“We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one”

While attempting  to install Windows 8 on a VHD I was booting from I received the following error message:

We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one. For more information, see the setup log files

I created the VHD in Windows, rebooted and attempted to install from the Windows 8 DVD I had burnt. Regardless of what I tried, I couldn’t get the install to work with the VHD I had created – despite being able to see it (by mounting via diskpart…) and even format it. This isn’t the first time I’ve run into the issue, but this time it frustrated me enough to merit further investigation. Hitting SHIFT-F10 in the windows installer provided me with a command prompt and I identified the location of the log files on X:\Windows\Panther. There were multiple files,  but the setuperr.log caught my eye for obvious reasons. Opening the file I found  the following error message:

2012-03-02 22:20:51, Error      [0x06069e] IBS    GetMachineInfo:Couldn't find boot disk on this BIOS-based computer

This gave me a little more meat to chew on and browsing my BIOS settings I noticed that the hard disk that the VHD was place on was way down the list of IDE channels. Modifying my BIOS settings so that this hard drive occupied the first IDE channel, I rebooted, launched the installation from my DVD and lo-and-behold was successful in installing Windows 8 on my bootable VHD.  Don’t believe me? Ask this guy:

image

DISCLAIMER: THIS WORKED ON MY PC. DON’T MESS WITH YOUR BIOS IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING. DON’T BLAME ME IF YOU BREAK SOMETHING!!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi there,

Thanks for posting this solution (found it using Google).
You've helped me!
March 3, 2012 at 7:19 AM
Anonymous said…
wow, i disabled my other drives and lo and behold! it WORKS.
April 20, 2012 at 3:37 PM
Anonymous said…
It worked! thanks!
October 6, 2012 at 9:39 AM
Anonymous said…
Thanks! But... "Access denied!" when I'm try open setuperr.log. Help me, please.
October 23, 2012 at 6:05 AM
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