If you encounter the error message Windows cannot be installed to this disk, The disk may fail soon when attempting to install Windows 11 or Windows 10 on your device, then this post is intended to help you with the most suitable solutions you can apply to successfully resolve this issue.
When you encounter this issue, you’ll receive the following full error message;
Windows setup
Windows cannot be installed to this disk – The disk may fail soon. If other hard disks are available, install Windows in another location.
Generally, this is an indication that the SMART data the disk is producing is warning about imminent failure.
Why Windows cannot install to disk?
Windows users that receive the error message “Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is not of the GPT partition style” is because your PC is booted in UEFI mode, but your hard drive is not configured for UEFI mode. To resolve the issue, you need to configure your drive for UEFI by using the GPT partition style.
How do you fix Windows cannot install on this drive?
There are quite a number of ‘Windows cannot install on this drive’ errors, and resolving the error depends on the instance of the error you have encountered on your Windows PC. Generally, to fix Windows cannot be Installed on Drive (0), you can try the following suggestions:
- Erase your drive to avoid compatibility with previous partitioning systems.
- Select the correct option for booting, Legacy BIOS or UEFI.
- Change the partitioning table from GPT to MBR (Backup your data if any).
Windows cannot be installed to this disk, The disk may fail soon
If you’re faced with this issue, you can try our recommended suggestions in the order presented below to resolve the Windows cannot be installed to this disk – The disk may fail soon error on your Windows 11/10 computer.
- Run S.M.A.R.T. test
- Run CHKDSK
- Replace hard drive
Let’s take a look at the description of the process involved concerning each of the listed solutions.
1] Run CHKDSK
If hard disk contains bad sectors, you can try repairing it. Ensure that all files are backed up first to prevent data loss that might occur due to the repair operation. Keep in mind that Windows operating system shouldn’t be installed to a hard drive that contains bad sectors.
You can run CHKDSK to repair bad sectors that might be triggering the Windows cannot be installed to this disk – The disk may fail soon error on your Windows 11/10 computer.
2] Run S.M.A.R.T. test
S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology; often written as SMART) is a monitoring system native to HDDs, SSDs and eMMC drives found in Windows computers. The utility’s primary function is to detect and report various indicators of drive reliability with the intent of anticipating imminent hardware failures.
When S.M.A.R.T. data indicates a possible imminent drive failure, software running on the host system may notify the user so preventive action can be taken to prevent data loss, and the failing drive can be replaced and data integrity maintained.
3] Replace hard drive
Depending on the result or the outcome of the two tests above, your only option may have to be to backup your files (if the drive wont boot, you can try retrieve your files using Linux Live USB), replace the drive with a healthy drive and then clean install Windows.
Related:
- Windows must be installed to a partition formatted as NTFS
- The selected disk has an MBR partition table
- Setup does not support configuration of or installation to disks connected through a USB or IEEE 1394 port
- Windows cannot be installed to this hard disk space. The partition contains one or more dynamic volumes that are not supported for installation
How do I fix my disk is likely to fail soon?
As this error generally arises when your hard disk has some issues, it is recommended to run the CHKDSK tool to get rid of this problem. However, you can also run the S.M.A.R.T. test to mitigate the problem. If nothing helps, you must change the hard drive or SSD to install Windows 11/10 on your computer.
Hope this helps!
Related post: Windows cannot be installed to this disk, Disk is of the GPT style.
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