If the partition youve chosen contains files from a previous Windows installation

Symptoms

Table of Contents:

1. "Windows cannot be installed to disk # partition #" error when installing Windows
2. Possible causes for the error
3. How to resolve the issue and continue the Windows installation

This article provides information on how to resolve "Windows cannot be installed to disk # partition #" error when installing Windows.

"Windows cannot be installed to disk # partition #" error when installing Windows

When attempting to install Windows 7 or 8 on a system using the internal SAS controller for the hard drives, you may receive the message "Windows cannot be installed to disk # partition #". If you choose the partition shown and click Next, then the message "Windows was unable to install to the selected location" may appear as shown below:

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Possible causes for the error

These errors occur due to a SAS driver issue, or corrupted MFT (Main File Table) on the hard drive. When loading the Intel\LSI onboard SAS or PERC SAS driver, the drives will show. But when choosing the correct partition, the Windows warning message from above appears. This is usually because partmgr.sys (the Microsoft Windows partition manager) has lost communication with the driver after partition changes were made. This can happen when the Boot Mode or Boot List Option in the Bios settings is set to UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), and the hard drive is over 2 TB(terrabytes) in size.

NOTE: For hard drives over 2 TB in size to be used as the boot drive, the drive must be converted to the GUID Partition Table (GPT) , and the boot options in the BIOS must be set to UEFI.

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How to resolve the issue and continue the Windows installation

Follow these steps to resolve the issue:

1. Start the Windows installation routine.
2. Once the "Where do you wish to install Windows?" screen appears, load the SAS driver from the USB key as required. If the drive is over 2TB and needs to be converted to GPT, skip to the next section.
3. On the next screen, the hard drive and possible previous partitions will be shown. If the drive does not show up, verify you have installed the correct SAS driver.
4. If previous partitions are shown, highlight each one and click Delete until there is only one partition showing as "Unallocated Space".
5. Click New and the appropriate size partition should appear. Click OK and you should see 3 partitions: a 100MB System Partition, a 128MB MSR for GPT, and the large partition.
6. Highlight the large partition and click Refresh. This should tie the SAS driver back to the drive. Click Next to start the installation process.

If the error still occurs, or if the drive needs to be converted to GPT, follow these steps:

1. Once the "Where do you wish to install Windows?" screen appears, load the SAS driver from the USB key as usual. The drive should show in the window.
2. Press SHIFT+F10. Once the command window appears, type diskpart and press Enter.
3. Once Diskpart loads, type list disk and press Enter.
4. Locate the hard drive by size. There will be a number next to it, (0 or 1 usually). Type select disk # and press Enter (# being the drive number of the hard drive).
5. Type clean and press Enter. You should see a message that the clean was successful.
6. Type convert gpt and press Enter. You should see a message stating the drive converted. Type exit and press Enter, then close the command window.
7. Click Refresh. You should see one drive listed as Unallocated Space.
8. Highlight the drive and click New. The appropriate size should appear. Click OK and you should see 3 partitions: a 100MB System Partition, a 128MB partition, and the large partition.
9. Highlight the large partition and click Refresh. This should tie the SAS driver back to the drive. Click Next to start the installation process.

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Cause

Resolution

(Last Updated On: October 16, 2018)

In most cases, after a re-installation of a Windows operating system, you may encounter some device driver issues with the newly installed one.

During the installation of Windows 7 and above at the point where you need to choose the drive to install Windows, you have the choice to delete or format partitions in which you will lose all the data on that drive. But if you don’t perform either of these, you may decide to install Windows on a drive that is already containing an existing Windows installation that you want to replace.

In this case, all you need to do is to make sure you at least have 24GB of free space on that drive, it could be less that, but that’s the recommended space. This will allow you to re-install Windows without losing your files. 

The image below should appear when you’re trying to install Windows on a drive that’s already containing an existing Windows OS. 

If the partition you’ve chosen contains files from a previous Windows installation, these files and folders will be moved to a folder named Windows.old. You’ll be able to access Windows.old, but you won’t be able to use your previous version of Windows.

Restore Device Drivers From Windows.old Folder

After the installation of the new Windows, you can simply restore the drivers from the previous installation instead of using a DriverPack. First you’ll need to go to your device manager to see the missing drivers and then right click and choose Update Driver Software.

Choose the second option on the next screen.

Browse for the Windows folder that is within the Windows.old folder.C:\Windows.old\Windows

After choosing the Windows folder, click Ok and then click Next for the system to search for the appropriate driver.

If found, Windows will automatically install it.

How To Delete The Windows.old Folder

Now that you’ve reinstall the drivers, you may want to delete the Windows.old folder to save some space. In most cases, you may have difficulties deleting the Windows.old folder. So follow the methods below to entirely delete the folder.

NOTE: Before deleting this folder make sure you go to C:\Windows.old\Users\AccountUsername and move all your important files from there. 

First, right click on the drive containing the Windows.old folder, usually drive C: and clickProperties.

Within the properties dialog box, click Disk Cleanup

Next, you should see the Disk Cleanup dialog box, check only the Previous Windows installations and click Ok.

Allow Disk Cleanup to complete the cleaning.

That’s it!

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