Skip to main content

OS Setup (Windows): Installing using the MBR or GPT partition style

Applies To: Windows 8.1
When installing Windows on UEFI-based PCs using Windows Setup, your hard drive partition style must be set up to support either UEFI mode or legacy BIOS-compatibility mode.
For example, if you receive the error message: “Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is not of the GPT partition style”, it’s because your PC is booted in UEFI mode, but your hard drive is not configured for UEFI mode. You’ve got a few options:
  1. Reboot the PC in legacy BIOS-compatibility mode. This option lets you keep the existing partition style. For more info, see Boot to UEFI Mode or Legacy BIOS mode.
  2. Reformat the drive for UEFI by using the GPT partition style. This option lets you use the PC’s UEFI firmware features.

    You can do this yourself by reformatting the drive using the instructions below, or if you need to preserve the data, use a third-party utility to convert the drive to GPT format.

Why should I convert my drive?

Many PCs now include the ability to use the UEFI version of BIOS, which can speed up boot and shutdown times and can provide additional security advantages. To boot your PC in UEFI mode, you'll need to use a drive formatted using the GPT drive format.
Many PCs are ready to use UEFI, but include a compatibility support module (CSM) that is set up to use the legacy version of BIOS. This version of BIOS was developed in the 1970s and provides compatibility to a variety of older equipment and network configurations, and requires a drive that uses the MBR drive format.
However, the basic MBR drive format does not support drives over 4TB. It's also difficult to set up more than four partitions. The GPT drive format lets you set up drives that are larger than 4 terabytes (TB), and lets you easily set up as many partitions as you need.

Reformatting the drive using a different partition style

To wipe and convert the drive by using Windows Setup

  1. Turn off the PC, and put in the Windows installation DVD or USB key.
  2. Boot the PC to the DVD or USB key in UEFI mode. For more info, see Boot to UEFI Mode or Legacy BIOS mode.
  3. When choosing an installation type, select Custom.
  4. On the Where do you want to install Windows? screen, select each of the partitions on the drive, and select Delete. The drive will show a single area of unallocated space.
  5. Select the unallocated space and click Next. Windows detects that the PC was booted into UEFI mode, and reformats the drive using the GPT drive format, and begins the installation.

To manually wipe a drive and convert it to GPT:

  1. Turn off the PC, and put in the Windows installation DVD or USB key.
  2. Boot the PC to the DVD or USB key in UEFI mode. For more info, see Boot to UEFI Mode or Legacy BIOS mode.
  3. From inside Windows Setup, press Shift+F10 to open a command prompt window.
  4. Open the diskpart tool:
    diskpart
  5. Identify the drive to reformat:
    list disk
  6. Select the drive, and reformat it:
    select disk <disk number>
clean
convert gpt
exit
  7. Close the command prompt window.
  8. Continue the Windows Setup installation.
    When choosing an installation type, select Custom. The drive will appear as a single area of unallocated space.
    Select the unallocated space and click Next. Windows begins the installation.

Make sure Windows Setup boots to the correct firmware mode

To automate this process, you'll need to run Windows Setup through Windows PE, and use a script to detect which mode you’re in before installing Windows. For more info, see WinPE: Boot in UEFI or legacy BIOS mode.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Overcome the "No More Sessions are allowed for User Hotspot Mikrotik"

Login Error Message Hotspot Mikrotik there are many.   In his prior articles we have reviewed about the Explanation of Error Message in Mikrotik Hotspot Login page.   This time we will discuss one of Message Error during log Hotspot Mikrotik, namely  No More Sessions are allowed for User $ (username). Why does the error message no more sessions are allowed for user $ (username) should be discussed? Because of this error message is quite often appear at hotspot user login, especially if you use the same username and password for many people. Why no more sessions are allowed for user $ (username) can arise? From the translation into Indonesian we already know that: there is no more sessions are allowed for this username.   So here username to be used by a user had no sessions will be allowed to be used by the Server Hotspot user login.   This is caused by the configuration of the proxy hotspot on the shared user is limited, while users who want to log more than sha
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Format a Large Hard Drive With FAT or FAT32

32 GB is the file size limit for partitions when formatting with the FAT or FAT32  file system  on Windows. What A File System Is & How You Can Find Out What Runs On Your Drives   What A File System Is & How You Can Find Out What Runs On Your Drives READ MORE Well, as some of you will know, FAT/FAT32 can actually handle up to 16 TB hard drives and up to 2 TB are supported in most operating systems. Microsoft has set a 32 GB partition size limit for the FAT/FAT32 file system to promote NTFS, which is generally more efficient when working with large partitions. In truth, this limitation only exists in recent versions of Windows. Moreover, Windows does recognize large hard drives formatted with FAT/FAT32. Finally, you can circumvent the 32 GB limit. In this article, I will show you how to format a large hard drive with FAT/FAT32 or create a 32+ GB partition with that file system. The Manual Way You don’t need a tool to circumvent the 32 GB partition limit, you can  manu
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Disable Windows 10 Update

Windows 10 Forces Me to Update "Every time I try to shut down my computer, I was forced to update my Windows 10. But I really don't want to update my operating system because the automatic update might take up the system and network resources. Is there anybody can help me solve this problem and disable Windows 10 update? Thanks in advance." Whenever you are faced with Windows 10's automatic update notification like: Install updates automatically  Download Updates but choose when to install them Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them What would you do? Here, we have the following solutions. All solutions to disable Windows 10 update: Solution 1. Disable Windows Update Service Solution 2. Change the Setting of the Group Policy Editor Solution 3. Meter Your Network Connection Solution 4. Change the Way of Windows 10 Updates Using Registry Tips Before proceeding with the four solutions to fully stop Windows 10 upd
Post a Comment
Read more