Windows cannot be installed to Disk 0 Partition 1

[UserInTrouble]

Hello good people,
I need some urgent help with Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64Bit installation process on my brand new ASUS A73TA laptop that came with Free Dos. I managed to boot the Windows 7 disc and everything goes fine until this very point :

Where do you want to install Windows:
Name Total size Free Space Type
1.) Disk 0 Partition 1: FD_BETA9SR2 456.8GB 456.6GB System
2.) Disk 0 Partition 2: 9.0GB 9.0GB Primary

Error: Windows cannot be installed to Disk 0 Partition 1. (Show details)
Details: Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GTP disks. Windows cannot be installed to this hard disk space. Windows must be installed to a partition formatted as NTFS.

Now what should I do ? Should I install on partition 2 of just 9.0GB, would that be enough in the long run and would I be able to use the other partition for my work in Windows 7 ? I want to do the right thing here and not make a mistake, such as formatting the wrong or choosing the wrong partition ! Also I have no clue where my Free Dos is stored and don't wanna make a mess by doing the wrong thing.

Should I go with install on Partition 2 ?
Also among the options I have Refresh/Delete/Format/New/Load Driver/Extend.
Would it be safe to format Partition 1 and make it NTFS ?

Many thanks for Your thoughts and responses !!!

 

[Zomby88]

Delete both those partitions, then try.

 

[seavixen32]

Welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

Please post a screenshot of your expanded disk management layout so that we can give you best advice.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

You certainly won't be able to install Windows 7 on the 9 GB partition for these reasons:

1) It's too small, the minimum recommended size for Windows 7 is 20 GB, 40 GB is better, but you'd do better with 100 GB to allow for shadow storage and applications you want to install.

2) I've no doubt it's a recovery partition, so if you delete it without creating a set of recovery discs first you'll have no way of reverting to your computer's factory state.

The Free Dos application you mention will be on Disk O Partition and I would imagine the reason why you can't install Windows to this partition is because it is the active partition that contains the master boot record.

 

[Bill2]

Zomby88 is correct.

 

[rraod]

Your laptop has come with freeDOS and without windows.

So feel free and delete both partitons without bothering yourself to create recovery disks. You will never need the freeDOS again.

After deleting both partitions, create a 80-100GB partition for windows (C: ) and continue installation. You can make a second partition of remaining space from within windows (disk management program) later. This second partition can be used for your data.

 

[UserInTrouble]

Hello, thanks, I've managed to install it.
I've deleted both partitions and was left with just one fresh unallocated partition. From there on Setup accepted this new partition and my installation was successfully finished.

The only issue, if any, is that I now have 1 partition for everything, Windows included. The whole disk is ~500gb, 7200rpm, I am planning to use the new laptop for audio & video production, I'm not sure creating 1 more separate partition just for non-OS data would make any difference, performance wise ?

 

[Zomby88]

Cha-Ching, that`s exactly what it`s supposed to do, Good Job !!!!

You can make another partition with Partition Wizard 7.0 if you like.

In my opinion, you will not benefit from a separate partition, speedwise.

You could make the partition and put a system image on it.

But, just get your laptop in working order first.

 

[rraod]

If you have a single partition, only performance issue is during a backup which takes more time for larger hard disks.

It is always better to separate the userdata from OS partition. This way if there is OS problem in future and you wish to reinstall windows, your userdata on second partition will not be disturbed.

 

[Bill2]

Hello, thanks, I've managed to install it.
I've deleted both partitions and was left with just one fresh unallocated partition. From there on Setup accepted this new partition and my installation was successfully finished.

The only issue, if any, is that I now have 1 partition for everything, Windows included. The whole disk is ~500gb, 7200rpm, I am planning to use the new laptop for audio & video production, I'm not sure creating 1 more separate partition just for non-OS data would make any difference, performance wise ?

Performance wise- the audio video work would create a lot of temporary files, that would get deleted from time. So the disk is likely to get heavily fragmented over time which would impact performance.

In fact AFAIK, apps like Photoshop use a scratch disk where scrap files and temp data are stored when you run out of memory. The bigger your project, the larger these files. It is advised to set an external disk as the scratch disk, should give you a nice performance boost.

 

[UserInTrouble]

Many thanks guys, I appreciate Your thoughts & support.
Once I have the drivers installed, I'll finally decide regarding the 2nd partition. Having separate Windows partition may indeed help with the reinstall if something goes wrong, but other than that I too doubt there would be any speed benefits.. further more I'm not sure if Windows and other programs's communication with data on the other partition would even be slower than if they all were on one partition ?

Its very true regarding the audio & video files, and the better quality the bigger they get, plus temp. files and very soon it all gets cluttered and performance decreases. External drive is a good idea, I have it, but beeing 2.0usb is not good enough for direct access, even 3.0usb I believe is not, I need fast speed for least audio latency & multitracks, that why I got 7200rpm disk on a laptop(majority of laptop disks are still 5400rpm, even with the higher end laptops). My intention is to use laptop's disk for only the latest working projects and everything else to put on external usb 2.0 or 3.0, that way I'll have the high access speed for my current work but won't overload the laptop's disk and overall performance.

 

[seavixen32]

I would be inclined to install Windows + applications on one partition, and then use the other for personal data.

That way you can create an image backup of Windows, from which you can restore if need be without worrying about losing important data.

As for a scratch disk(s), Adobe do recommend an external drive if possible.

Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 * Specify scratch disks to improve system performance

 

[gregrocker]

Once the data partition starts getting full I would move data to second HD along with image backups.

One good use for RAID on data drives is when working with large video files.

 

[UserInTrouble]

Any suggestions for how to install/connect that 2nd HD later in time, other than USB 2.0 or 3.0 ?
I know my new laptop doesn't have E-Sata. Those new SSDs seem awesome, but at this point in time they're still not mainstream and offer too little space for way too much money, also I'm not sure if and how well they connect externally.

 

[rraod]

You say you need high performance from the primary disk and for extra disks for AV processing. You also say USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 interfaces are not enough for you. So for the time being you can continue your work with the laptop but an ideal candidate for you will be a powerful desktop with expansion capability.

You can build a desktop with a i7 quad core processor with HT enabled, loads of RAM (min 16-24 GB), nVidia graphics card with atleast 2 GB onboard memory, 1-3 TB SATA hard disk and a large full HD (1080i) LED/LCD monitor. A desktop can always be added with more no. of HDDs without any problem and performance issues. You will also have an option to use SCSI hard disks for high performance.

 

[aem]

@userintrouble, You have a laptop with 1 HDD what is your 2nd HDD going to look like ie how are you going to hook it up if not through USB, e-sata, dvi/hdmi port?

 

[UserInTrouble]

@rraod

I agree that powerful desktop could offer way much more performance, upgrade & overall value for the money, but at this point in time I need the mobillity, when travelling or moving abroad, carrying desktop isn't exactly an option; for 900$+ total value of laptop(QuadCore, ATI 6720 G2, 7200rpm Disk, 17" HD Screen) + Windows7, this was the best deal I could get with my current budget. I plan to spend more for my next system.. by that time, for 1500-2000$+ for example You can already get the high-end laptop that would match the desktop specs You mentioned, and taking the fact that laptops are getting cheaper and cheaper by the day, I believe they'll soon become the overall desktop replacements.

@aem

That was my question actually. I don't think there is a way for me to easily hook up with a proper 2nd HDD. My laptop has no e-sata, I've never heard that You can use hdmi/dvi for connecting HDD.. that leaves me with USB 2.0 & 3.0.
I'll most likely get 2TB external USB 3.0, thats the best value option I guess, but even that disk would be for data storage, I wouldn't be using it for direct working projects as I believe my primary 7200rpm would still be ways faster than 3.0 external USB.

 

[UserInTrouble]

Btw, heres one interesting test
USB 3.0 Speed Test vs USB 2.0 eSATA Internal connection (NCIX Tech Tips #71) - YouTube

3GB File, Speed transfer results:
Internal: 31 seconds
E-sata: 37 seconds
USB 3.0: 36 seconds
USB 2.0: 1 minute 41 seconds
Firewire: NA

Internal is still the best deal, but suprisingly it seems that E-sata & USB 3.0 seem to be rather equal.

 

[aem]

@rraod

@aem

That was my question actually. I don't think there is a way for me to easily hook up with a proper 2nd HDD. My laptop has no e-sata, I've never heard that You can use hdmi/dvi for connecting HDD.. that leaves me with USB 2.0 & 3.0.
I'll most likely get 2TB external USB 3.0, thats the best value option I guess, but even that disk would be for data storage, I wouldn't be using it for direct working projects as I believe my primary 7200rpm would still be ways faster than 3.0 external USB.

What about a PCMCIA HDD?

 

[UserInTrouble]

Don't really know about that one..
Does it connect externally ? I've tried googling out, but it doesn't seem to be what I'm looking for.. 100$ for 8.1 GB PCMCIA Hard Disk for example.. that sounds less capacity & even more expensive than those latest high tech Solid State Drives - SSDs. But then again, as I've read even with SSDs, their installation requires the primary laptop's HDD to be removed which is something I'm now willing to do, the only new HDD connection I'd appreciate is external.

 

[rraod]

Some of the laptops like Toshiba and HP have a spare bay for a second internel HDD. But you have to make sure that the bay has a connector to insert another HDD.

I got a new Toshiba P775-S7232 (see my system specs below) two months ago with a spare bay for second internal HDD and support in BIOS. But sadly the HDD bay lacks a connector due to a silly policy of Toshiba. There is no way I can connect an extra HDD.