Windows 7 installation gets stuck on Expanding Files for 2 hours
Hi
So we are using Lenovo machines and on our T430s/X230 we sometime saw machines that would get stuck on expanding files during Windows 7 installation. On these models we could change it from AHCI to Compatability Mode on the harddisk and this would resolve the issue. However on our new T440s and i presume it could also happen on our X240 this problem is occuring again but this time Lenovo and Intel has removed Compatability Mode as they no longer support Windows XP.
Anyone have any idea what could be causing this?
Quick edit: Its worth mentioning that the PC does complete installation just takes 2 hours longer then normal.
Thanks
Soeren
Answers
The situation where changing to compatibility mode solved your problem comes down to not having the correct mass storage drivers in your build. Compatibility mode has no direct link to the lifespan of XP, but reflects the arrival of the SATA interface which operating systems do not support by default. Unlike the older IDE (PATA) standard, which was a true standard, the SATA interface is supported by a large number of different chipsets which require different drivers, and SATA itself has evolved from SATA 1 to SATA 2 to SATA 3 and now SATA 6.
With each new hardware release, it becomes necessary to add the correct mass storage drivers to the build. Without that, the functionality of the build process is trashed. Although the process completes in an additional 2 hour, I am left wondering what the state of the hard disk is, at the end of the build process. Clearly this additional time is being spent on something like retries as the disk is not being accessed correctly, and the final performance may end up being hit as well.
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