Error installing windows: we couldn't create a new partition

Energize · 31 Oct 2015 at 17:34

When I try to install Windows 2012 R2 Standard, I keep getting the useless error message "we couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing partition". This is despite being apparently able to create partitions in the installer?!

I am installing to a 2x1TB RAID 1 array on a Marvell raid controller. There are no other drives in the PC, no card readers and no USB devices connected other than the keyboard and mouse and the USB pen drive I am installing Windows from.

It seems to be some bug in Windows as far as I can tell.

I have tried using diskpart to clean and create the primary partition to no avail, I have rebuilt the raid array and even tried changing the boot order in the BIOS, but nothing works.

I previously had the evaluation version installed which was working fine, so it's not as though there is a problem with the PC's hardware.

Any suggestions please?

ashrobbo · 31 Oct 2015 at 18:02

are you sure the disk your using is OK? Maybe re-burn the ISO at a lower speed. I've seen od errors occur from a possible corrupt install.

Energize · 31 Oct 2015 at 18:22

I'm not installing from a disk I'm using a USB pen and I've tried recreating the ISO a few times.

Dangerous Dave · 31 Oct 2015 at 20:38

It is a bug with older BIOS's and the windows installer when installing from a USB drive . If you burn it to a disk it will let you install successfully, I found no other way to get it working on a older laptop even creating a partition on the new drive and copying the install files to it.

Energize · 31 Oct 2015 at 23:49

The thing is though I was able to install the 2012 R2 evaluation from the very same pen drive just fine a couple of months ago. And the desktop is a 2013 machine so it's not an older BIOS by any means, certainly newer than the OS.