# Windows 7 install hangs at "completing installation"



## iKhan (Jun 3, 2012)

Funny thing is I've installed Windows 7 on this computer previously with no issues.


People have suggested I remove all expansion cards, flash drives, and hard drives. I've done that. All that's connected to it is a USB KB/mouse. 

It's been like this for about 30 minutes.


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## Yo_Wattup (Jun 3, 2012)

Uhhh.. try waiting for it to finish.... lol


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## TheLaughingMan (Jun 3, 2012)

I am not sure what to tell you here. It could be auto downloading updates. If that was an option, you may want to not select it and update the system yourself after it starts. I have heard tale of this happening to a number of people and it would just start working after 45 minutes or so.

To be honest, I am not sure what to tell you. I install with only 1 drive connected and bare minimum hardware. once the system is running the OS on its on without my thumb drive, I put the other components back in.


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## iKhan (Jun 3, 2012)

Yo_Wattup said:


> Uhhh.. try waiting for it to finish.... lol



I just ate lunch it's been like that...


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## iKhan (Jun 3, 2012)

TheLaughingMan said:


> I am not sure what to tell you here. It could be auto downloading updates. If that was an option, you may want to not select it and update the system yourself after it starts. I have heard tale of this happening to a number of people and it would just start working after 45 minutes or so.
> 
> To be honest, I am not sure what to tell you. I install with only 1 drive connected and bare minimum hardware. once the system is running the OS on its on without my thumb drive, I put the other components back in.



I'll leave it another 30 minutes. At that point it's been a while. IDK maybe the hard drive is going kaput?


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## brandonwh64 (Jun 3, 2012)

iKhan said:


> I'll leave it another 30 minutes. At that point it's been a while. IDK maybe the hard drive is going kaput?



try a different drive or windows 7 disc


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## Altered (Jun 3, 2012)

I have had the same issue it seemed like it was hung but after leaving it alone (I left for several hours) it was finished when I got back. I read of others in the past taking a long time to finish.


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## Goodman (Jun 3, 2012)

Never reinstall over an already installed OS always format before installing Windows

The other things is that Windows may try to updates at the same time it installing try disconnect the internet & restart your PC (reset) & see if windows completely load this time

Also is your Windows DVD an original or a copy? (burned DVD)


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## iKhan (Jun 3, 2012)

Altered said:


> I have had the same issue it seemed like it was hung but after leaving it alone (I left for several hours) it was finished when I got back. I read of others in the past taking a long time to finish.



Yeah it just restarted after the completing installation part. All is good I guess. It's weird because a fresh install of Windows 7 has never took me over about an hour. This one maybe over 2 hours. Just seemed odd to me.  



Goodman said:


> Never reinstall over an already installed OS always format before installing Windows
> 
> The other things is that Windows may try to updates at the same time it installing try disconnect the internet & restart your PC (reset) & see if windows completely load this time
> 
> Also is your Windows DVD an original or a copy? (burned DVD)



I did format it. It's an OEM copy I bought from Micro Center


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## Goodman (Jun 3, 2012)

iKhan said:


> I did format it. It's an OEM copy I bought from Micro Center



Well then try to unplug the internet until it finish installing/loading everything...

You may also have a bad HDD , DVD-Rom or cable?


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## camoxiong (Jun 3, 2012)

I have had this problem before. If you have more than one HDDs in your computer, unplug the other one you don't want to install Windows on.


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## Altered (Jun 3, 2012)

iKhan said:


> Yeah it just restarted after the completing installation part. All is good I guess. It's weird because a fresh install of Windows 7 has never took me over about an hour. This one maybe over 2 hours. Just seemed odd to me.



It is odd I wondered just what it was doing  I just left it as normal for my stuff as I am the reason they wrote Muphry's law.  The install of mine never has had any issues and I thought that it would come back to haunt me. Congrats and Good luck.


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## SirYandi (Jul 29, 2013)

*Fix: Windows 7 install hangs at "completing installation"*

I am aware that this Thread is rather old but I still want to make a reply as it came up right at the top my google search for "install windows freezes on completing installation". 

Hi all,

Follow each point carefully and hopefully you'll avoid the frustration I went through! I find singing to myself semi-manically helps during such times...

To begin

Minimize comp configuration:
-          Only 1 HDD; simply unplug all HDDs except the one you'll be installing to
-          Only one chip of RAM (2GB in my case); (primary ram slot is usually closest to the processor)
-          Only PS2 keyboard; (actually worked for me using USB keyboard)
-          Should be fine to leave your video card/wireless card in

So, the back of your computer should now only have a power cable, DVI/VGA/HDMI and PS2/USB keyboard plugged in. Also, possibly a USB stick if you're using a USB flash drive to install (guide to creating a bootable Windows install flash drive here: http://themightygeek.com/?p=920)

Step 0, Optimize HDD as recommended at : (http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html) I found this worked best by using CMD both to "cleanall" (not just "clean") and format NTFS

Step 1, Ensure BIOS boot order is set to boot from CD/DVD (or USB flash drive). With the Windows 7 DVD (or USB Flash drive) in your DVD drive , press any key when prompted 'Press any key to boot from CD / DVD...', as soon as the message is gone, quickly press F8 to show the boot options list. Select Safe Mode and install 7. It will allow the initial stages & file copying.

Step 2, When the Window 7 installation has completed all the stages, such as copying, expanding, installing features, and then installing updates, it is going to restart; REMOVE THE DVD/USB BEFORE THE RESTART! Once restarted, you can reconfigure BIOS to boot from your HDD  (if you miss this then you will be you will be prompted to choose the boot device, choose HDD).

Step 3, When 7 restarts for the first time, spam F8 and select 'safe mode'. When you boot to SAFE MODE wait for a few minutes at the "SETUP IS STARTING WINDOWS FOR THE FIRST TIME" screen, then you'll get the popup that states "WINDOWS CANNOT CONTINUE SETUP IN SAFE MODE, CLICK OK TO RESTART" 
*NOTE: DO NOT restart, AND DO NOT click on the 'X' (close button) in the upper-right of the pop-up. You are going to do steps 4, 5 & 6 first before clicking to restart!!!!! *

Step 4, Simply press SHIFT+F10 (possibility of not working with USB keyboards although worked for me) -  that will bring up a COMMAND PROMPT after a few seconds. 

Step 5 From there you can enter COMPMGMTLAUNCHER

Step 6: Go to your device manager and disable:
- ALL your drivers that display the YELLOW TRIANGLE.
- ALL "unknown" device(s) drivers in any category. 
(this can be time consuming using only a keyboard so use the "tab" key to cycle through menus, the "D" key to disable drivers and the "Y" key to confirm)

Also keep in mind that Video is always a huge culprit... just disable ALL unknown devices and ALL yellow triangles...

_If you DO NOT know which is causing the problem AND you CANNOT see an obvious with a YELLOW TRIANGLE or EXCLAMATION POINT in Device Manager then try disabling any and changing any services from automatic to disabled for any that you don't recognize or that seem VENDOR (software or hardware) specific. _

Step 7: Once you have disabled all of your drivers press alt+F4 to exit. You can now close command window by clicking ok on the dialog box. Windows will now use a standard (with less functionality) when it restarts. The final setup should now complete successfully.

Once the installation has finished (congratulations by the way) and you actually have a screen up & running you should be able to install your original drivers as well as re-enable these and devices A really useful site to identify/audit the components you'll need to download drivers for can be found at http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Note: If you successfully install Windows 7 using this guide, but but are left with a corrupted or missing driver(s), I would suggest enabling only the internet driver and re-downloading all your drivers from the manufacture site. 


I didn't write this entirely myself; I compiled and edited information from a few sources after exhausting a silly amount of options and time trying to fix this issue. Credit goes to SheilaP from http://social.technet.microsoft.com...66-17c6-46e8-94e2-dd39b5b504c1?prof=required; and MKtorn from http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/175273-windows-7-freezes-completing-installation.html

Hope this helped!

SirYandi


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