Failed to format selected partition Error Code: 0x80070057

Asked By Isabella_S 0 points N/A Posted on - 09/15/2011

I decided to wipe out my hard drive and do a clean install of Windows 7 on my Desktop PC. Upon reaching the formatting partition stage of the installation, it gives me this error:

Windows could not format the partition on disk 0. The error occurred while preparing the partition selected for installation. Error Code: 0x80070057

I checked the hard disk connections, but they are fine, the BIOS also has no problems detecting the drive.

I do not know what to do? Any suggestions?

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Answered By Patrick b 0 points N/A #124161

Failed to format selected partition Error Code: 0x80070057

Hello Isabella.

You did not mention what brand of hard drive and what the capacity is. Anyways, that sort of errors mean the hard drive has bad sectors. If your hard drive is still within warranty, then I suggest you have it replaced at the computer shop that sold it to you. 

If the shop's warranty no longer covers it, then I suggest RMA it directly to the manufacturer. That is, you return the merchandise to the manufacturer and they will replace it free of charge (you probably have to pay for shipping though). To RMA, you have to look at your hard drive manufacturer's website and look for the support pages where they usually have tools that will let you check if your hard drive is still within warranty (3 years is pretty standard with today's hard drives).

Hope this helps!

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Answered By Patrick b 0 points N/A #124162

Failed to format selected partition Error Code: 0x80070057

Hi again Isabella.

In my first post I gave you the options when your hard disk is still within warranty, either from the computer shop or from the manufacturer.

However, more often than not, hard drives fail just when the warranty has already expired (unfortunate for most users) or sometimes shipping your hard drive off to the manufacturer can be a bit of a hassle especially if you need to have the hard drive working right away.

My suggestion in this case is to perform as "low-level format" or what is more accurately referred to as a "zero fill".

To zero fill a drive, you will have to download a utility from your hard drive maker. For Seagate, they have SeaTools for DOS

Here's an explanation on what zero fill or low level format is all about.

Here's the tutorial for SeaTools for DOS.

Heres the download link.

Hope this helps!

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• Posted on - 09/15/2011
• Question Category: Windows 7