Winnt32 Setup Error

[Rambler]

Hi there, i hope this is not another foolish mistake i'm doing, but i've been trying for many hours now to no avail.

When i boot WinPE in VMWare, i repartition the virtual disk with diskpart using this script:

sel disk 0
clean
cre par pri
sel par 1
assign letter=c
exit

then format the volume with format c: /fs:ntfs /x /q (tried even w/o /x and/or /q).

The C: drive is accessible, i can create directories and files, works just fine. But then when i run my setup command (even plain winnt32 command), setup starts, but immediatelly complains with this error message and then quits: "No valid system partitions were found. Setup is unable to continue."

Any ideas what's wrong?

[Rambler]

Just if anyone bumps into this problem - i resolved it by adding the /syspart:c: switch to winnt32 parameters.

Anyways the OPK PE kit manual isn't really well written IMO - i was under the impression that /syspart switch is used for installing windows onto another computer.

[Dahi]

Interesting to hear it works with /syspart.

The problem might have been because the new partition was not marked as active.

Select Disk 0
Clean
Create Partition primary size=5120
Active
Assign Letter=C
Create partition extended
Create partition logical
Assign letter=D
Detail Disk
exit

[Rambler]

Interesting to hear it works with /syspart.

The problem might have been because the new partition was not marked as active.

I've tried both ways (adding active command to the script file and using it manually in diskpart) with no success. Only adding syspart helped.

I found the solution at WindowsITPro.com

saying:

Q. When I use the Diskpart tool and Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) to install Windows Server 2003, why do I receive an error stating that no valid system partitions were found?

A. You might receive an error stating "No valid system partitions were found. Setup is unable to continue," if you use Diskpart before executing the winnt32.exe file. To resolve this error, edit the installation script or batch file and add the

/syspart::

parameter to the end of the winnt32.exe command. For example, to specify drive C as the system partition, type

winnt32.exe /syspart:c: