Attempting to Install Windows 2008 R2 SP1 w/ SnapDrive installed on the server

celliott3535 — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 06:40:24 GMT

I ran into the following situation about a month ago and then again today. I was attempting to install SP1 on a windows 2008 r2 server but shortly after the install started it would fail. The Microsoft troubleshooting was pointing to a problem with the partition or the disks themselves. I went through the different steps that Microsoft recommended without success. At one point, one of the steps rendered the server unbootable; thank goodness it was a VM and I had taken a snapshot!!! After looking on the true microsoft knowledgebase, Google, I wasn't able to find anything and broke down and called Microsoft support. Once I mentioned to support I had Snapdrive installed on the server, she found a reference to that being the issue. Evidently, when Snapdrive is installed it "takes control of how a drive/volume" is presented to the operating system. This process works wonderfully all the time except when installing SP1. She indicated that Microsoft assumed the operating system had direct access to the C drive when they created SP1, which apparently they don't. So here is the fix:

1) uninstall snapdrive

2) open command prompt using the RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR option (not sure how neccessary, but this is what I did)

3) run command mountvol /E

4) restart server and install SP1

5) reinstall snapdrive

Hope this helps someone. I know I burned several hours tracking down this small little nugget of knowledge.

Re: Attempting to Install Windows 2008 R2 SP1 w/ SnapDrive installed on the server

GRAEMEOGDEN — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:02:29 GMT

I've seen this problem and another workaround is assigning the 'System' partition a drive letter.

Re: Attempting to Install Windows 2008 R2 SP1 w/ SnapDrive installed on the server

radek_kubka — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:54:23 GMT

There is plenty of info around this issue in this thread:

https://communities.netapp.com/message/50066#49925

Regards,
Radek

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Attempting to Install Windows 2008 R2 SP1 w/ SnapDrive installed on the server

Re: Attempting to Install Windows 2008 R2 SP1 w/ SnapDrive installed on the server

Re: Attempting to Install Windows 2008 R2 SP1 w/ SnapDrive installed on the server