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
Subscribe
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 ^
|
|
|
|
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!