Solved Clean install partition not found

[chillyantelope]

I'm doing a clean install of Win7. I have one hard drive with two partitions (lettered C & D) and want to install Win7 on the C partition. When I load Win 7 setup (custom-advance option) and get to the 'Where do you want to install Windows?' screen I only see my D partition listed.

UEFI is disabled in BIOS & my disk is MBR (not GPT). There is a old Win7 install on the C partition that loads just fine & in Disk Management it shows C as 'Healthy-System, Boot, Active, ect...'. The D partition is 'Healthy-Primary Partition'. I've tried both booting from the Windows 7 DVD & starting installation from inside Windows.

Any idea on what's preventing the C partition from showing up in Windows setup?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[chillyantelope]

I did a scandisk on the disk and didn't find any errors. I have everything backed up to an external drive with windows system image. I'm thinking about wiping the disk and re-formating & partitioning it with Partition Wizard, my concern is that setup won't recognize the drive at all after that.
I find it odd that it recognizes the disk but not both partitions.

 

[AddRAM]

Delete the entire drive to unallocated space, then install windows.

If you don`t want a system reserved partition, then use a PW Boot CD to delete the entire drive to unallocated space, then create 1 partition out of the entire drive, format it NTFS, mark it Active and Align it.

If you can`t do that then maybe you have a bad drive.

It can also be done with Diskpart.

DISKPART : At PC Startup - Windows 7 Help Forums

SSD Alignment - Windows 7 Help Forums

Also, check the Bios for Secure boot and Disable it.

Have you personally ever installed W7 on this drive before ?

 

[chillyantelope]

Thanks for the response. Okay - the drive doesn't have a system reserve on it currently or any unallocated space, so I suppose the Windows installer is trying the use the C partition for this purpose?

I don't think I want system reserve but would like two partitions on the drive, so my game plan is 1) format the drive into a single partition, 2) format it to NTFS, 3) install windows, 4) then create the second partition with PW.

No, I haven't installed Windows on this laptop before. It's an ASUS with an OEM license, so it only came with a restore image full of bloatware. I backed up the license with Advanced Tokens Manager and want to do a clean install of Windows 7.
I didn't see any SecureBoot options in BIOS. The SMBIOS is version 2.6 & I believe SecureBoot came 2.7 and later.

 

[AddRAM]

Not sure why the entire drive is not showing up when you try to reinstall.

But post a shot of Disk Management, maybe it will give us a clue.

Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Help Forums

 

[chillyantelope]

 

[chillyantelope]

And this is what I get during installation.

 

[AddRAM]

That is very odd, never seen that before.

I`d just buy a new SSD for it anyway

But wait a minute there`s the message that says "To make changes to partitions, restart Windows from the installation disc'

Are you booting from the dvd ? It doesn`t look like it.

If not then that`s why C is not showing up, you can`t format windows if you`re already in Windows.

Clean Install Windows 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums

Once you boot from the dvd you shouldn`t have any more problems.

 

[chillyantelope]

I initialized setup in windows to get the screen shot but I've been booting from the disk and get the same scenario showing only my D: but with a few extra options (Delete, Format, New, Extend)

Could there be a problem with SATA Drivers on the Windows dvd? I'm using the retail iso and slipstreamed the Convenience Rollup, Internet Explorer 11, Intel Storage Controller Driver and USB 3.0 support.

 

[AddRAM]

Create yourself a fresh install dvd

Download the iso of what you want from here.

Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool

or here

Windows Download - #1 Windows ISO Download Source

Burn to dvd at the slowest possible speed or use rufus to put the iso file on a usb stick

Free ISO Burner

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way


I still don`t understand why the installer can`t see the entire drive :huh:

 

[Layback Bear]

From post #10

I still don`t understand why the installer can`t see the entire drive

Could it be that chillyantelope is running the installer while booted into Windows 7?

Jack

 

[AddRAM]

He says he`s booting from the dvd, he just added that picture to show what he ends up with.

Reply #9

 

[Layback Bear]

What I see is the installation is only seeing Partition 'D'.
That leads me to believe the system is boot into Windows 7 (Partition 'C') and not into the installation media. To me the pictures don't match the written word in post #9.

Post # 6 & 7.

Of course I could be wrong. I do very few Clean Installs.

Jack

 

[AddRAM]

He says he`s booting from the dvd, so it remains a mystery.

 

[Layback Bear]

Yes it is a mystery until chillyantelope gets back to us.

Jack

 

[chillyantelope]

I have been booting directly from the Windows DVD, the screen shot in post #7 was made when I initiated install from inside Windows. However I get the same situation (only D drive showing) regardless of how I start the install process.

I booted from the dvd went into system recovery tools and ran diskpart and see my drive and partitions are showing which means the driver and partition table are fine. Then when I back out of it and try to install, I only see D.

 

[chillyantelope]

But I get this message just before I go into system recovery tools. Partition size 0 & Unknown local disk

 

[chillyantelope]

I may have bricked my laptop. I did a diskpart format fs=ntfs quick on the drive and when I go to install it shows no drives at all. Just what I was worried about.
I tested my system image before I formatted and it worked fine. But now it doesn't. I got a message 'No disk that can be used for recovery can be found.....'
Is this a driver issue? When I go into diskpart from recovery tools it shows my drive, and C that I formatted in diskpart.
Why would diskpart see my drive and install won't?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[chillyantelope]

I figured it out!!!
Windows is installing now... I'll explain what happened when finish setting it up.

 

[Layback Bear]

Please do remember to let us know what happen and what was the problem.

Jack