Windows Vista Installation Failed. Error Restart Loop After Install.

Question

I made it as far as the end of Step 2: Partition for Windows Vista -> Format -> Install -> Restart
Note: Partition size = 45 GB. Apple USB keyboard and mouse worked fine.
The install process was stuck in a loop at this point. After restart the screen was black for about 5 minutes. Disc made noise off and on but no screen input. Then it finally restarted. Next screen had error info and a choice to continue. After that a "Install Windows" error msg appeared;
+"The computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed. To install Windows, click "OK" to restart the computer and then restart the installation."+
Clicking "OK" resulted in the same error msg. along with +"Press any key to boot from disc"+. No success attempting to start up from Windows partition. or disc. Restarted to Mac HD. There is a "Untitled" drive on the Desktop. It contains multiple folders (11 GB). I tried to restart from this drive w/o Windows disc and it returned to the previous error msg.
Next I tried restarting w/ Option key, inserting Windows disc, clicking on arrow under disc icon and quickly pressing any key. This brought up +"Windows Boot Manager Window"+. The only choice was; +"Windows set up [EMS Enabled]. To specify an advanced option for this choice, press F8. Tools: Windows memory diagnostic.+" None of the key choices (Enter, Tab, Esc) responded. Disc would not eject.
Booted to Mac HD. Ejected disc w/ mouse. Used Boot Camp to restore partition. After restart screen is black with; +"No bootable device -- insert boot disc and press any key".+ Then I power down/on with Option key. Only Mac HD is displayed. Log into Admin. Mac HD looks fine. Run Disk Utility to verify disk/volume. OK. Also ran TechTool Deluxe. Passed. Open System Preferences, check that Mac HD Startup Disk is highlighted. Restart. OK now.
What is going on? I was quite confident this would install without any problem since I was using the latest OS X 10.5.6 and Windows Vista Business (early version). Could that be the cause? I had no problem installing it under VMware Fusion 2 (downloaded updates), worked flawlessly. If I can't get this to work then I have to go back to a PC for ACAD. HELP!!
Can I get Apple Support for this issue (Phone only, or Genius Bar)? I have AppleCare.
Message was edited by: Sakahara
Message was edited by: Sakahara

Answer 1

Your problem sounds somewhat like mine, although not exactly. In my case it seems as if my CD/DVD drive didn't like the hologram on my Windows XP install CD. I solved this by using Disk Utility to make a disk image of the Windows DVD and then burning the disk image onto a new DVD with an opaque "label". That solved that problem.
A further problem occurred after that. When I got to the screen that told me to hit "Enter" to start the installation process my keyboard was unresponsive. I solved this by buying a cheap Windows keyboard. That solved that problem and I now have Windows XP running just fine.
I think that you'll find that Apple tech support isn't very responsive to these sort of problems. I don't have Apple Care but was willing to pay my $49 for tech support. I ended up talking to a "Boot Camp specialist". He was polite but told me that it was "a windows problem" and that Apple didn't support Windows. I agree that Apple can't support windows but it seemed like my two problems were "Mac problems". Anyway, after tearing my hair out for 4 days I finally got it done. I have to admit that I'm not happy with apple tech support.