Setup May Not Format a 30 GB Partition When You Install Windows 2000 (277546)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
This article was previously published under Q277546

SYMPTOMS

If you select the FAT32 file-system format when you try to install Windows 2000 on a partition that is 30 gigabytes (GB) in size, Setup may not format the partition and you may receive the following error message:
Setup was unable to format the partition. The disk may be damaged. Make sure the drive is switched on and properly connected to your computer. If the disk is a SCSI disk, make sure your SCSI devices are properly terminated. Consult your computer or SCSI adapter documentation for more information.

You will have to select a different partition for Windows NT. Press ENTER to continue.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem:
  1. Reduce the size of the primary partition.
  2. Partition the hard drive.
  3. Use a Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows 98 Startup disk to format the partition.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft has confirmed that this problem occurs on the following hard disks:
  • Fujitsu MHL2300AT (30GB)
  • IBM DJSA-230 (30GB)
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/14/2003
Keywords:kbbug kbfix kbHardware kbWin2000PreSP2Fix KB277546
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