I recently installed Windows 7 on a second drive in my system leaving me with a dual boot of Windows 7 and Windows 7. The old installation that was slightly hosed was on the root drive labeled C: and the second installation was on the G: drive, a clean new 250 GB SSD. When I made some boot changes to make the G: the single root drive on the system by removing the old hosed drive the system ran beautifully. Then I ran into one or two problems. The only important problem is that my HP printer software installation fails with a “Fatal Error” (no error number specified). The message says “Invalid Drive: C:.” I have searched HP and the internet and cannot find an answer to the problem that helps me. I can see that somewhere (near the end) in the installation process the installer is not recognizing the G: as the system root but I don’t know how to repair the problem. Since I have not had this problem with about 40 other applications I installed; I have to believe the problem resides in the HP software. I might add that the printer (OJ6450) worked beautifully before the hard drive changes. Any suggestions of a fix will be greatly appreciated
![]() |
There are isolated problems with current patches, but they are well-known and documented on this site. |
SIGN IN | Not a member? | REGISTER | PLUS MEMBERSHIP |
-
Fatal installation error using non C: as root
Home » Forums » AskWoody support » Windows » Windows 7 » Questions: Windows 7 » Fatal installation error using non C: as root
- This topic has 5 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 11 months ago.
AuthorTopicCecil Britton
MemberJune 14, 2014 at 12:18 pm #495189Viewing 3 reply threadsAuthorReplies-
bbearren
AskWoody MVPJune 14, 2014 at 1:26 pm #1456573Have you tried doing a complete uninstall/reinstall of your HP software?
Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.We were all once "Average Users". -
Cecil Britton
MemberJune 15, 2014 at 8:22 am #1456631 -
bbearren
AskWoody MVPJune 15, 2014 at 9:17 am #1456635In my dual boots (XP/Windows 7 on one laptop, Windows 7/Windows 8.1 on another laptop, and Windows 7/Windows 8 on my desktop) the booted Windows is always drive C:, and the unbooted Windows is always drive D: in Windows Explorer. When I reboot into the other installation, the booted Windows is always drive C:, and the unbooted Windows is always drive D:.
Is Windows Explorer on your PC showing the Windows drive as C: or G:?
As for HP printer software, on my desktop in Windows 8 it is installed on Drive H:, and in Windows 7 it is installed on drive U:.
Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.We were all once "Average Users". -
WSF.U.N. downtown
AskWoody LoungerJune 15, 2014 at 10:54 am #1456638If the system drive is G: when booted into it, then the installation process is looking for a fixed drive (C: ) to temporarily store some files being prepared for installation. The solution there is to carve out a small partition and assign the letter C: to it for the software to use during the installation.
If a C: drive already exists then this is NOT the problem.
-
Cecil Britton
Member
-
Viewing 3 reply threads -

Plus Membership
Donations from Plus members keep this site going. You can identify the people who support AskWoody by the Plus badge on their avatars.
AskWoody Plus members not only get access to all of the contents of this site -- including Susan Bradley's frequently updated Patch Watch listing -- they also receive weekly AskWoody Plus Newsletters (formerly Windows Secrets Newsletter) and AskWoody Plus Alerts, emails when there are important breaking developments.
Get Plus!
Welcome to our unique respite from the madness.
It's easy to post questions about Windows 11, Windows 10, Win8.1, Win7, Surface, Office, or browse through our Forums. Post anonymously or register for greater privileges. Keep it civil, please: Decorous Lounge rules strictly enforced. Questions? Contact Customer Support.
Search Newsletters
Search Forums
View the Forum
Search for Topics
Recent Topics
-
KB5058405 might fail to install with recovery error 0xc0000098 in ACPI.sys
by
Susan Bradley
59 minutes ago -
T-Mobile’s T-Life App has a “Screen Recording Tool” Turned on
by
Alex5723
3 hours, 41 minutes ago -
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.4202 (24H2) released to Release Preview
by
joep517
6 hours, 27 minutes ago -
Windows Update orchestration platform to update all software
by
Alex5723
11 hours ago -
May preview updates
by
Susan Bradley
12 hours, 39 minutes ago -
Microsoft releases KB5061977 Windows 11 24H2, Server 2025 emergency out of band
by
Alex5723
34 minutes ago -
Just got this pop-up page while browsing
by
Alex5723
3 hours, 12 minutes ago -
KB5058379 / KB 5061768 Failures
by
crown
16 minutes ago -
Windows 10 23H2 Good to Update to ?
by
jkitc
19 minutes ago -
At last – installation of 24H2
by
Botswana12
1 day, 2 hours ago -
MS-DEFCON 4: As good as it gets
by
Susan Bradley
6 minutes ago -
RyTuneX optimize Windows 10/11 tool
by
Alex5723
1 day, 14 hours ago -
Can I just update from Win11 22H2 to 23H2?
by
Dave Easley
1 day, 8 hours ago -
Limited account permission error related to Windows Update
by
gtd12345
2 days, 4 hours ago -
Another test post
by
gtd12345
2 days, 4 hours ago -
Connect to someone else computer
by
wadeer
1 day, 22 hours ago -
Limit on User names?
by
CWBillow
2 days, 2 hours ago -
Choose the right apps for traveling
by
Peter Deegan
1 day, 15 hours ago -
BitLocker rears its head
by
Susan Bradley
23 hours, 45 minutes ago -
Who are you? (2025 edition)
by
Will Fastie
22 hours, 42 minutes ago -
AskWoody at the computer museum, round two
by
Will Fastie
1 day, 18 hours ago -
A smarter, simpler Firefox address bar
by
Alex5723
2 days, 14 hours ago -
Woody
by
Scott
3 days ago -
24H2 has suppressed my favoured spider
by
Davidhs
23 hours, 21 minutes ago -
GeForce RTX 5060 in certain motherboards could experience blank screens
by
Alex5723
3 days, 14 hours ago -
MS Office 365 Home on MAC
by
MickIver
3 days, 8 hours ago -
Google’s Veo3 video generator. Before you ask: yes, everything is AI here
by
Alex5723
4 days, 4 hours ago -
Flash Drive Eject Error for Still In Use
by
J9438
23 hours, 6 minutes ago -
Windows 11 Insider Preview build 27863 released to Canary
by
joep517
4 days, 23 hours ago -
Windows 11 Insider Preview build 26120.4161 (24H2) released to BETA
by
joep517
4 days, 23 hours ago
Recent blog posts
Key Links
Want to Advertise in the free newsletter? How about a gift subscription in honor of a birthday? Send an email to sb@askwoody.com to ask how.
Mastodon profile for DefConPatch
Mastodon profile for AskWoody
Home • About • FAQ • Posts & Privacy • Forums • My Account
Register • Free Newsletter • Plus Membership • Gift Certificates • MS-DEFCON Alerts
Copyright ©2004-2025 by AskWoody Tech LLC. All Rights Reserved.