Windows 7 64-bit: setup was unable to create a new system partition gpt disk
I have an Adaptec 6405 RAID controller with an 11TB RAID array. I am trying to install Windows 7 Pro 64-bit on the array. I have booted from the Windows DVD in EUFI mode but when I select the partition windows gives me the message: "setup was unable to create a new system partition or location an existing system partition. See the setup log files for more information"
I created the partition using the following commands:
diskpart
list disk
select disk <id>
online disk
attributes disk clear readonly
clean
convert gpt
create partition efi size=102
create partition msr size=32
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs label="Operating System"
assign letter=C
exit
What am I doing wrong. How do I install Windows 7 on this drive (RAID array)?
I created the partition using the following commands:
diskpart
list disk
select disk <id>
online disk
attributes disk clear readonly
clean
convert gpt
create partition efi size=102
create partition msr size=32
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs label="Operating System"
assign letter=C
exit
What am I doing wrong. How do I install Windows 7 on this drive (RAID array)?
Mitchell Milligan
This could be because you do not have the driver loaded for the RAID controller. Try importing that driver into the Windows 7 installation when you get to the disk selection screen. Then, after importing your driver, run your commands as listed above, but stop at the convert GPT, this will give you a blank GPT disk that windows 7 should see. Then go back and use the standard GUI Windows 7 installation wizard. That should detect that the disk is running in GPT and create all those partitions on its own.
ASKER
The problems is not that I cannot see the drive. I can load the driver and see the drive. It just won't install windows on the partition that I created using the diskpart command I listed above.
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ASKER
Ok. Did that. It got farther. Now during the windows installation the following messages pops up: "Windows could not prepare the computer to boot into the next phase of the installation. To install windows, restart the installation"
What is this about?
What is this about?
Check your BIOS to see if the RAID array is set as the first boot device, and that your BIOS boots as a UEFI device, not a legacy device. That is typically the issue here.
ASKER
Ok. I got it to work. After running through diskpart commands for a second time and deleting all of the partitions are re-initializing the disk as GPT then windows was able to create the partition and then install Windows. 10.9TB partition!
ASKER
This fixed the problem after I started from scratch and initialized the disk, and converted it to GPT, then let Windows setup do the rest.
Excellent! Glad it worked. That is amazing isn't it? A 10.9 TB partition?!?!? What is your raid configuration for my curiosity? How many disks? What size disks? What raid style?
ASKER
It's just a RAID-5 with (4) 4TB SATA drives
Wow, that's awesome! That kind of storage is unreal!
A side note: look into raid 10 at some point. It is much better than raid 5 at this point, and much more fault tolerant. Raid 10 with those disks would be 2 x 4tb discs striped, then those two discs mirrored to two more 2 x 4tb discs striped the same. You get quality performance with stronger fault tolerance. You can loose 2 drives and still be up and running, and your effective storage space would be 8tb, which is still significant. With Raid 5, if you loose 2 drives, you are toast.
A side note: look into raid 10 at some point. It is much better than raid 5 at this point, and much more fault tolerant. Raid 10 with those disks would be 2 x 4tb discs striped, then those two discs mirrored to two more 2 x 4tb discs striped the same. You get quality performance with stronger fault tolerance. You can loose 2 drives and still be up and running, and your effective storage space would be 8tb, which is still significant. With Raid 5, if you loose 2 drives, you are toast.