iMac 27" Bootcamp Windows Corruption

[mymacbreaks!]

Hey, new time user here!

I have an iMac 27" late 2009 and i have recently been trying to install Windows 7, but every time after a couple of restarts, i get 'cannot boot' messages, when i actually got in to Windows, everything freezes, and takes 15 mins to respond to a mouse click and all the games i run crash after 10 mins. I have tried reinstalling windows at LEAST 6 times. I recently tried to use the new Win. 8 preview but to no avail, same problems and corrupt files.
I took the iMac to Apple and they ran diagnostics on the HDD and the hardware and everything is fine.
Also, the mac partition works fine and has no issues.

Whats going on???

 

[omvs]

That sounds like a hardware problem, but I assume your system is reasonably stable under OSX or you would have said something, or the apple folks would have looked at it. Still, might be worth double-checking... Here's a couple things I would try:

1> Try running prime95 in torture test mode (under OSX). This beats up your memory system and cpu and if your system is flakey, it might expose it. Download from here: http://mersenne.org/freesoft/

2> I'd try booting into windows without any extra devices hooked up -- keyboard/mouse should be fine, but if you have other USB peripherals attached, try unplugging them and see if it makes a difference. I've seen some strange problems in the past -- at one point, my system didn't like booting into windows if my iPhone was hooked up during the boot.

3> Check the SMART status of your hard drive using Disk Utility - make sure it shows verified. Maybe there's some extra-crappy blocks at the end of the drive where its putting the Win7 partition?

4> In windows, can you get up the task manager when it seems slow? See what tasks (if any) are using significant amounts of CPU. Might have to hit the button to show tasks for all users. Ignore the System Idle task - that should be the major one if you're not doing anything....

 

[Quad5Ny]

Whats your process of installing Windows 7?

The correct steps are:

1. Download Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO (This way you don't have to waste half an hour upgrading to SP1 after the install)
2. Burn ISO to DVD or Make Thumb Drive
3. Run Boot Camp Assistant
4. Restart
5. Hold the Option key & select Windows 7 Setup Media
6. Select your Boot Camp Partition & Install Windows 7
7. Go through the Windows 7 User setup wizard
8. Install Boot Camp Driver Package
9. Run Apple Software Update until there are no updates left
10. Run Windows Update until there are no updates left
11. Run Disk Defragmenter Once (skip this step if you have a SSD)
12. Restart

 

[DeF46]

The hardware diagnostics can be run from boot or DVD if I'm not mistaken?

That leaves the possibility for viruses that mess up your boot sector. Unlikely as these days they're trying to hide to use your network connection.

However when you install from an original Windows CD, you have the completely unpatched version with hundreds of security holes. So you should disable the network and install Avast from a USB drive (for example) and THEN connect to download the updates.

I had to reinstall Win XP several times because of this. It took less than 5 mins of internet connection to have a virus installed on the machine and disabling the task manager...

 

[mymacbreaks!]

Whats your process of installing Windows 7?

The correct steps are:

1. Download Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO (This way you don't have to waste half an hour upgrading to SP1 after the install)
2. Burn ISO to DVD or Make Thumb Drive
3. Run Boot Camp Assistant
4. Restart
5. Hold the Option key & select Windows 7 Setup Media
6. Select your Boot Camp Partition & Install Windows 7
7. Go through the Windows 7 User setup wizard
8. Install Boot Camp Driver Package
9. Run Apple Software Update until there are no updates left
10. Run Windows Update until there are no updates left
11. Run Disk Defragmenter Once (skip this step if you have a SSD)
12. Restart

Well i have Windows 7 Home premium, i put it into the computer, run boot camp, partition the drives, run the windows installer, get the windows updates, then get the Bootcamp drivers. I haven't tried defragmentation but i will. Thanks

 

[Quad5Ny]

Defragmentation is not necessary, having a fragmented hard drive wouldn't cause crashes.

There would be a lot more threads complaining if the 2009 iMac had issues with Boot Camp. I also seriously doubt its the hardware if OS X is running OK.

Provided you have a clean copy of Windows 7 and the latest boot camp, then something your installing is causing the trouble. What are you installing after you have Windows setup?

Do you have FileVault 2 enabled?

 

[mymacbreaks!]

Defragmentation is not necessary, having a fragmented hard drive wouldn't cause crashes.

There would be a lot more threads complaining if the 2009 iMac had issues with Boot Camp. I also seriously doubt its the hardware if OS X is running OK.

Provided you have a clean copy of Windows 7 and the latest boot camp, then something your installing is causing the trouble. What are you installing after you have Windows setup?

Do you have FileVault 2 enabled?

I run the installer for SWTOR, after i made sure all the drivers and updates are installed correctly. I thought it might be important to add I'm currently running windows 8 consumer preview. Sometime when it boot it says "the file header checksum does not equal the computed checksum". It is very inconsistent, sometimes it boots fine, crashes later and sometimes it won't boot at all no mater what you do.
No i don't have FileVault 2 enabled unless its default setting is on, i haven't changed it

 

[mymacbreaks!]

That sounds like a hardware problem, but I assume your system is reasonably stable under OSX or you would have said something, or the apple folks would have looked at it. Still, might be worth double-checking... Here's a couple things I would try:

1> Try running prime95 in torture test mode (under OSX). This beats up your memory system and cpu and if your system is flakey, it might expose it. Download from here: http://mersenne.org/freesoft/

2> I'd try booting into windows without any extra devices hooked up -- keyboard/mouse should be fine, but if you have other USB peripherals attached, try unplugging them and see if it makes a difference. I've seen some strange problems in the past -- at one point, my system didn't like booting into windows if my iPhone was hooked up during the boot.

3> Check the SMART status of your hard drive using Disk Utility - make sure it shows verified. Maybe there's some extra-crappy blocks at the end of the drive where its putting the Win7 partition?

4> In windows, can you get up the task manager when it seems slow? See what tasks (if any) are using significant amounts of CPU. Might have to hit the button to show tasks for all users. Ignore the System Idle task - that should be the major one if you're not doing anything....

There are no large tasks open using heaps of memory. And when i try to run the verify disk in Disk Utility, it doesn't work and the title of the disc on the right side of the screen goes red.

 

[Quad5Ny]

Windows 8 CP is not stable on all systems. For example one of my desktops has a Core 2 Quad with a Intel P45 chipset (very common) it locks up randomly and no amount of disabling devices/driver updating will fix it.

Windows 8 is currently beta software, don't expect it to work on every machine.

 

[mymacbreaks!]

Windows 8 CP is not stable on all systems. For example one of my desktops has a Core 2 Quad with a Intel P45 chipset (very common) it locks up randomly and no amount of disabling devices/driver updating will fix it.

Windows 8 is currently beta software, don't expect it to work on every machine.

It was exactly the same when was running Windows 7 Home Premium

 

[mymacbreaks!]

Ok ill tell you the errors i get when i boot.

There is \Boot\BCD error 0xc00000f

or /boot/winload.exe error 0xc000001