2015-08-05

Windows 10 problem - Partitions are not in the recommended order

Windows 10/11 installation problem: "The partitions on the disk selected for installation are not in the recommended order.  For additional information about installing to GPT disks...."


Symptoms:
You are doing a fresh install, from a Windows 10/11 ISO image, or are installing Windows to an existing hard disk that had a previously-installed operating system.

You have selected the (largest) available partition to install, likely the same partition Windows 7, or 10 was installed.  Other partitions, such as an ESP partition, are ordered earlier in the list. 






2021.11:  Windows 11 Upgrade
----------------------------------------------------
Author's notes: 
Do not use these steps when upgrading (an in-place upgrade) from Windows 10 to Windows 11. 
Backup all data before doing these steps.



Solution 1
(not recommended, but easy)


A.  During the installation, select the previous Windows 7/8 partition and ignore the error.  Windows will install properly, even with the error.  However, this is not recommended, leaving old partitions and wasting disk space.


Solution 2 (recommended)

Older versions of Windows included a basic partition utility, exposed during the installation steps.  With this utility you could delete partitions and consolidate the disk, as well as other functions.  But with Windows 10/11, Microsoft chose to hide the utility - right at the time you needed it most.

Fortunately, there is an easy, albeit geeky solution.  A hidden DOS utility can delete the disk's partitions during Windows 10/11 Setup. 

Obvious caution:  This will erase all partitions, destroying all data, files and partitions.


1. Start the Windows 10/11 install ("Install Now").

Typically choose "I do not have a product key" (which is the normal choice for all Windows 10 non-Enterprise upgrades/installs).

After accepting the license agreement, choose "Advanced Installation".

2.  At the Windows 10/11 "Setup Partition Screen" (where it shows the C: drive),

Press Shift-F10
This opens a DOS prompt

3.  Type this command:  "diskpart"  (no quotes)

4.  Type "List Disk".

Note which disk is your largest.  This is likely the one where your existing operating system is installed.  For most, DISK 0 is the disk you care about.  


If you have SD card slots, they will also show in the list; ignore them.
DVD drives may appear as "no media" or with a size (4G?); also ignore.

5.  Type "Select Disk=0"  to activate your disk.

6.  Type "List Partition"  (singular, not "partitions")

-- You could compare the following list with the Windows Setup screen and my disk looks like this illustration.  In this case, some of the partitions were from Windows 8. When Windows 10 upgraded, it adds its own new partitions rather than risk damaging the older ones.  The space occupied by these is negligible but would be wasted:



7.  Type "Clean"

One command does it all.  There is no warning. It will run for a few seconds.  
Results: "DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk."

8.  Type "List Partition"  (singular)

- expected results: "There are no partitions on this disk to show"

9.  Type "exit", closing DiskPart
10. Type "exit", closing the command window


This returns to the already-in-progress Windows 10 setup, where the old partitions still show.
Continue with these steps:

11.  Click "Refresh"  

-Note:  Drive 0 shows all as "un-allocated space" - all on one partition.

12.  Click "*new",  then "Apply," accepting the recommended disk size. 

(Special note: If you are installing a new SSD drive *and* are cloning an existing Windows disk, look at this article, which recommends holding back 10% of the disk partition for an Over Provision partition.  See this keyliner article:  Crucial 500GB MX300 Enable Over Provision Partition.  If you are re-installing Windows from scratch, continue with this article.)

13.  At the prompt, "To ensure Windows features work correctly, Windows might create additional partitions."  Click OK

Continue with your Windows install


Benefits of the recommended solution

By cleaning the drive, all partitions are cleared, freeing the space.  Vendor recovery images that will never be used, prior versions of Windows utility partitions (now obsolete), and other vendor utilities are all combined into the main drive.  The gained disk space results in a simpler partition table with less overhead.  As Windows installs, it will build its own partitions, and these will be in the recommended order for all eternity.

Drawback to the recommended solution

Most PC's come with a hidden partition containing an emergency recovery image, which can restore the PC to a factory image.  The steps above destroy that partition.  My experience is these partitions seldom work, or you need to spin them to a DVD before using.  Few bothered. 

In Windows 10 and 11, recovery disks are not useful.  Instead, download Microsoft's Windows installation ISO (The Windows "Media Creation Tool" - you are probably running that install right now).  The rebuild will work because the PC has already registered with Microsoft and it will automatically recover and re-license itself.  

Once rebuilt, return to your motherboard vendor's support page (Dell, Lenovo, Asus, etc.) and download the most current drivers.  This is better than an already obsolete recovery partition.  In other words, you no longer need HP's or Dell's recovery disk.

-end

During your original Windows Install, before attempting these steps:  If you get a 0x000000 error, it means you trashed your UEFI disk-encryption. 

To recover, I went into the motherboards BIOS.  In the BIOS, use a menu/feature to wipe the drive and start over.  Not all BIOSs have this ability.  

On a second machine, I had the chance to play with this again.  This time I let Windows do an "in-place" upgrade -- which is not a clean install.  Once Windows 11 installed, I then used "Reset this PC" to do a fresh re-install.  This preserved the UEFI, but meant installing Windows 11 twice, once for the in-place upgrade and a second for the clean-install.  This extra step only took a few extra minutes. 

During the second install, and as expected, I was prompted:  "A configuration change was requested to clear this computer's TPM.  This was expected.  Press F12 to clear the TPM and continue.

Finally, I am sure the steps in this article would work with a Windows 11 re-install (once Win 11 is properly installed at least one-time).


Related Articles:
keyliner:   Crucial 500GB MX300 Enable Over Provision Partition
keyliner: Erasing all partitions after a Clone and Formatting
keyliner: Best Virus scanner

Related links:
Microsoft.com Windows 10 Media Creation Tool
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10/



22 comments:

  1. Excellent information, thank you so much. Worked like a charm, my install is now proceeding nicely :-)

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  2. Thank you for your time in posting this most useful bit of info. worked great. Now have win10 fresh on an intel750 series

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  3. Anonymous2/10/2016

    Thank you sooo mouch :):):)

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  4. Well explained.
    Appreciate the directions.

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  5. Thank you very much it worked very smoothly, the steps were clear and easy and all expectations turned out right
    Thank you :)

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  6. Worked for me! I had ubuntu installed on my main SSD and wasnt able to use the HDD(original drive for computer) but this fixed it

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  7. Anonymous7/05/2016

    Thanks!!! It worked for me

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  8. Anonymous7/12/2016

    Absolutely perfect.

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  9. WONDERFUL , YOU ARE THE BEST!!!

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  10. Anonymous10/08/2016

    I want to reaffirm all of the comments above. Thank you.

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  11. I want to keep data on my other partition. I just want to clean the OS partition only to install Win 10. Is that possible? Because I neglected the error and now I'm stuck at "Getting Ready" screen and the system won't boot up.

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  12. Omg Best blog ever!!!!!!!! I thought I had lost my laptop. I have been here for 2 days trying procedure after procedures that I tried from other sites/ videos that did not work. This has my pc now restarting fresh and I'm very greatful, Thanks very much.

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  13. Just make sure you select the partition windows was previously installed on... Ignorant the warning and install and after installation you can remove unwanted partitions and resize the new ones to fill the space... Don't even bother with all that other stuff

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  14. Thank you so much!

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  15. Thank you so much! Worked a charm

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  16. My problem hasn't been solved yet.
    I cannot install Windows 10 Anniversary Update and later versions of Windows 10 on my VAIO SVF15318SN notebook. The last successful Windows 10 installation is v1511 Build 10586.0.
    In case I attempt to clean install Anniversary Update or later (eg Build 14393.693) the system hangs on "Getting Ready" screen and doesn't boot. I'm forced to abort the installation. The upgrade process doesn't work either, the process gets stuck at different percentage every single time. I tried upgrading using "Windows 10 Upgrade Tool" and ISO creation method but failed. All my drivers are up to date.
    I also tried looking for solutions on the internet but nothing worked for me so far.
    I also converted drives to GPT, switched between Legacy and UEFI modes, created bootable drive in default FAT and NTFS formats etc, but all in vain. I end up formatting my hard disk over and over again.
    If you know exactly what's wrong or if you have encountered the same issue, I would be grateful if you share the solution with me.
    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The only thing I'd recommend is returning to the UEFI mode. I know on machines I have messed with, leaving UEFI has caused me all kinds of troubles. Certainly, you cannot use FAT. If you have a spare hard disk or a cheap new drive, you might use Microsoft's ISO and install as-if you were installing to a new hard drive (a bare-metal install) -- your license should survive this.

      You've made a lot of changes to the drive. Probably recoverable, but i don't know what state it should be in. That's why I'd try a new drive.

      Is the VIAO certified for Windows 10?

      Delete
  17. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  18. thank you thank you thank you. This is exactly what I needed!

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  19. Anonymous9/16/2018

    Thanks

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  20. I used these steps when upgrading from Windows 10 to 11 (I was attempting to do a clean install). These steps are not recommended during that type of upgrade. It messed-up the UEFI / BIOS and confused the hell out of the Windows installer. I think there was a 0x00000000 error.

    This put the install at a complete stand-still. The way I recovered was go into the BIOS and use a BIOS feature to wipe the drive and start over. I did not document this.

    On a second machine, I had the opportunity to do this again. This time, I let Windows to the "inplace" upgrade. When it finished, I then used the Control-Panel "Reset this PC" to do a complete re-install (a clean install). This preserved the UEFI and all went well.

    ReplyDelete

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