"No Valid System Partitions Were Found" Error Message When You Use WinPE to Install Windows (817577)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Premium Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Standard Edition

SYMPTOMS

When you try to use the Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) feature and the Diskpart tool to deploy a Windows Server 2003 image, you receive the following error message when you run the Winnt32.exe command to start Setup:
No valid system partitions were found. Setup is unable to continue.

CAUSE

This issue may occur if you used Diskpart before you run Winnt32.exe to create partitions.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, edit your installation scripts or batch files to prepare the installation hard disk. To do this, add the following entry to the Winnt32.exe command in your script

/syspart:X:

where X: is the drive letter of the hard disk that you want to install Windows on. Note that a colon must appear after the drive letter.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about WinPE, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnxpesp1/html/winpeo.asp

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/19/2003
Keywords:kberrmsg kbprb KB817577
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.