frustrating Windows 8.1 install.

[Finn 7 five 11]

Hey guys. I purchased Windows 8.1 pro student, my old hdd has just about failed, crashes all the time and mostly unbootable, I purchased a Samsung 850 Evo pro 256GB solid state drive and installed it in the laptop and my installs have been failing.

I've read that it could be because the BIOS isn't updated enough, but it seems odd because I've used computers much older that have 8.1 installed.

 

I've used two different dvds to try and install it, one I mistakenly had Windows 8.1 core ISO on the dvd, that worked with a generic key but then failed.

I got the correct 8.1 pro ISO and that worked with my key but also failed.

 

Both installations failed during the "preparing files for installation" point, the first disc failed at 30%, roughly, the second disc at 59%.

 

I would use USB install but my laptop is from 2011 and it's not supported by the BIOS, I believe that can be changed, however it might be somewhat complex.

 

These are off the top of my head.

Specs -HP dv6 2011

-i7 2630qm

-64bit 4 gb ram

- Samsung 850 Evo 256 gb HDD

-

[Finn 7 five 11]

Okay I tried another two times, I made sure my external keyboard was unplugged through the whole process, the first time it failed, possibly because the keyboard was left in through a small part of the install. The second attempt I left it out except when entering my product key and it worked, whole install took less than fifteen minutes.

 

This SSD is great, even with SATA II a full reboot took less than twenty seconds.

[utack]

Please tell me you switched it to AHCI mode in the Bios.

If not, look up how to do it correctly, so Windows still boots.