I've clean-installed Windows 7 several times on my new Z77 Extreme4 board, booting from a UEFI USB (FAT32) derived from the Windows installation ISO (I select the UEFI USB option from the F11 boot menu).
Each time I try, I get a "Drivers failed to load" error just before the Windows EULA should appear, and the installation won't proceed. It happens repeatedly if I try again. But if I clear the board's CMOS, set up the same UEFI values as before, and try again, then the Windows installation succeeds, with no driver-loading error.
The clear-CMOS workaround is easy (I don't OC and I use mostly default UEFI values). But I'm wondering what makes the workaround necessary each time I reinstall Windows. Since I re-establish the same UEFI values anyway (after clearing CMOS, prior to the successful Windows reinstallation), why should clearing the CMOS make any difference? Does it indicate that some data on the motherboard is getting corrupted each time? (I've had this happen on two different Z77 X4 boards.)
Each time I try, I get a "Drivers failed to load" error just before the Windows EULA should appear, and the installation won't proceed. It happens repeatedly if I try again. But if I clear the board's CMOS, set up the same UEFI values as before, and try again, then the Windows installation succeeds, with no driver-loading error.
The clear-CMOS workaround is easy (I don't OC and I use mostly default UEFI values). But I'm wondering what makes the workaround necessary each time I reinstall Windows. Since I re-establish the same UEFI values anyway (after clearing CMOS, prior to the successful Windows reinstallation), why should clearing the CMOS make any difference? Does it indicate that some data on the motherboard is getting corrupted each time? (I've had this happen on two different Z77 X4 boards.)
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