Windows 7 Installation from the USB Sticknot working

[josephg]

Hello there.

I'm trying to install Win7 RC x64 (build 7100) in my desktop but not success so far. When I try to install, I get the following message:

Setup was unable to create a system partition or locate an existing partition. Error: 0x80300024

My hardware involved:
- a 160GB Sata HD (ST3160827AS)
- a 250GB Sata HD (ST3250820AS)
- a 8GB USB Stick (Kingston DataTraveler)

I'm running the installation of Win7 from the USB Stick (DVD media drive not working) and I want to install Win 7 in the 160GB harddisk, which has a blank NTFS partition. The 250GB harddisk is set as GPT and has some personal files, which I don't want to lose.

Obs.: I noticeLink Removed with similiar issue where "undertow" advised to unplug the USB, but in that case the installation was not from the USB. So, don't think that's my case, right?

Thanks in advance!

 

[vdude]

Can't you remove the 250GB drive, repartition the 160GB drive through the setup of Windows 7, and make it work that way? I'm not exactly sure what GPT is, but if possible, I would think that that would be the easiest way...

And if you had pre-partitioned the drive so you wouldn't have the "mystery 200MB partition", you can always mess around with the partitions until you trick Windows 7 a little
Below are steps for what worked for me (or I think this is what I did... I was really just messing around, and somehow, I got it to disappear >.<)
1) Make three partitions of random size . The first partition would create the extra "backup" partition
2) Remove the 100 or 200MB backup partition
3) Create another primary partition in the place of the backup partition. Since there can only be a maximum of four primary partitions, it cannot make the extra backup partition
4) Remove the other three primary partitions
5) Extend the first partition all the way

In theory, this makes sense, but I'm not 100% sure that this is what I did... I might have just made three partitions, deleted the backup, replaced it with another primary partition, and extended this partition as I deleted the other ones one by one...
Really, just mess around with it for a while, and you'll get it to work

 

[Sueisfine]

Hello there.

I'm trying to install Win7 RC x64 (build 7100) in my desktop but not success so far. When I try to install, I get the following message:

Setup was unable to create a system partition or locate an existing partition. Error: 0x80300024

My hardware involved:
- a 160GB Sata HD (ST3160827AS)
- a 250GB Sata HD (ST3250820AS)
- a 8GB USB Stick (Kingston DataTraveler)

I'm running the installation of Win7 from the USB Stick (DVD media drive not working) and I want to install Win 7 in the 160GB harddisk, which has a blank NTFS partition. The 250GB harddisk is set as GPT and has some personal files, which I don't want to lose.

Obs.: I notice this topic with similiar issue where \"undertow\" advised to unplug the USB, but in that case the installation was not from the USB. So, don't think that's my case, right?

Thanks in advance!

Hey there.

Hmmm, I installed Windows 7 more than one time now from my USB stick without any problems whatsoever. And it only takes me 10-12 minutes to install it, it's awesome

Just one thing though: to start the installation from the USB stick you have to go to BIOS and set your "Hard Disk Boot Priority" (exact name of this setting changes according to mobo model) in a way that the USB stick boots first.

BUT, when the first part of the install process is complete and the Windows 7 setup program reboots your pc for the first time DURING the installation, you must go to BIOS again and set the hard disk boot priority setting back to the HDD where you instructed Windows 7 to install itself. You don't unplug the USB because you need it to the rest of the install process but you need to do this otherwise your PC will try to boot from the USB again.

Sorry if you are already doing this yourself but I decided to give a heads up anyway, just in case

Good luck!

 

[josephg]

[solved]

Sueisfine: yep, I had to use your advice in the second part of the installation - I was ok with the rest. Thanks a lot!

vdude: When I started reading you post - the remove HD stuff - I remembered that during the installation of Windows 7 and Windows Server 7 the installer format the blank harddisk preparing a 100MB primary partition in the beginning. So, My problem could be that the secondary harddisk (250GB) is already formatted as GPT.

Could the installer be trying to format the GPT but not being able to work with it? Don't know. All I know that my problem was the GPT harddisk in the installation: Removed this HD during the installation and now it is solved.

Anyway, thanks all for the help!

 

[sparkilla]

This worked for me thanks for the help!

Sueisfine: yep, I had to use your advice in the second part of the installation - I was ok with the rest. Thanks a lot!

vdude: When I started reading you post - the remove HD stuff - I remembered that during the installation of Windows 7 and Windows Server 7 the installer format the blank harddisk preparing a 100MB primary partition in the beginning. So, My problem could be that the secondary harddisk (250GB) is already formatted as GPT.

Could the installer be trying to format the GPT but not being able to work with it? Don't know. All I know that my problem was the GPT harddisk in the installation: Removed this HD during the installation and now it is solved.

Anyway, thanks all for the help!

Seems to me that I didn't even think to bother to seeing if the other HDDs were the issue, but unplugging all but the one I was trying to install to worked. Thanks so much for this post and great advice. Thanks for helping me get my computer up and running again after the format .

 

[busydog]

BootItNG

The problems above bring up an interesting point.

I use BootItNG to manage my three hard drives and I can set a boot partition to NOT see the other Hard Drives or the other partitions on the subject Hard Drive when I am installing or upgrading an operating system, including Windows 7. Try it... it is a gold mine for solving multiple hard drive issues.