Can't do a fresh install of Windows 7 - 64 Bit (MBR Part Table)

rominho · 09 Apr 2012

I'm trying to instal Windows 7 Pro - 64 bit in a brand new system, when I try to choos the partition for instalatiuon I get the following error:

"Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. The EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks"

How can I get around that?

My specs:
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600 3.40GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H61MA-D3V GEN3
Memory: 8GB Corsair DDR3
Hard Drives: 1TB Seagate Barracuda 3.5" SATA III

kegobeer · 09 Apr 2012

It sounds like you are trying to install under EFI. If that's the case, then this is the correct message - EFI installations of Windows 7 require GPT. Is this what you are trying to do?

gregrocker · 09 Apr 2012

See if you have the option to deselect EFI Boot disk in BIOS Boot order so that you can install to an MBR HD.

If not you'll have to convert HD to GPT then follow these steps to install with an EFI BIOS:
Convert MBR Disk to GPT Disk
UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums

rominho · 10 Apr 2012

kegobeer said:

It sounds like you are trying to install under EFI. If that's the case, then this is the correct message - EFI installations of Windows 7 require GPT. Is this what you are trying to do?

Probably it is, to be honest I've done countless Windows installs before and I never had to worry about EFI before. As a matter of fact Windows 7 32 bit will install without a hinch, I only get the error when trying to install the 64 bit version.

rominho · 10 Apr 2012

gregrocker said:

See if you have the option to deselect EFI Boot disk in BIOS Boot order so that you can install to an MBR HD.

If not you'll have to convert HD to GPT then follow these steps to install with an EFI BIOS:
Convert MBR Disk to GPT Disk
UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums

I went into the bios but couldn't find EFI boot options.
Also, I was looking at the tutorial to convert mbr to gpt. To be able to do it that way, you have to "Delete the Volume" you want to convert ... But how could I delete the volume if the volume I want to convert is the Windows (C) partition?

SIW2 · 10 Apr 2012

Often people will do it while installing Windows.

If you want to do it afterwards without data loss, you need a program to do it.

Professional partition managers like Paragon HDM PRO and up.

I don' use Acronis - but if you check their site - DD probably does it.

I don't think there are any free ones.

kegobeer · 10 Apr 2012

rominho said:

kegobeer said:

It sounds like you are trying to install under EFI. If that's the case, then this is the correct message - EFI installations of Windows 7 require GPT. Is this what you are trying to do?

Probably it is, to be honest I've done countless Windows installs before and I never had to worry about EFI before. As a matter of fact Windows 7 32 bit will install without a hinch, I only get the error when trying to install the 64 bit version.

32 bit Windows 7 doesn't install under EFI - that's only for 64 bit, which is why you've never seen it. Are you installing from a DVD or USB?

Little Leo · 14 Sep 2012

I had the same error last night I went into the BIOS and I didn't see any of the drives marked as EFI, but the DVD was listed as UEFI and I change the DVD to SATA and it installed. I've never seen this before and I've installed Windows 7 64 bit several times.

gregrocker · 14 Sep 2012

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums

Richman1 · 14 Aug 2013

Easy fix to this problem:

I also got the message: "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. The EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks"

My system BIOS as well as some others may have a boot order that has 1st Your DVD drive (possibly stating manufacturers name) as legacy or IDE and 2nd Your same DVD drive in UEFI mode as the second boot device (or visa versa). Some other forums ( I can't remember which one works between legacy or UEFI) suggest changing your 1st boot device from the one DVD mode type to the other or reversing them.
Edit: It appears that if your installation media either dvd or usb device is set to boot from one mode and your HDD is already formatted for the other mode or has an existing OS that it was formatted when installing it, there will be a conflict. Doesn't matter which mode your BIOS is set to by default.

While changing the mode in the BIOS may work there may be a more simple method if you can notice or detect the mode switch during the boot sequence.

Simple Fix Before realizing this I noticed that during the boot process you can (maybe just on some systems and not all), at least on the Biostar I was building (Edit: amny newer MB's I notice), see the switch from the one DVD mode type to the other by means of seeing the words "Press any key to boot from DVD" move to another location on the screen. I simply ignored the first flash of those words and clicked a key to boot from the DVD when I noticed the words flash again a second time in a different location. The Windows 7 then installed as before without problem.

Edit
These words flashing a second time is simply the system switching modes for the installation boot media used for booting.

Can't do a fresh install of Windows 7 - 64 Bit (MBR Part Table)

Can't do a fresh install of Windows 7 - 64 Bit (MBR Part Table)

Simple Easy Fix