Article ID: 929848 - Last Review: January 4, 2007 - Revision: 1.3

In unattended installations of Windows Vista, the wrong partition becomes the installation drive

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SYMPTOMS

In unattended installations of Windows Vista that have multiple partitions on the hard disk drive, the first partition is not assigned driver letter C as expected. Also, Windows Vista is installed on a different partition.
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CAUSE

This behavior occurs when the Unattend.xml file does not assign a drive letter to the installation partition. Then, the installation partition uses drive letter C. If another partition has been assigned drive letter C in the DiskConfiguration setting, that partition is assigned another drive letter.

For example, the following "DiskConfiguration" section of the Unattend.xml file creates partitions on a disk, and then assigns drive letter C to the first partition:
<DiskConfiguration>
  <Disk>
    <DiskID>0</DiskID>
    <CreatePartitions>
      <!—Create Partition 1-->
      <CreatePartition>
        <Order>1</Order>
        <Type>Primary</Type>
        <Size>100</Size>
      </CreatePartition>
           <!—Create Partition 2-->
      <CreatePartition>
        <Order>2</Order>
        <Type>Primary</Type>
        <Extend>true</Extend>
      </CreatePartition>
    </CreatePartitions>
    <ModifyPartitions>
      <!—Assign Drive Letter C to Partition 1-->
      <ModifyPartition>
        <Order>1</Order>
        <PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
        <Letter>C</Letter>
      </ModifyPartition>
    <ModifyPartitions>
</Disk>
   </DiskConfiguration>
Then, in the following "ImageInstall" section of the Unattended.xml file, you specify that Windows Vista is installed on Partition 2:
<ImageInstall>
    <OSImage>
      <InstallTo>
        <DiskID>0</DiskID>
        <PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
      </InstallTo>
    </OSImage>
  </ImageInstall>
You expect the following results:
  • Partition 1 is assigned drive letter C.
  • Partition 2 is either assigned drive letter D or the next available drive letter.
The actual results are as follows:
  • Partition 1 is either assigned drive letter D or the next available drive letter.
  • Partition 2 is assigned drive letter C.
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RESOLUTION

To avoid this behavior, add the following fragment to the DiskConfiguration setting in the Unattend.xml file. This fragment assigns a drive letter to the installation partition.
<ModifyPartition>
        <Order>2</Order>
        <PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
        <Letter>D</Letter>
      </ModifyPartition>
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APPLIES TO
  • Windows Vista Ultimate
  • Windows Vista Business
  • Windows Vista Enterprise
  • Windows Vista Home Basic
  • Windows Vista Home Premium
  • Windows Vista Starter
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Keywords: 
kbprb KB929848
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