Article ID: 928230 - Last Review: March 15, 2007 - Revision: 1.4

Error message when you try to install Windows Vista on a particular hard disk partition: "Error: uncaught exception"

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SYMPTOMS

When you try to install Windows Vista, the hard disk partition on which you want to install Windows Vista appears on the Where do you want to install Windows? disk configuration page as expected. However, when you click this hard disk partition, and then you click Next, you receive an error message that resembles the following:
Error: uncaught exception: (failed UI_ASSERT).
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CAUSE

This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:
  • The hard disk on which you want to install Windows Vista has many partition entries in the partition table.
  • All the partition entries point to the same byte offset location.
You may experience this problem if the mass storage device driver is corrupted or if the mass storage device driver does not work correctly.
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RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, remove the partitions from the hard disk, and then run the Windows Vista Setup program to install Windows Vista. To remove the hard disk partitions, follow these steps.

Important These steps remove all the information from the hard disk.
  1. Use the Windows Vista DVD to start the computer.
  2. At the Windows Vista installation screen, click Next, and then click Install Now.
  3. Press SHIFT+F10 to open the command prompt.
  4. At the command prompt, type diskpart, and then press ENTER.
  5. Type select disk number, and then press ENTER. In this command, replace number with the hard disk that you want to modify. For example, if you want to install Windows Vista on the first available hard disk, type select disk 0, and then press ENTER.
  6. Type clean, and then press ENTER. You receive the following message:
    DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.
  7. Type exit, and then press ENTER to exit the DiskPart tool.
  8. Type exit, and then press ENTER to exit the command prompt.
  9. Restart the computer, and then start the Windows Vista installation.
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MORE INFORMATION

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
300415  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415/ ) A description of the Diskpart command-line utility
For more information about Diskpart.exe, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/ca099518-dde5-4eac-a1f1-38eff6e3e5091033.mspx?mfr=true (http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/ca099518-dde5-4eac-a1f1-38eff6e3e5091033.mspx?mfr=true)
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APPLIES TO
  • Windows Vista Business
  • Windows Vista Enterprise
  • Windows Vista Home Basic
  • Windows Vista Home Premium
  • Windows Vista Ultimate
  • Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit Edition
  • Windows Vista Home Basic 64-bit Edition
  • Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition
  • Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition
  • Windows Vista Starter
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Keywords: 
kbdeployment kbdiskmemory kbfilesystems kbexpertisebeginner kbhardware kbtshoot kbprb KB928230
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