While I was rebuilding a Gateway desktop with Windows 7, I got this message Fail to format the partition (0x80070057). The wording is not exact, but you get the idea. The second time I tried it, same error message. Before I took out the hard drive and test it, I decided to delete the partition table and create a new partition table.
I used the advanced drive options of the installer. Deleted the only partition on the drive. Clicked on New to create new partitions. I noticed that an extra 100MB of partition is created for system use. After a new partition table was created, I was able to format the system partition and start the installation process.
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For just about everything to do with Windows 7 read this comprehensive post here:
http://ninjarabbits.blogspot.com/2009/11/hopefully-very-comprehensive-guide-to.html