Knowledge Base

Err Msg: ERROR: Setup Was Unable to Install the Boot Loader

Article ID: 173694

Article Last Modified on 2/27/2007

Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
Microsoft Windows 95
Microsoft Windows 95
Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q173694

SYMPTOMS

When you start Windows NT Setup, you may receive any of the following error messages:

ERROR: Setup was unable to install the Boot Loader

ERROR: The partition you have chosen is not recognized by Windows NT

Setup was unable to install Windows NT Boot Loader.

Ensure that your C: drive is formatted and that
the drive is not damaged.

Setup cannot continue. Press ENTER to exit.

CAUSE

Windows NT Setup does not support the FAT32 file system included with Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2) or Windows 98.

RESOLUTION

To install Windows NT 4.0, make sure that both your boot partition and the partition you are installing to is either formatted with the FAT16 or NTFS file system, or not formatted.

MORE INFORMATION

The FAT32 file system is a new file system option included with OSR2. OSR2 provides support for logical drives larger than 2 gigabytes (GB). Enabling large disk support using the FAT32 file system is not supported by MS-DOS, the retail version of Windows 95, or Windows NT.

NOTE: Windows NT Setup does not create or delete FAT32 partitions. Before deleting a partition, back up your data.

For more information about the FAT32 file system or troubleshooting Windows NT 4.0 Setup, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID : 126690
TITLE : Windows NT 4.0 Setup Troubleshooting Guide

ARTICLE-ID : 154997
TITLE : Description of the FAT32 File System

ARTICLE-ID : 151414
TITLE : Win95 Partition Types Not Recognized by Windows NT

Additional query words: win98 NTBOOTLOADER

Keywords: kberrmsg kbsetup kbprb KB173694