Boot Camp error “Windows cannot locate the disk and partition specified in the unattended answer's file”

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Level 1

25 points

Boot Camp error “Windows cannot locate the disk and partition specified in the unattended answer's file”

I have a 2019 MacBook Pro 16 inch running on macOS Big Sur 11.1. I am trying to install windows using Bootcamp. I get the following error:

Windows cannot locate the disk and partition specified in the unattended answer file's < ImageInstall > setting. Make sure the setting references a valid partition and restart the installation.

Attached the image of my disk utility without Bootcamp partition and the Image of the error.

Can someone help me how to solve this?

Thanks in advance

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Jan 24, 2021 7:56 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 25, 2021 6:19 AM in response to dhruva1108

BC Assistant is failing to create the correct Windows Installer partition (OSXRESERVED).

Can you run a SMC and NVRAM Reset and try?
If that does not work, can you create a Time Machine backup of macOS?

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Answer 2

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 26, 2021 10:31 AM in response to dhruva1108

If you do not have data that you want to preserve, you can boot into Internet Recovery and wipe the whole internal disk and install macOS Catalina.
If you want to preserve data, create a Time Machine backup, install Catalina as noted, install Windows, and then restore your files from the backup. If you restore the full backup, you will wipe you Windows installation.

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Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 25, 2021 8:29 PM in response to dhruva1108

Boot using Internet Recovery (Command+Opt+R), erase the whole disk, and restore your TM backup, and then try to run BC Assistant.

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Answer 4

dhruva1108 Author

Level 1

25 points

Jan 28, 2021 5:28 AM in response to Loner T

I downgraded to Catalina and Bootcamp was successful... Thanks a lot for your help...

I am not able to see any content in the time machine backup... i had taken a copy and verified

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Answer 5

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 25, 2021 6:49 PM in response to dhruva1108

Once you have a backup, we should erase your whole disk in Internet Recovery, and restore it, and then retry BC Assistant.

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Answer 6

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 28, 2021 9:04 PM in response to dhruva1108

Can you connect the TM disk to the Mac, and we can check contents of your TM disk?

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Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Feb 3, 2021 5:47 AM in response to dhruva1108

Did the TM backup complete successfully? Was this disk erased at some point after backup?

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Answer 8

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 27, 2021 11:14 AM in response to dhruva1108

This file is created any BC Assistant when you choose to install Windows and stored in a partition called OSXRESERVED. This partition is removed/recreated when you run BC Assistant. Unless BC Assistant leaves OSXRESERVED behind, you cannot edit this file.

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Answer 9

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 28, 2021 6:32 AM in response to dhruva1108

dhruva1108 wrote:

I downgraded to Catalina and Bootcamp was successful...

Excellent!

I am not able to see any content in the time machine backup... i had taken a copy and verified

If you created a TM backup, when you connect the TM disk to the macOS side, and open the TM disk in Finder, you should see files and folders. Are there any files?

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