Windows 7 installation hangs at "Completing Installation" – FIX
I have seen the following issue posted a few times now
directly after the first restart the installer hangs on “Completing Installation”
I have installed Windows 7 on all of my machines ( The RC 7100 build ) ranging form Netbooks to Quad-Core powerhouses with 8gigs of RAM. Recently I ran into this issue and figured out what I was doing wrong after 2 failed attempts.
On the “Where do you want to install Windows” page I was just formatting the partition I wanted and clicking “Next”
THAT IS WHAT I DID WRONG!
I did the following and it was smooth sailing from there.
DO NOT just hit “Format”
“Delete” then “Allocate”
It will then create 2 partitions.
Par 1 – Will be called “System Allocated” and only be 100mb ( This was the key )
Par 2 – Will be your new OS volume
( You can also just leave the area “Unallocated” and click “Next” )
Where do you want to install Windows?
Tags: Completing Installation, Dan Antonielli, freezes, hangs, install, RC 7100, Windows 7
Electronics | Dan Antonielli | 
May 20, 2009 9:34 pm
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By EditioN-, May 29, 2009 @ 5:03 pm
Thanks, it worked for me, just thought that windows could create it automatically like XP xD
By djdat, June 7, 2009 @ 12:58 am
Of course! I thought the same as EditioN, That the installer would simply do this by itself (beta/RC bug most prob) I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to get it installed! Thank you for clearing this up!
By Brian Smith, October 22, 2009 @ 6:56 pm
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
By Dan Antonielli, October 22, 2009 @ 6:59 pm
This has seen a lot of traffic since the release of Windows 7.
I hope this solution works for all of you.
- Dan
By edk, October 27, 2009 @ 1:15 pm
I had this problem, the dots still moved but for about 20 mins no change. DVD Drive also itermitant.
Try ejecting the DVD and try again.
By lazuline, October 28, 2009 @ 6:30 am
Hey, I got past the hanging at “completing install” by pressing shift+f10 and the typing “explorer.exe”. it started loading some settings and then froze with the screen saying “restarting computer”. But when i hard reset my computer, it booted into setting up a user account! =_= might work for anyone else stuck at that point. Spread the word!
By Eric, October 30, 2009 @ 3:57 pm
If Windows 7 hangs at a black screen during installation try changing a digital power cord to an LCD monitor, for an analog one. You can swap it back after install
By Dave, October 31, 2009 @ 10:02 am
Lazuline’s suggestion worked for me – shift+F10, start explorer.exe. It performed some initial setup like I was logging for the first time. After that finished it rebooted properly on it’s own and the install completed. Thanks!
By Phil, November 12, 2009 @ 6:16 am
Lazuline’s suggestion worked for me, too. I turned off all USB devices in BIOS; ran W7 install from DVD with keyboard only (laptop trackpad disabled); did a custom install into the first HDD partition which moved c:\windows to c:\windows.old. Then I got the same as Dave.
By Jules, November 12, 2009 @ 7:29 pm
The Shift+F10 method worked for me too heh. Seemed weird at first but funny enough, it worked.
By gsadfgkn, November 18, 2009 @ 3:07 am
thanks lazuline!!
By ched, November 25, 2009 @ 11:58 pm
ok so shift-f10 did not work but something else did
at first i wanted 2 partitions so tried that and locked at ‘completing…’
so i read this and used the option of ‘just leave unallocated’
worked like a champ
thanks for advice!
By david, November 26, 2009 @ 9:30 pm
thanks lazuline
By Jeremy, December 1, 2009 @ 4:10 pm
Lazuline is a national hero. Its crude but it works damnit.
By bk1987, December 2, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
k, i still got a problem!
i do the delete option then i allocate, but still stuck at completing installation, then i press shift f11, type explorer.exe, does a lot of configuring, but after its done the explorer is still open n stuck again, doesnt wann restart by its own, so i hard restart n know i need to reinstall cauz of sum error!
SOMEONE PLZ HELP
By Michel Zehnder, December 10, 2009 @ 11:46 am
LOL!
Guys, you are great!!!
I did the “disconnect USB keyboard and attach PS2 keyboard” thing. worked!
I’m negatively impressed about M$ here, win7 works like a charm once you get it installed…
By arul prakasam, December 12, 2009 @ 6:39 am
its working thanks for the information
By Simon, December 28, 2009 @ 2:19 pm
lazuline’s suggestion worked for me. far more likely than not unplugging stuff or needing to unplug 2gigs of memory. Most people will be coming from working PCs. there is a bug in the installer that causes the hang when it has, in fact, completed
By liad, January 12, 2010 @ 8:21 am
where do u see format??? “Delete” then “Allocate” ??? wtf?
I have just the options in the picture
By liad, January 12, 2010 @ 8:22 am
plx help me ^
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By Dan Antonielli, January 12, 2010 @ 12:34 pm
Laid,
you have to click “drive options” to see those tools.
By Magnus, January 20, 2010 @ 12:44 pm
Ok, heres another one.
Did not leave the second partinion unallocated. I had two part 1 is system and part 2 is the rest of the memory. Pressed format on part 2. This attempt(attempt number 6) I was going for the press F10 and run explorer.exe. While waiting for computer to hang I was moving the mouse constantly so I could see when it stoped running. It never stopped. I have no idea if its a possibility that the thread listener for the mouse could have something to do with it but now it is installed and I didnt do any other changes.
By Tim, January 26, 2010 @ 10:04 pm
deleting partitions and reformatting them seemed to do the trick!!! AWESOME!
By shane, January 27, 2010 @ 1:43 pm
i had to shut mine off because i sat there fore ever and now when i turn it back on it goes “the computer restarted an unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. windows installer cannot proceed to install windows click ok to restart the computer and then restart the installation.” when i click okay it goes an resets but goes back to this message. what should i do?
By Ernest, January 31, 2010 @ 8:42 pm
I have the same thing as shane the explore.exe did not work
By majlen, February 14, 2010 @ 8:13 am
lazuline’s suggestion worked imediatlly for me! Thanks!!!
By Duh, March 8, 2010 @ 6:17 pm
Shift and F10 worked! Thanks man!
By Anonymous, March 14, 2010 @ 1:04 pm
Thank you so much, Lazuline!
By Touly, April 1, 2010 @ 10:29 pm
Thanks Lazuline you are a LIFE SAVER
By Nigel Rheam, April 5, 2010 @ 2:24 am
Thanks Dan, I actually had selected ‘Allocate’ on a new disk during the original failing install… but had also elected to format (or whatever the option was) the new larger partition. It was only when I went back and left the larger partition unformatted that the installer completed ok.
Many Thanks!!!
Nij
By dodol, April 26, 2010 @ 11:33 am
shift + f10 worked like a charm, i was so frustrated not seeing any movement from the progress bar. but after running explorer.exe, the next 20 minutes it completed… thanks a f..ing lot…
By lazuline, April 26, 2010 @ 4:42 pm
I googled my handle and expected to find the usual photos and forum posts by other people who use my name, but who would have known my OCTOBER post on this blog would still be helping people in APRIL. At the time I was doing a clean install (to avoid problems when upgrading… yeah…) of Win7 via usb flashdrive on a couple of computers.
I’m shocked that Microsoft hasn’t fixed this yet. Google “windows 7 install hang” or similar and you’ll find tons of forums with people stuck with the same problem.
The shift+f10 is a trick for fixing borked windows installs I learned while working in IT. Running explorer.exe was just intuition based on a similar trick to bypass account creation when you get a loop installing OSX on a hackintosh.
P.S. I wouldn’t have gotten that far if it wasn’t for Dan’s tip. How very uncharacteristically Apple-like of Microsoft to make the age-old “format” not actually perform its namesake.
By James M., May 6, 2010 @ 11:47 pm
Lazuline. Thank you so much. I’ve been fighting with a Win 7 install for 2 days now, and your tip is what finally got me to the finish line. So simple. So elegant. Just can’t thank you enough.
By Not impressed, May 18, 2010 @ 6:46 am
MS is becoming a total joke and we are no longer in control with this bloatware.
if they can not even get the dam thing to install then wjat bugs are we going to get later ?
tried 2 machinnes now, both hang on install and i’ve tried the format trick and shift +f10 but could not login later.
Wake up people this is mikey mouse bloatware from back door bill and i’m glad i’ce tried a pirate copy before wasting money on this rubish
By LifeBringer, May 20, 2010 @ 10:36 pm
Funny thing happened to my netbook (NB100) and I. I’ve been suffering allocation errors. So when I decided to install Win7 n (European Union mandated version) my system hung up at ‘Completing Installation’. When I tried the Lazuline ‘Shift + F10′trick it gave me the actual explorer.exe! It was logged in as ‘SYSTEM’. I tried control panel, but it gave me a configured identity is incorrect/ server process … check the username and password error. ::{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}
IE didn’t launch, Calculator did, Wordpad did, no Aero, Windows PowerShell worked, hit show desktop to hide the installation window, etc…
Anyway, restarted(shutdown /r) through cmd.exe (only way). Didn’t work, restarted and it gave me the safe mode option suggesting to repair startup through the installation disk/usb.
By lazulinefan, May 24, 2010 @ 5:28 am
thanks lazuline!
By billy, May 25, 2010 @ 12:43 pm
Not gonna lie, that shift+f10 trick worked miracles for me… amazing, thanks!
By Dusty-Lynn, May 30, 2010 @ 6:11 pm
Thank you Lazuline!Shift-F10 worked like a charm! My computer didn’t freeze as yours did, so just so everyone knows a hard restart is not always required, it is possible for it to restart itself! =D
By djdat, June 11, 2010 @ 5:11 pm
Bump! Came upon this after googling my own username lol
Most of these problems can be solved by burning the ISO at 2x speed. I solved mine but on other machines this was the case.
Also in the BIOS turn of EIST as this causes big problems also.
By pjg, June 12, 2010 @ 3:49 am
I am trying about to days to install w7 on 2hd in Raid 0 mode but every time installation stop at “installing updates” step.I checked all possible drivers and I used Lazuline’s tip also, but the results was a message “windows cannot find explorer.exe.Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again”.
Is there any way to pass over this step?
By Manley Evangelista, June 29, 2010 @ 8:21 pm
lazuline’s suggestion worked!
Basicly, after it booted up. I pressed Shift and F10, then type in explorer.exe
Then let it do it’s thing.
Then after that, it will restart, and voila. You’ve just bypassed the Completing Setup.
By Manley Evangelista, June 29, 2010 @ 8:23 pm
Also, I’m using an RTM version. So this isn’t just for beta. It will also work on RTM, but I’m not sure if its going to work on the Retail version. Just give it a try.
By Kilian, September 1, 2010 @ 4:27 am
GOD DAMNED IT WOKRS!!!! Windows sucks men.