Solved Unable to get fresh install of Windows 7 on SSD

[johnearle99]

Yesterday I attempted to install a few new components in my computer and have been having issues installing windows

New components
Asus M5A97 Mobo
AMD Phenom X4 965 3.4 Ghtz
Samsung 830 128gig SSD

In the system I have my previous working
Samsung DVD drive
500v power supply
Radeon HD 6850 graphics card

I do not currently have my 1tb Samsung drive connected

I have the SSD hooked up in the first 6b/s SATA port and the DvD drive in port 2.
BIOS finds the hard drive and the setting in BIOS are ACHI

When I get to the windows setup screen where it asks me to pick the drive to install windows on I choose the SSD which shows 120g unallocated space,

At this point I get a Windows cannot create partition error.
I have gone into Diskpart and created the partition and set it to active and again tried to reinstall and get the same message

I have followed some Windows forums post (http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html) regarding a clean install on SSD which says to create a NTFS format partition in Diskpart but when I attempt to format the SSD in Diskpart I receive an I/O device error.

At one point I actually got passed the initial step in setup and go to expaning files where it failed with the message unable to install files. Since then it has reverted back to the unable to create partition error.

I also tried doing the installation using the UEFI boot option in BIOS and when I create the new partitions (as an article I read was saying it should) The 3 partitions were created but when I selected the partition to put windows on I received the unable to create partition error.

I have a burned windows 7 disc I made using ISOBurner, a USB stick to use for install, and have even tried a previous Vista disk retail (not burned) to see if it was perhaps the installation.

I have also hooked up my previous Samsung 1tb HDD to see what happens if I were to try to boot from it, I have seen 2 outcomes to doing this.

The first is Disk Read Error press cntrl alt del to reset and the second (which I only had happen once) the windows login screen came up, then flashed blue and reset the pc.

I built a PC for my brother in law 3 weeks aho using an Asus mobo with the same BIOS screen, that install I had a fresh HDD and a SSD and it allowed me to install windows without a problem to his SSD (again from a burned ISO disk). I did not have to do anything out of the ordinary.

This has been really frustrating and at this point I am not sure if there is just something wrong with the Mobo or I am missing a tiny step in the process, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

When I get to the windows setup screen where it asks me to pick the drive to install windows on I choose the SSD which shows 120g unallocated space,

At this point I get a Windows cannot create partition error.

I have gone into Diskpart and created the partition and set it to active and again tried to reinstall and get the same message

You successfully created an active partition in Diskpart and then get a "cannot create partition error"???

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello johnearle99, welcome to Seven Forums!


Why are you trying to use the installer to create a partition after you use diskpart to do that?


This from Step Two of the tutorial linked below.

SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation
​

   Note

Do not format the created partition(s) with the installer if you create them using this process as the installer will delete all this info, the second snip shows how to select "where to install" during the installation process, click to highlight/select the "Windows 7" partition and click next.

​

 

[Saltgrass]

An Install should be able to use a new drive without problems. Are you using the same motherboard you used for your brother-in-law's install? I don't run AMD motherboards, so I would be unaware of situations involving that motherboard.

Any bios updates for the board?

 

[johnearle99]

Hello johnearle99, welcome to Seven Forums!


Why are you trying to use the installer to create a partition after you use diskpart to do that?

When I create the partition in Diskpart I don't try to recreate it using the installer (I may have mistyped that) I simply highlight the partition and choose next and I still get the partition error.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

My first thought would be to go back to diskpart and use the "clean" command to wipe the drive.

Then make one new active primary partition covering the entire drive, assigning the C drive letter.

Then exit diskpart and drop back into the Windows installation and choose that new C as the destination for Windows when you get to "drive options, advanced".

What is the source of the ISO you burned to make the install disc?

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Heve you tried the clean command (instead of the clean all) and the subsequent process listed in Step Two #3 to see if that works for you?

 

[johnearle99]

An Install should be able to use a new drive without problems. Are you using the same motherboard you used for your brother-in-law's install? I don't run AMD motherboards, so I would be unaware of situations involving that motherboard.

Any bios updates for the board?

It is on the most current version of BIOS.

My brother in laws mobo was different as was his SSD, but I did not have to do anything to get windows to install on his SSD it just ran the first time.

 

[johnearle99]

My first thought would be to go back to diskpart and use the "clean" command to wipe the drive.

Then make one new active primary partition covering the entire drive, assigning the C drive letter.

Then exit diskpart and drop back into the Windows installation and choose that new C as the destination for Windows when you get to "drive options, advanced".

I can successfully run a clean on the drive but once I try to format the drive I run into issues.

I am getting errors in Diskpart usually an I/O device error or parameter error, right now I am trying to format the drive and it says 0 percent completed, and has been sitting that way for 7 minutes or so now.

 

[johnearle99]

It just failed stating
Diskpart has encountered an error: The parameter is incorrect.
See system event log for more information.

I do not know how to look at the system event log through the command prompt

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Not sure it makes any difference, but why are you trying to format the drive as a separate process??

That is done automatically as a matter of course, during the installation, after choosing the destination partition. You never issue a "format" command.

Where did you get the ISO?

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Are you bootimng the installer or are you trying this from the Windows desktop.

 

[johnearle99]

Not sure it makes any difference, but why are you trying to format the drive as a separate process??

That is done automatically as a matter of course, during the installation, after choosing the destination partition. You never issue a "format" command.

Where did you get the ISO?

The ISO was downloaded from Technet I believe. I don't recall exactly as it was a gift from a friend of the family who did it during a party. It is a legit copy of windows.

This issue still occurs when trying to use my retail Vista disk though too, so Im not sure if its related to the ISO.

 

[johnearle99]

Are you bootimng the installer or are you trying this from the Windows desktop.

I am booting the installer.

I can't get to windows even if i try to put in my old HD that has everything from my previous setup. I get a disk read error when I try to do this.

 

[johnearle99]

The BIOS is up to date and the ACHI drivers are up to date.

However I just went in to do a clean on the disk in DISKPART and got the Device I/O error. When just an hour ago it let me clean the disk but failed at formatting.

I am going to see if i can get my wifes pc to recognize the SSD and write to it this evening, that way I will know this is related to the MOBO.

I have tried 500 things it seems across 10 hours and still am in the same spot.

Thanks for any other direction you may be able to point me in!

 

[johnearle99]

SSD works fine in my wifes PC which is ~2 years old. I was able to format the drive and write to it.

I hooked the SSD back up to my PC with it being the only SATA device connected and still received the same errors.

Does the fact that I am running into these errors in Diskpart mean there is something wrong with the mobo?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

That's certainly possible.

Have you tried connecting the SSD to other ports on the motherboard?

 

[johnearle99]

That's certainly possible.

Have you tried connecting the SSD to other ports on the motherboard?

So far I have tried ports 1-4 with no luck.

I am unsure what to try next, my biggest fear is replacing this with a new mobo and having the same thing happen which would mean it is some config issue afterall, haha.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Is this the command you use and fail at in diskpart format attempts:

format fs=ntfs quick

As I understand it, some of the errors you are getting are intermittent?

Have you tried another set of drive cables?

 

[johnearle99]

Is this the command you use and fail at in diskpart format attempts:

format fs=ntfs quick

As I understand it, some of the errors you are getting are intermittent?

Have you tried another set of drive cables?

Yes that is the command that fails when i try to format.

When i tested the SSD on my wifes PC i used a different SATA cable, when it was successful I then used that same cable in my PC when I booted up and went into Diskpart I received an error when executing clean.

The error was:

DiskPart has encountered an error: The request could not be performed because of an I/O Device error

I have received this several times when trying to run clean or clean all on the disk.

Sometimes it will allow me to run clean and then when i try to format it throws the error speaking of an Invalid Parameter

The intermittent errors are what troubles me as it does not always behave the same way each time.