Windows 7 GUIDE : Win 7 RAID Install Drivers -Setup was unable to create a new system partition

[Bally123]

Had a issue installing win 7 on a raid array - it's a new machine so no upgrades or existing data.

Set up Raid in Bios and this shows a 2 drive functional array with 2x320GB sata drives - no problem.

Downloaded raid driver from ASUS site and extracted them to a usb stick.

I tried to install win 7 and at the drive configuration page I can see 1 drive format type is currently "unallocated"

After several attempts to load RAID driver from usb flash stick, create new partition and install all I got when clicking next was:

"Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition. See the Setup logs for more information"

So here is my method that worked:

1 SET UP RAID IN BIOS
2 CONFIGURE RAID - ctrl+f during boot
3 Load WIN 7 DVD
4 Set up country locales and get to WIN7 install screen - choose to install
5 INSERT USB STICK NOW!
6 Click load drivers - browse USB device and find the driver (x64 for 64 bit / x86 for 32bit)
7 REMOVE USB STICK NOW!
8 click advanced options
9 Create new - you should now see 2 partitions - 1st is around 100MB - system
The other the remaining drive size as a primary partition
10 Click on the large drive and hit next, install should work.

The issue for me was the USB stick must be inserted after step 4 and removed after step 6.

Hope this helps someone.

BAlly

 

[KevinD]

Thank you so much, I have been scouring the web trying to figure out why my RAID array would not format. It was that USB stick the whole time.