Error 0x80042468 when creating a single partition on a drive greater than 2.2 TB during install of Windows
This article provides a solution to an error that occurs when you install Windows to a drive greater than 2.2 TB.
Applies to: Windows 7 Service Pack 1
Original KB number: 2604034
Symptoms
When installing Windows to a drive greater than 2.2TB, you receive Error 0x80042468. This will occur if you install Windows 7 and manually try to create one partition using "Advanced Drive Options" during setup.
Cause
It's by design with Windows 7 x86 and with Windows 7 x64 on a non-UEFI system.
Note
The check for UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) and GUID Partition Table (GPT) isn't done during Setup in Advanced Format like it's done in Disk Management.
Resolution
Install will complete but you won't be able to access the drive beyond 2.2 TB.
If you install Windows 7 x64 on a system that supports UEFI, you can partition the drive to use GUID Partition Table (GPT) and access all of the drive if the system is in UEFI mode.
Important
The disk that you select can't contain any data. Back up the data, or move your data to another volume before doing operations in diskpart.
To Boot a UEFI enabled system, the disk type should be changed to GPT using convert gpt command. Follow steps as below.
Press Shift+F10, which brings a command window. At command prompt, run the Diskpart.exe (It starts the diskpart console. After the console is initialized, DISKPART> is displayed. The diskpart console is now ready for input commands.)
Under diskpart> prompt type "list disk". (Locate the disk, in this case disk 0)
Type Select disk 0 (It selects the disk that you want to convert to GPT.)
Type Convert GPT (This command will convert drive to GPT.)
Just to make sure everything went fine type list disk. The converted disk should now have an asterix in the GPT column. (See example image below)
Type exit and exit again. It should close the command window.
Select the disk you have converted and that should display as Unallocated Space.
The installation process should start and continue as usual. After reboot, the Windows 7 x64 should be installed on the GPT partitioned disk.
More information
Windows doesn't support booting of GPT initialized volumes with UEFI systems on 32-bit versions of Windows, and that legacy BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) systems don't support booting of GPT partitioned volumes. Consult with your system vendor to determine if the system supports UEFI and booting of devices greater than 2 TB.
For details on Windows support for large drives, see the following articles:
Data collection
If you need assistance from Microsoft support, we recommend you collect the information by following the steps mentioned in Gather information by using TSS for deployment-related issues.