Error message when you use Windows Deployment Services in Windows Server 2008 to try to deploy an image of an earlier operating system: "0xc000000f"

When you use Windows Deployment Services in Windows Server 2008 to try to deploy an image of an earlier operating system, the deployment fails. The deployment process fails when it tries to load Winload.exe. Additionally, you receive the following error message: Note The client image can be a Windows XP image or a Microsoft Windows 2000 image.

This problem occurs if the partition to which you are trying to deploy the image is not marked as active.

To resolve this problem, use the Diskpart.exe tool to mark the partition as active before you start the deployment. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Create a boot device. This can be an MS-DOS-based boot disk, a Windows 98-based boot disk, or a bootable flash drive.
2. At a command prompt, use the expand command to extract the Diskpart.ex_ file from the Windows XP CD-ROM to a suitable location.
3. Copy the Diskpart.exe tool to the boot device that you created in step 1.
4. Start the computer that is experiencing the problem by using the boot device that you created in step 1.
5. Use Diskpart.exe to make the partition active.

Example

The following example shows a sample scenario of how you can use the Diskpart.exe tool to make a partition active. In this example, the following information is used to determine the affected partition:
At the command prompt, type the following commands. Press ENTER after each command: For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: