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OS deployment fails due to existing system partitions on an attached disk drive

When deploying Microsoft Windows to a server, attached disk drives must not have existing system partitions. If a partition is detected, the OS deployment fails.

Perform one of the following steps to resolve this issue.

  • Disconnect the attached disk drive.

  • Manually delete the system partition on the attached disk drive.

    Attention
    Deleting partitions on a disk drive might result in data loss. Ensure that you back up all data on the disk drive before deleting partitions.

    1. From a Windows command prompt, run the diskpart utility (see DiskPart Commands website).

    2. Select the disk by entering select disk <number>, where <number> is the disk number of the disk that contains the partition that you want to delete (see Select disk website.

    3. Select the partition to delete by entering select partition <number> where <number> is the partition number on the selected disk (see Select partition website).

    4. Delete the partition by entering delete partition override. The disk and partition numbers are included in the WinPE error message that appears when a system partition is detected and in the job log. (see Delete partition website