Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Eric Hammersley <insert impressive list of technology to blog about here>

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Seen this?

Many have reported this error and others have drawn the correlation between the error and the size of your virtual HD. I’m going to bring the two together.

Since we are talking about Beta bits there are several “issues” to work around in order to get a good install of Vista Beta 1 up and running. In previous posts you’ve read that there are several workarounds for the “RAW” disk problem. You can basically “Choose your own adventure” by either formatting with XP or 2k3, diskpart with SHIFT-F10 or just let the installer do it all but with a kind re-boot in the middle. They all accomplish the same thing.

Here’s the thing, and I’m not sure I understand why but if you create a virtual HD in VMware for your Vista install and give it anything less than 8.0 GB it will fail. 4GB the install won’t even leave the starting blocks. If you give it 6GB the install will start only to stop with the error above. Try 7GB and the error above will crop up once again. The magic number appears to be 8GB. If you give your VM at least an 8GB virtual disk it will complete the install.

Now, why you may ask. I’m interested in this as well. We know the installer checks for minimum disk space, that is apparent if you try to install with a 4GB disk. Since VMware doesn’t magically shrink an expanded disk we know it’s not about temporary disk storage during install or the completed install would leave a virtual disk file of 8GB instead of one at 2GB(if my memory serves me correctly). My guess is an installer flaw or bug. The graceful notification of a 4GB disk being too small tells me that the installer was built with a disk space requirement around the 4–5GB range. The hard crash of the installer at disk sizes between 4GB and 7GB lead me to believe it is an installer oversight/bug. Any way you slice it you must at least give it 8GB.

NOTE: This was written for Vista Beta 1. The comments below will help with respect to more current beta's.

If you are attempting to install Vista Beta 2 in VMware the reported minimum size is 16GB for your virtual disk in order to avoid the error. - Thanks Robert, Mondo and any others I missed

Posted on Tuesday, August 2, 2005 12:03 PM Software , Windows Vista | Back to top

Comments on this post: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Ah! Thank you! It's giving me the same message with a 6GB NTFS-formatted hard disk, non-VMWare (dual-boot instead). Drove me nuts until I tried Google and found this post. :)

Left by Louis on Aug 03, 2005 12:45 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Excellent, I'm glad to hear it helped!

Left by Eric Hammersley on Aug 03, 2005 12:46 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Yeah I was having the same problem with a 6GB VirtualPC. Thanks a lot for all the help!

Left by blah on Aug 04, 2005 10:48 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Ahh, thanks a lot. Was having the same problem with a 7GB HD and it was killing me because I knew 7GB was more than enough

Left by Volv on Aug 05, 2005 6:42 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

I was having the same problem with a 6GB VHD.
Thanks to this site and Google!!

Left by Record on Aug 05, 2005 7:24 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Thanks!
I was using a 6.5GB disk.
Do you use SCSI(LSI or BSI) or IDE for your disk?

Left by oliversl on Aug 06, 2005 7:08 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

I use SCSI virtual drives. The exact ones that the Longhorn profile sets up in Workstation v5

Left by Eric Hammersley on Aug 06, 2005 7:38 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Thanks for the solution. BTW has anyone tried to install Windows Vista with their Sata RAID 0 setup ? I have a Sata RAID 0 setup on ICH5R, and I was wondering if Windows Vista will work with current Sata Raid drivers of Intel. Thx in advance.

Left by qwe on Aug 08, 2005 8:33 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Thanks. I tried already with 4 and 6 but did not think directly trying an 8 GB VHD since the 4 GB too small error didn't appear annymore.

Left by MSP on Aug 19, 2005 2:19 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

I just added a new Drive with 10 GB in VmWare, now it works(although the drive was in the installation "unavailable")..
good luck

Left by Firewing on Sep 13, 2005 10:43 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 blah blah

Thanks, this post solved my problem and saved what is left of my hair from being pulled out....

Left by Old Frenchie on Sep 14, 2005 7:25 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

What if you get this error and you have 10GB partition?

Anyone have any ideas?

Left by sleeper on Sep 19, 2005 11:46 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

I get this error with beta 2 (build 5219) having not got it with beta 1 (build 5112).

Left by quasimodo on Sep 22, 2005 10:39 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

I am using build 5219 getting this error with a ~10G partition, perhaps beta2 requires more disk space :(

Left by AC on Sep 23, 2005 9:34 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

As you can tell others have seen this as well. I was not at PDC this year so I do not have the bits you are refering to.

One thing to note. The 5219 bits are not Beta 2 bits even though the version is reported in Vista as Beta 2. MS made note of this somewhere (can't find it now).

Left by Eric Hammersley on Sep 23, 2005 9:40 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Whew!

Just got this working with Windows Vista (Longhorn) Beta 2 Build 5231 and VMWare 5.5 RC.

VHD0 - SCSI0:0 = 10GB
VHD1 - SCSI0:1 = 8GB

Used Vista to create "New" using Advanced option at disk screen

Both disks showed "unavailable"

Exited setup and rebooted VM

At disk screen, reformatted VHD0 using Advanced option, "Format" (I was getting something about unable to save boot files for next stage? Dialog box was similar to the screenshot above...)

Vista says, "That is all the information we need from you..." and continues.

Left by Alphastar on Oct 15, 2005 3:57 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 2 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

After increasing the HDD size to 10 GB, the installation of Beta 2 started too.

Great tips here guys! :D

Left by Wim on Oct 17, 2005 9:51 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

I was also having the problem with vista beta 2 5219 even after upgrading to 8.0gb. 10.0gb seemed to work though ;D

Left by Hektik on Oct 31, 2005 11:51 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Aaaah finaly it worked :) Nice post.

I had used a 10GB virtual disk up untill now but nothing seemed to work. Now when read this thread I added a new 10gb drive and now it's up and running. :)

Specs:
Windows Vista Ultimate Build 5219
VMware 5.0
VMware

Guest OS Setting = Windows XP Pro
VHD0 - IDE 0:0 = 10GB
VHD1 - IDE 0:1 = 10GB

I used that Guest OS setting since it worked with eariler loghorn betas, setting guest OS to "Loghorn" will probably work aswell though.

The only thing that seems to matter is that you need to add another virtual disk during installation to satisfy the cranky vista setup :P

Another thing about disksize: when I experimented I come across that the 5219 setup needs about 8300mb free diskspace to allow installation (i.e. 8GB is not enough).

So basically you need one NTFS formated 10GB disk, and one second disk at 8gb (or 10gb to be safe). And you can probably remove the second disk when install is complete.

Good luck! :)

Left by Leif on Nov 09, 2005 8:45 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Great information. Thanks for taking the time to leave your experiences for the next person.

Left by Eric Hammersley on Nov 09, 2005 8:58 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 2 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Try to install Vista beta 2 with VMware RC2.

Got disks unavailable warning. You can't format these partitions. After exiting the setup the iso image is not recognized and the system starts a PXE boot etc. How is this possible?

Left by Stephen Tittel on Nov 11, 2005 11:18 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Stephen

You have to go back an tell the CDrom to boot first.

Left by ak on Nov 29, 2005 11:25 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

I tried Windows Vista Beta 2 build 5231 with exactly 7400Mb virtual drive on Virtual PC 2004 - the same msgbox appeared. Thank you for the solution provided!

Sergey

Left by Sergey on Dec 24, 2005 3:04 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

I use Vista build 5231. I works with one IDE harddisk in vmware workstation 5. The size of the disk is 12GB. I did the dispart trick, and then rebooted.

Left by Anders on Dec 28, 2005 12:12 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Using VMWare and a 12GB drive, I was able to get build 5270 installed.

Left by Pipes on Jan 27, 2006 10:38 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Using VMWare 5.0 and two 10GB drives, I was able to get build 5270 installed

Left by lizard on Feb 08, 2006 1:55 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

5270 Build - Using VMware 5.5.1, the default profile for Windows Vista (experimental) creates a 16GB partition. This also works. With a SCSI HDD (the default), it gives an error when creating a new partition, but if you click OK on the error and then click the New partition once again, it will create it. Then format it, reboot and it will install just fine.

Left by Fennster on Feb 14, 2006 8:41 AM

# re: Vista x64 CPT (Build 5308) - "Setup was unable to locate..."

I just downloaded the latest CTP Build of Vista x64 last night and began installation this morning when I ran into the error: "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files."

This is how I was able to install Vista x64 CPT build 5308 within VMware Workstation 5.5.1 build 19175:

1. I used the Vista x64 (Experimental) template for setting up the new machine.

2. I created 12.5GB growable disk (SCSI) as part of the initial setup wizard.

3. Once setup was complete, I added an additional 12.5GB growable disk (SCSI).

4. I booted the Virtual PC from the DVD, and using the advanced settings in the Vista Installer used the "New" button to set a single partition on each drive (I used all available disk space for each partition).

5. I then rebooted the Virtual Machine, selected the first drive and the install went smoothly.

6. After the install was complete, I deleted the second drive to reclaim harddrive space.

I noted that during the early part of the installation, HD1 had heavy I/O. The later part of the install showed the I/O primarily in HD0. It would seem that Vista saves a temp copy of the installer files on the secondary drive and then runs the install into the primary drive.

I have a hunch that if I had created a larger primary drive (25GB for example) the install would have worked fine from a single drive instance. It seems all the individuals who are having this problem started it out with minimal HD sizes 9as I did).

Anyhow, Vista did install and is working great. Good luck!

~ajo

Left by ajo on Feb 24, 2006 10:14 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 2 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Finally managed to install Vista on a virtual pc, my used settings:

-OS: Windows Vista Beta2 Build 5270
-Mounted dvd in Deamon Tools then used that drive in MS Virtual PC 2004
-2 Fixed size virtual hard-drives (9GB & 4GB), formatted in Partition Magic as NTFS

On startup Vista has scanned my drives and found no error's, everything went without error's so far (50% installed).

Greetings, me

Left by guest on Mar 04, 2006 4:45 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Using VMWare 5.5.1 and Vista 5308 - I have 1x 10gig IDE Drive with XP already installed on it. Ran setup from within Windows and selected the Clean Install option and I got the same error message as the page title here - but when I went back and selected the "Upgrade" option it got past the initial Disk space error message. It's currently about 6 or 7 minutes into the install process but has got further than before.

Left by Steve Williamson on Mar 11, 2006 11:30 AM

# RE: Windows Vista Beta 2 - "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

With VMWare 5.5.1 and 25GB (SCSI), and some reboots between disk partitioning/formating (from Vista), I was able to install them.
Everything is working fine (I had problems in Beta1 with roaming profiles, now seems to be solved) except the sound.
I can't make my sound card operate succesfully.

(Hardware: Dell OptiPlex GX620 / 3GHz Dual Core / 2GB RAM)

Left by Vegos on May 10, 2006 4:41 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

I just started installing build 5381. 10GB wasn't enough for it. A 16GB drive did work though.

Left by Mondo on May 26, 2006 1:33 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 2 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Just guys, just wanted to tell the readers what they need to know...

Setting up a windows vista beta 2 VM in VMWare requires you to configure the virtual hard disk for a minimum of 16GB. Don't worry, you don't have to "allocate all disk space now".

Left by Robert Burke on Jun 10, 2006 4:16 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Thanks Robert. The parent article of course was written with respect to the beta 1 version of Vista back in August of 2005 so the information is not current. I'll update the parent with your findings.

Left by Eric Hammersley on Jun 10, 2006 5:34 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Well after trying for over 6 hours yesterday with plenty of web searching I found the comments here, I had originally been using an 8gig virtual diskbut was getting the above error, I have now made a 16 gig virtual growable drive vista is now installing.

Left by Foose on Jun 12, 2006 6:57 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Hi,
Looks like my install is now working!
I am using vmware 5.0, with longhorn guest os, and one 20gb disk. Stopped getting the error!
Cheers,

Left by Mike Dann on Jun 16, 2006 1:02 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

hi dudes, even i m getting the same error. i m on the way of installing windows vista beta 2 in 10 gb NTFS formatted hard disk but cudnt able to continue as i m recieving this same erroe.. can anyone help me out of this error.

Left by Kripa Vijay Anand on Jun 27, 2006 10:18 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Left by Kripa Vijay Anand on Jun 27, 2006 10:19 PM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Thanks for the info. Top job!!

Left by wierdmole on Jul 20, 2006 5:26 AM

# re: Windows Vista Beta 1 - Virtual Hard Disk size and it's relation to the dreaded "Setup was unable to locate a locally attached hard drive suitable for holding temporary Setup files." error.

Thank you for your leads, very useful.

Left by Javier Pacheco on Sep 22, 2006 1:01 PM

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