Windows setup could not configure windows to run on this hardware message during repair install

Anonymous
2018-08-24T03:20:19+00:00

Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64

I am trying to do a repair install of Windows 7 Ultimate which came pre-installed on the system, but every time I run windows setup, it gets 99% done, and is at the completing setup phase and suddenly pops up with a message saying windows can not be run on my current hardware. Setup then does a rollback of widows. This is absolutely ridiculous.... I am attempting to reinstall the SAME version of windows that was already on the system! Windows 7 Ultimate has been on the system since the day it rolled off the factory assembly line. I have triple checked to make sure the image I am using to do a repair install is x64. I have checked to make sure the image is not corrupted by doing a test install on a fresh drive in another PC. that time I got as far as asking for the license key before I stopped (because I didn't have a license for that PC).  I did find a support article on the dell support site surprisingly enough (why not the M$ support site too?) that said to press shift+F10 and start c:\windows\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe manually. which I tried, but when I started msoobe manually, I got as far as the screen that askes me about default IE security settings, then the screen went almost black. anyone just seeing the screen might think that the backlight had just turned off. you could dimly see the dialogs on the scree showing, but not well enough to see what you could select. the only thing that was clearly visible, and proved that the backlight for the display was indeed still active, was the mouse cursor was still clear as day. I tried restarting my pc, hoping I could pick up where I left off, but windows setup did a rollback instead. I don't know if a recent update is causing this, or if it is caused by the damage to windows I am trying to repair. I have never ever, in all  my years of using windows encountered this message.  the fact that it appears to not have an error code associated with it makes it all that much harder to diagnose. what can I do?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Install and upgrade

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-08-30T01:14:38+00:00

    Hi,

    I also have a 6mbps internet connection... Fortunately I didn't need it to answer the question of Windows.old...

    I happened to have a image of a clean Windows 7 installation from 2016... No Updates at all.. Never connected to the internet, and no Ethernet drivers installed..

    I had to connect and install Ethernet drivers to Activate and install a couple of programs I need for the machine to be more functional...

    I then did the Upgrade\Repair installation... No Windows,old...

    Just the two hidden files as before...

    Windows Update detected 119 Important Updates, and 66 Optional, after removing 40+ Language Pack Updates...

    One thing I regret is that I used the ISO that we currently have access to, not the ISO that was used in the Initial Installation..

    Since everything is all setup to try again, I will see what happens with the older ISO..

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-08-30T02:02:05+00:00

    Hi,

    Same results again... No Windows.old when Upgrading\Repairing with the same ISO as the original installation...

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-08-30T23:42:55+00:00

    by all accounts windows.old should be created when upgrading windows. it's even documented by Microsoft. I wonder what would happen if you set the PC's clock back to 2014 and did a repair install if would be created then. if so, then that means there is a date based kill switch that MS put into windows 7 setup for the creation of the windows.old folder. possibly to encourage users to upgrade to the next version of windows. I do not know, at this point I am really out of my depth. I  wish M$ was still monitoring the win7 threads. I would love to get some insight from them.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-08-31T00:57:17+00:00

    Hi,

    I might have a 2014 era Win 7 image... non-SP1 that I could check...

    I definitely have non SP1 Installation Media from it's original release...

    In my case, the machine was not even connected to the internet when I made the previous image, but I needed to connect it to activate it...

    Although the upgrade might have proceeded with out activation...

    I didn't try unhooking it again before starting the upgrade..

    I have seen documentation talking about Windows.old in Windows 7, but have never actually seen one... But then I haven't done the type of upgrades that would normally generate one..

    I don't think the clock would have any effect, but any connection to Microsoft's servers might...

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-08-31T04:33:48+00:00

    Hi,

    I think I've exhausted all options, and no Windows.old…

    Just the two hidden files mentioned before...

    Just to be sure, I unhooked all drives except for a 256GB SSD that had been wiped... I unhooked the internet from the computer...

    I installed WIN 7 Ultimate x64 from an original RTM DVD and saved an image.

    The machine was never hooked up to the internet, or had any drivers or etc. installed... Just what was on the DVD...

    I then did a Upgrade\Repair with the same DVD as used in the installation...

    No Windows.old…

    I then tried an upgrade to Win 7 Ultimate SP1... This failed with the message that SP1 had to be installed before the upgrade could be run...

    Imagine that... I had to install SP1 manually from a file... windows6.1-KB976932-X64before I could upgrade to Windows 7 SP1 !!!

    Regardless... There again is no Windows.old…

    The file I used to install SP1 was downloaded and saved when SP1 first became available, so it is not possible that anything has been modified since in it since then...

    The machine still had no access to the internet, and could not have downloaded any type of patch...

    So I don't know where the info about Windows.old in Windows 7 is originating from, but it seems to be invalid...

    I doubt that it has anything to do with OEM versions either, as to the best of my knowledge, they are exactly the same as the Full Retail, other than the Licensing Provisions and Microsoft Support...

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