"Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition" is the message thats frying my head Had win 8 installed as an upgrade and managed to get it KMS activated so I decided to back up the activation and do a clean install so that i could image the disk and have a way of reverting back to it when ever i wanted. However on the Dell XPS 17 (L702) when i got to the partition dialog and wiped the disk and hit next I get the error in the title. Thinking this may be an issue with windows 8 i dropped win 7 onto a usb key and I get the same error at the partition dialog in that . There is nothing else plugged into the machine while im do the install and ive moved the boot order around and around and still no luck. Even tried Linux Mint for usb and still no go. Any ideas
Use the Dell system restoration to get it back to factory condition and go from there. The original config may not be what you want but at least you'll be back to a working system identical to what you had to start with. Then go from there like you did the first time.
Unfortunatly I didnt have the dell restore dvds made and I had deleted the restore partition. However I finally got an trueimage image of the system restored using a usb key thatwas seen as a storage device and not plugging in the portable drive that the image was on till trueimage was loaded. Have everything back together now with restore dvds made and a trueimage disk back up made I can go messing again @ian82 - no way to disable UEFI boot in the bios - I guess this is what the linux guys were talking about regarding UEFI, I agree totally with them , you should have the ability to turn off.
I was in a similar situation, lets see if my blogpost helps you - adhocshare.blogspot.in/2012/09/windows-7-usb-install-error-setup-was.html
If you obtain a Windows setup disc, boot from it and go into the "repair your computer" option. Then choose command prompt and use these commands: vol c: (This will tell you the volume label which you will need later in the format) Followed by: format c: /fs:NTFS You will then get this prompt: Enter current volume label for drive C: Then enter your volume label and then hit Enter Type Y and then press Enter when prompted with the following warning: WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISKDRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!Proceed with Format (Y/N)? After the format, you'll be prompted to enter a Volume label. Type a name for the drive, or don't, and then press Enter. And that's it! You just formatted your C drive.
This worked for me eventually thanks mate But you have to literally only take it out for ONE SECOND before you click install.
A little off topic, but if you use grub4dos and boot a wim with chenalls ntboot you get the same error. If you boot the wim from the bcd menu, i don't get the error. I think its because chenall uses a small image of the necessary boot files so its mounted as a cd or something. Putting a win cd in the drive temporarily solved the problem (wich is what i assume the article says).