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My son accidentally tried to install Ubuntu 20.04.1 over a Windows 11 system. Installation has crashed with message ‘creating ext4 file system’. Windows 11 boot stick can’t identify any partitions, so my only other option appears to be hard disc replacement!

Using Ubuntu from a DVD (test mode) I have formatted my hard disc as NTFS, the system shows my drive as formatted with NTFS, but can't install Windows 11 and it says there is no partition!

I've tried loading diskpart, but it won't run from the Windows 'troubleshooting' command prompt.

I think I need a bootable USB stick with some way of identifying the hard disc and formatting/creating volumes/partitions so that I can install Winodws 11.

I'm not a software expert and need simple guidance!

Thanks in advance :-)

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  • Go here: microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11 ..... Make a Windows 11 USB and see if you can reinstall Windows. Installing another OS should not have killed the hard drive.
    – John
    Apr 4, 2022 at 11:53
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    Why are you formatting your HDD outside of WinPE? Just let the installation environment format and build the required partitions
    – Ramhound
    Apr 4, 2022 at 13:19

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Thanks for all the comments. Windows 11 is not designed to allow partition changes during installation. The problem was caused by my son making a mistake that neither Windows nor Ubuntu could deal with. Even creating a new partition table and formatting correctly using Ubuntu, still prevented Windows 11 from installing. The solution was to use another PC to create a recovery disk and recover from that. It doesn't seem to matter what type of PC is used to create the recovery disk, but I suspected it would be more likely to work if I used a PC from the same manufacturer, in this case, HP.

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  • Please have a look at Can I answer my own question? and come back two days later and check as answered if you have more than 15 reputation (See also: Accept Your Own Answers. Apr 5, 2022 at 16:05
  • Any properly made Windows installer can deal with unwanted partitions and everything else it needs to install Windows. Both the question and this answer show a remarkable absence of basic knowledge and it's confusing and unlikely to help anyone else. Of notice: Windows 11 supports UEFI mode and GPT only. Apr 6, 2022 at 12:29

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