Thank you both for your replies. The answer to first question is that there isn't a reason why I HAVE to make it work, I was just curious why it doesn't and in this regard I have now made some progress. My first conclusion is that using SBUU Version 2.1 I have never managed to create a working UP, no matter what configuration settings I use or which OS install I select. I have tried Geoff's suggested solution, to no avail. The story is different when I use SBUU version 1.6. This version successfully creates a working UP which functions after the OS is installed PROVIDED that I use an older OS. As I surmised in my original post, the 'no loader' problem seems to stem from installing Windows Server 2008 R2. More specifically, the problem begins when the OS installer creates the 'system reserved' partition - something that earlier Versions of Windows Server do not do and hence those versions do not cause problems with the UP. The creation of this partition, or part of the process of creating it, interferes with the UP; at least it does on PE1800 and PE2900 servers. This may just be the result of installing a new OS on an older server, but nonetheless, I have found no way for the UP and the 'system reserved' partition to peacefully co-exist. So; to the workaround. The only workaround that I have been able to come up with (and I would be interested to hear whether there might be another) is to install 2008 R2 WITHOUT the 'system reserved' partition. Researching this; it appears that the only downside of this approach is that the absence of this partition prevents the use of BitLocker drive encryption. Details (relating to W7, which uses the same install process) can be found here: [URL] To install Server 2008 R2 without the 'system reserved' partition, the drive (or array) must be partitioned before the installer starts and the installation partition must use all of the remaining space. My array now contains the UP and a single partition for the OS. Note that the Server 2008 R2 installer will not permit the creation of a single partition if the drive or array has unallocated space. I used the installer for Windows Server 2008 Standard to create the partition and then aborted the install once the partition was created. Other drive tools would, of course, be able to do the same job. The pre-existence of the single partition forces the 2008 R2 installer to install the OS without the 'system reserved' partition and no warning messages appear. So, in summary, I now have Windows Server 2008 running correctly on my PowerEdge 2900 and my UP is working fine!   Gary  
I am new to Dell servers and I have been struggling to properly set up a PowerEdge 2900 that I have recently acquired. My issue relates to a utility partition created on a RAID 0 array comprising 2 SAS drives. If I create the utility partition on the array using one of the Dell system installation disks, the partition is created perfectly and I am able to boot into utility mode by pressing F10 as expected. With the utility partition created, I then proceed to install Windows Server 2008 R2 - and this is when the problems begin. Whether I install the OS using the System Build and Update Utility or directly from the Microsoft DVD I always get the same problem; once the OS install is complete, I can no longer boot to the utility partition. If I press F10 during startup, the message 'no loader' appears and the machine hangs. I am guessing that the Windows install somehow interferes with the utility partition but I have been unable to find a solution to the problem. Note that I have experienced precisely the same issue trying to install Windows Server 2008 R2 on a PowerEdge 1800 server with PERC4 SCSI RAID. Does anyone know how to solve this problem?    
PowerEdge 2900 - 'no loader' displayed when trying to boot into utility 
partition