not compatible. And damage may ensue. 

Edited December 28, 20196 yr by martin-w

I have tested both sets of RAM sticks at the same time, but I have not tested them one at a time. The same problem occurred with both sets of RAM sticks (in both sets of RAM slots).

Edited December 28, 20196 yr by Christopher Low

5 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

I have tested both sets of RAM sticks at the same time, but I have not tested them one at a time. The same problem occurred with both sets of RAM sticks (in both sets of RAM slots).

 

Nope, the idea is to test a stick at a time, to track down the faulty stick. Have you ran "Memtest" to test the RAM? 

Have you removed and reinserted the sticks to make sure they are seated properly? 

Again... are you running the latest BIOS? 

 

Also your MUST replace the battery as a priority if the clock is losing time. Fix what you know to be not working as a priority. 

Edited December 28, 20196 yr by martin-w

On 12/27/2019 at 4:31 PM, vc10man said:

Martin, if I can slightly hijack Christopher's thread, as you are the guru of all things hardware, I had a delivery today of a 9-pin male to 2 x 9-pin female adaptor which I ordered so that I could connect my front-of-case 3.5-in bay mounted Akasa card reader, which I bought mainly because as a photographer, I wanted the ability to read high-capacity Compact Flash(CF) and SD cards. It also has a USB3.0 port on the front. The USB 3.0 works, but the cards do not read. The Akasa has a 4-pn USB header and a USB-A connector. The USB-A connector I managed to plug into a PCI-e expansion card USB3.0 port  I had to buy as the MoBo has no USB 3.0 ports.

Any ideas why the card reading part of it does not work, yet the USB 3.0 does?

 

Dunno... 😁

 

Quote

as you are the guru of all things hardware

 

Some things hardware. 🙂

24 minutes ago, martin-w said:

If it works RMA the faulty stuff.

🤣