Installing W7 on a GUID table without EFI.


  1. Posts : 4
    Gentoo Linux
       #1

    Installing W7 on a GUID table without EFI.


    To preface this, I'm quite adept with computers in general, but an absolute noob with windows. I have a copy on Windows 7, which I'm hoping to use to play Battlefield 2, and do little else. I tried installing it in virtualbox, but video capabilities combined with my laptop made this not a viable solution.

    The only real alternative is installing it alongside my current OS(Gentoo), which is installed on GPT. Thankfully, I have a ~60Gb partition sitting idle at the end of my disk, but my laptop does not have EFI.
    I know that Windows needs EFI to boot from a GPT(No comment), but is it possible to... Trick windows somehow?
    Would it be possible to install it to a partition which is itself formatted with MBR, install the bootloader to that partition, too, and chainload from GRUB(Linux bootloader) to that partition?

    If not, is there any other way around this?

    Thanks, Liam.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 4
    Gentoo Linux
    Thread Starter
       #2

    Much as I hate to, I need to bump this... 500 views on the first day and 40 after that.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 25,847
    Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
       #3

    LiamOS. So many viewers and so little help is caused by people not know how to help you. I don't understand what you are trying to do ect. But to give you a general rule that I have found to be true; your not going to trick Windows 7 on it's methods of being properly installed and activated.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #4

      My Computer


  5. Posts : 4
    Gentoo Linux
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Perhaps it was not overly clear.

    I have a GUID partition table. I have no EFI. Windows 7 has a nifty feature that it can only be installed on a GUID table with EFI.

    Is there any way to bypass this? It is possible to convince Windows that it's on an MBR table somehow? Is it possible to convince Windows 7 that it was booted with EFI without using EFI?
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #6

    Convert to drive mbr
    Convert GPT Disk to MBR Disk
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 25,847
    Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
       #7

    Good find theog. That just might be what the OP is looking for.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 4
    Gentoo Linux
    Thread Starter
       #8

    That is one way around it, I suppose... It seems awfully sad to have to resort to that, but I suppose that's why I get for wanting to play games.
      My Computer


 

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