option of MBR or GPT

Hi. I completed the clean function at the elevated prompt. I have a new problem, and not sure where it belongs in the forum.
After initializing, with the option of MBR or GPT, where I chose MBR, then formating so I have a clean simple volume. In bios, where it shows the cd in boot sequence, it has a tag on it labeled "UEFI". I know my board has this function, but when i go to try and install from the Windows installation cd, it brings up an error message saying the disk is supposed to be in GPT. I have combed through my bios trying to find a toggle to enable the normal install.
Of my 3 drives, I cleaned the two 1 tb drives, and when that was done my 500 gig drive stopped this pop-up error- "Your recycle bin is corrupted in drive D, do you want to empty it". This issue has stopped, after I cleaned the second 1 tb drive. I intend to put identical installs of Win 7 pro on the three drives. And I assume the 500 gig drive is or has it in MBR and not GPT. Any suggestions?

A question about the 100 mb "reserved space" in clean win 7 install

Or maybe it is supposed to be in GPT- Is there a way to look at the specs of the 500 gig drive and see where that is? I don't remember this UEFI logo in the boot sequence menu when I first went to set up the system, it occurred after I took the hit to what I believe is the MBR/Windows Boot Manager. Thanks.

Hello setupcity,

You could try downloading ULTIMATE BOOT CD:

Ultimate Boot CD - Overview

That's got a lot of HD utilities on it. There may be a utility on there which can identify your Drive and then you could search for details of that drive online.

A question about the 100 mb "reserved space" in clean win 7 install

Thanks Burdus, I will download that- I have used seatools for dos, which is in there, and was going to use it to erase and reinstall a MBR, but my Asus board does not support using a mouse in the dos menu, at least not for that disk. But I think I prefer the method outlined here at sevenforum.

There must be a way to change a setting so the board does not treat the Win Install disk as a UEFI....I am sure it had set up that way before, a week ago.

Also, have look at this page:
Windows and GPT FAQ

That explains about more about GPT.

Hey yeah, I looked at that. I did clean it and initialize it in GPT. I am doing something wrong, as then the Win Install disc reported it "can not create a new system partition or locate a system partition". I think I missed a step, and in a little while I will start over from the clean point. I think it is supposed to be in GPT, as this board has the uefi thing, so maybe it will be more stable if every drive is initialized for that. Maybe that was the source of the original problem. I did just set this up, and I am somewhat new to working so closely with windows. I think I got confused from the step clean> then you exit, and initializing the drive and creating a new simple volume. So I'll try again.

Ok I am stuck. I thought I missed the shrink portion, I have two 1 tb drives, initialized in GPT, and their is no option to shrink. So if I go create new simple volume, the next logical step that I know of is to run the Windows install disk, where it will find no viable partition. I already know, if I go shrink any simple volume, I will have two partitions, 1 about 3 gigs , and the other like 926 gigs, and that is not right. I don't know what I am missing. Create a partition? i thought a new simple volume is that. I guess I need to gather the log files when it won't install on the new simple volume, I don't know where they would be unless they are right there. It is booting into the 500 gig drive.

With UEFI BIOS you need to take special steps to install given here: UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums

On some EFI mobos you can opt out of installing in EFI mode by not choosing the EFI boot disk first in boot order, but use your normal DVD drive with the HD formatted MBR. Otherwise follow the steps above.

Hi Rocker, thanks for the response.
I can see from my attempts, I could format all over again to create an MBR instead of the GPT I have the drives set on for now. I just tried switching optical drives, to the one without the uefi tag on it, it came back with a "has to have an mbr". But I think I will try something.
I don't know about these .efi files you are talking about, I suppose I could re-connect the 500 gig drive to get in, do a file search and put that on usb. But in the bios, there is a toggle for each sata port for "esp". I see that in the tutorial you linked me to, and I read something about it beyond me in the "windows mbr vs gpt" faq.
So maybe I am grasping at straws, I will try and enable that, and see if it will install using the uefi labeled optical drive. After all, uefi is progress right? I think I am ready to give up if this doesn't work.
Do you think there is anything to gain in system reliability and stability by using uefi?
I will now try toggling these esp switches.... thanks , jeff

I was unsuccessful at finding the right .efi file. I will have to live with it in mbr mode. This has been confusing, I think I was spooked by the uefi tag on the icon for the optical drive in bios, when something had gone wrong. I didn't see it before. Maybe I can look into it some other time, but for now it is installing in mbr. I still don't know whether windows boot manager is now recognizing the 500 gig drive, which for some of you would be some kind of registry edit....for me that will mean another format and reinstall. I think when this is back together, I will leave the user access control pretty strong ( I finally read about that), and disconnect the reset switch so I can't use that on a system freeze. Maybe I can see if I can enable that uefi boot from within bios, without going all out, but for now my flight simulator is (or will be) back. Thanks to all who helped! Jeff

The steps are in the tutorial to install in EFI mode. Otherwise set your DVD drive or USB flash stick first to boot in BIOS setup, not the EFI boot disk.

If install fails google the verbatim text of error code and number to see how others have solved it.

Follow these general steps to get a perfect clean reinstall of Win7, based on thousands we have helped with here: Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

Hi Rocker. I have done clean installs on my 2 tb drives. I am taking a break before doing an install on the 500 gig drive. I already wanted to and did a full "clean all" with the elevated prompt of the 500 gig drive. After I install it it should be the first in the boot list.
Right now, if the computer has been running, and I am in 1 of the 1 tb drives, it will not allow me to "select" a drive in windows boot manager. The first 1 tb drive in the boot list is the same suspect drive where this problem started. If I let the computer turn off for a period of time, it will allow me to select a 1 or the other drive in boot manager. I plan to further test this when I format the 500 gig drive....I am hoping the problem will cease with that drive, and I can try a full "clean all" of the suspect drive. I am also going to be resetting up my first win 7 64 bit computer, which never gave me the problems this machine is giving me, and could conceivably use that drive in the older "cheapie" machine which is right now dismantled. I have checked the bios I have on the board, it is the latest.
Do you think the thought could be in the board, and would resetting the cmos be of any use? I will first do the tests, and even do a full "clean all" of the drive.
I have another question, which is off the subject. I am curious about any tutorials or threads about setting up an ssd drive, I just want to read up on this, like where you have the os on the ssd drive, and you are using other larger drives where you are storing stuff? I have no idea how this works, or even what terminology I would search for. I hope I am not sending it back, and what that will entail, this is my first build. I have heard that the crosshair board by asus is while a step above is actually less reliable.
Thanks, jeff

Clean All is a waste of time unless you're needing to make data irretrievable by most data recovery software. For the purposes of a cleaner slate, only the Clean command is needed and then only when there is evidence of corruption in the boot sector. Otherwise simply deleting all partitions during booted Custom Install using the Drive Options is enough - you can repartition at the same time, or just click next to have installer create and format one large install partition and commence install.

If SSD performance is not optimal try SSD Alignment - Windows 7 Forums .

Easiest is to rightclick to link your data folders on separate HD to the relevant Library - Include a Folder - Windows 7 Forums

Otherwise you can move your User folders to separate HD: User Folders - Change Default Location

So now it works. windows boot manager working right. It's been an education. The only thing is it doesn't exactly recognize my logitech keyboard unless I have this Dell keyboard plugged in- but that was something I had tried repeatedly, so I stlll suspect that drive. But now it is #2 in the boot process. I guess there is a way to put the Dell keyboard drivers on a usb stick, for another thread. Thanks