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Disk drive numbers may not correspond as expected to the SATA channel numbers when you install Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 on a computer that has multiple disks

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Symptoms

Consider the following scenario. You have two Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA or RAID) hard disks attached to channels SATA 0 and SATA 1 on a computer. However, Disk 0 may not be assigned to the hard disk on SATA 0, and Disk 1 may not be assigned to the hard disk on SATA 1.

When you install Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 on the computer, you may experience a problem. Because you expect the disk assignment numbers to match the corresponding SATA or RAID channel numbers, you may set up Windows on the wrong drive, or you may even try to format the incorrect drive partition. Therefore, you may lose important data.

Note Under certain circumstances, it may be difficult to notice that the disk numbering does not match the corresponding SATA or RAID channel numbers. For example, if both SATA or RAID hard-disk sizes are identical, it may be difficult to tell the disks apart by using these methods.

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Cause

The disk-assignment numbers may not necessarily match the corresponding SATA or RAID channel numbers. There is no assurance of a consistent relationship between PnP enumeration and the order of the hard disks that are detected during setup. Devices are presented in the order in which they are enumerated. Therefore, the disk-assignment numbers may change between startups. For example, assume that you run Windows setup on a computer that has two unformatted SATA or RAID hard disks. In this situation, Windows may present the second hard disk as Disk 0 when you are prompted for the disk on which to install Windows.

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Workaround

In Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, the Diskpart.exe utility cannot display disk numbers if the hard disks are uninitialized.

Therefore, use one of the following workarounds:
  • Use a hard disk that is completely unformatted (RAW).  
  • Create a partition on the disk if the disk is formatted.

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More Information

For more information about the behavior and workaround in earlier versions of Windows, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
937252 Volume numbers in the "Volume ###" column may change every time that you run the "List Volume" command in the Diskpart.exe utility in Windows

937251 Disk drive numbers may not correspond as expected to the SATA channel numbers when you install Windows on a computer that has multiple SATA or RAID disks

For more information about Diskpart.exe, go to the following Microsoft TechNet websites:
Identifying a Disk Location Path

Manage Multiple UEFI-based Hard Disks

Understanding Disk Location Paths

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Keywords: kbtshoot, kbprb, kbexpertiseinter, kbsurveynew, kb

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Article Info
Article ID : 2780436
Revision : 1
Created on : 1/7/2017
Published on : 2/16/2013
Exists online : False
Views : 424