Ubuntu :: Why The Possibility Of Installation Was Removed From 10.4

I have never ever have a single installation issue with ubuntu (been using it for years and years, and before I used other distributions for years).Now I want to install Ubuntu 10.4 alongside Windows 7. I don't have any other demands or wishes, just for it to install. Unfortunately, there is no way to do that. The installer is always stopping at a "no root file system is defined". When I go to gparted in the liveCD version it shows my entire drive as free, unallocated space (although there are at least 3 partitions, one of them with working windows 7).The LiveCD sees the partitions all righ, I can access the windows partitions without any problem. Fdisk -l also shows my partitions properly. Gparted, however, for some reason doesn't recognize them.

I have only two options:

1) use whole drive (which would erase my windows 7 - no, no)

2) set up manually (which says all my 250gb drive is unallocated space). No other choices.

And generally the installer of ubuntu says "This computer has no operating systems on it."

Installing through wubi doesn't work as well. After restart it wants to install but reaches sth like 257% on "getting time from server" and says there's no root filesystem. So it's all basically about ubuntu not wanting to acknowledge the simple fact that there are already partitions and OS's on my drive...