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I have a bit of a conundrum here. My windows installation doesn't boot with EFI, so the only way to boot from it is to turn off efi boot on my BIOS settings. Then I can boot into the disk, but my internal drive is GPT partitioned, so I can't install Windows without EFI enabled..
So I'm stuck, I can't install to the drive without EFI, but I can't load the installation disk with it turned on. What can I do?
mowwwalker
Posted 2014-06-16T01:37:52.137
Reputation: 1 444
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In fact, you have three solutions.
The first consist to change the table partition of your internal drive to MBR. If you choose this way, you should know that you will lost all the data on your drive. You can use a software like Gparted to do this. Maybe also you have this possibility with Windows himself. Launch the installation and look if you can delete the partition (all of them) and proceed the installation.
The second is to put your installation disk (or get a .iso file) on a usb key (or a dvd etc). This key should be GPT partitioned, if you want to be able to boot from. For example, you can use a software like Rufus to do that.
The third, you can try to convert the table partition from GPT to MBR.
Wagner_SOFC
Posted 2014-06-16T01:37:52.137
Reputation: 86
@RodSmith, if you know of anything, I'm all ears! Thanks! – mowwwalker – 2014-06-19T20:17:54.463
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2011/05/31/installing-windows-7-on-uefi-based-computer.aspx – Rod Smith – 2014-06-20T13:08:42.877
@RodSmith, The dvd doesn't boot while the computer is in EFI mode. I can't figure out how to get around that either – mowwwalker – 2014-06-20T21:00:24.777
Try using Rufus to create a USB flash drive with the Windows installer and boot from that.
– Rod Smith – 2014-06-27T20:41:49.457@RodSmith, Tried that. Couldn't enable the EFI bootable options because Rufus didn't see it as an EFI bootable image. – mowwwalker – 2014-06-27T21:08:56.497
Is your Windows a 32-bit or 64-bit version? I'm not positive, but I think that most 32-bit Windows installer discs don't support EFI-mode booting; that privilege is reserved for the 64-bit editions. If you're using 32-bit, either upgrade to 64-bit or convert your disk from GPT to MBR. The latter will have consequences for any OS that's already booting from the disk. Some partitioning tools (such as my
– Rod Smith – 2014-06-29T13:59:00.013gdiskcan do a GPT-to-MBR conversion non-destructively, but be very careful with that! Back up your important data first in case of a disaster!It's weird because it is 64-bit – mowwwalker – 2014-06-29T19:55:19.233
See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc765951(v=ws.10).aspx and http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744301(v=ws.10).aspx
– STTR – 2014-06-16T01:54:14.190What version of Windows? Windows 7 and later support EFI-mode installs, although getting the standard boot media to boot in EFI mode can be tricky. Some earlier versions do, too, but I don't recall the precise details. Also, what else, if anything, is on the GPT disk? If it holds another OS or important data, then converting to MBR mode could be risky or require adjustments to the other OS. Knowing those details is critical for providing a good answer to your question. – Rod Smith – 2014-06-16T13:15:29.410
I'm trying Windows 7, but, like you said, it won't boot in EFI mode. – mowwwalker – 2014-06-17T19:58:52.823