UEFI Install of Windows 7 Pro

I wonder if someone will help me decide if I want to install in UEFI? My end goal may be to dual boot with windows 8.1 or 10, or even Linux, not sure yet, but that may matter so thought I would mention it.

I already have the Retail DVD created and the link from here to do this, but still wonder if it is suggested to do. The pc is a Dell 660s Small Form Factor that is 7, 8 or 10 compatible. I also have a license for 7 Home Premium if that would be better for some reason.

Also, I'm under the impression that I do not need to Pre-Format to GPT, just follow the sevenforums link below.
UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Help Forums

Thanks, Nasty7

You can only install windows as UEFI if you have a UEFI BIOS.
Does your Dell have UEFI BIOS?

If it does, boot the win 7, 8.1 or 10 installation disk as UEFI, go to install, advanced, delete all partitions and proceed.

Sorry guys, here is a little more info.

Here is the Link for this pc guys.
Support for Inspiron 660s | Dell US


The computer did come with Windows 8, so therefore I am quite sure it is UEFI as I seen that in BIOS when trying to boot Linux to evaluate the hardware before putting a 1TB Drive in it, I turned off Secure Boot thinking it would help.

I thought GPT would make it easier to multi boot, in case I needed more than 4 Primary's, and maybe more secure because of UEFI, but that's debatable I guess.

Drive size should not be an issue because I won't go over a 1TB I'm quite sure. I'm no power user and keep my info., (mostly word docs) on a USB, so that I can move from computer to computer easily.

I'm also considering installing Windows 8.1 and then Upgrading to 10, so that I can become more familiar with 10 for work. Working with 8.1 on my laptop now to see if it is worth installing and keeping on this -new to me-Desktop. Reason being, W8 was acting up on me and I don't know enough about it to make a good decision as whether to keep it or not, and or to install it on this new Desktop.

Basically I love Windows 7, and want to put it on this new machine. The machine shipped with Windows 8, so don't know if it will run best with Windows 7 or Windows 8. I'm also in the need to practice with Windows 10, so I think the best thing would be to Dual Boot with 7 and 10, but am trying to plan this out as best as possible.

I'm also unclear as to what will happen with Windows 7 if I Upgrade to 10? Does this mean I will have to install 7, then Image it for later, Upgrade to 10 to get the License, then Wipe the drive and use the Windows 7 Image to start all over with the Dual Boot? Because if I understand correctly, Windows 7 needs to be installed first, and when the Upgrade to 10 happens it will overwrite 7.

O-boy, I may just install Windows 7 Pro and be done with it lol. I'm in no hurry as of now so any feedback is very welcome. Performance is a concern also, any comments on this would be nice.

Hope that's not TMI, Much Thanks, Nasty7

On Legacy boot, BIOS takes to MBR that points to a Master boot loader that can point to another boot loader. (Serial chain).
The boot priority is a disk (MBR) not a boot loader.
For instance, MBR can take to Linus Grub boot loader that can have as fist option a Linux OS and second option a Windows boot loader.
or
MBR can take to Windows boot loader that can have as fist option a Windows OS and second option a Linus Grub boot loader.

On UEFI you have a Fat32 partition (that is compatible with all OS's) that has the boot loaders that are chosen by BIOS priority. The boot loaders are independent and not chained. You don't choose a disk to boot from, you choose directly a boot loader.
The OS's will be on different partitions (or disks)

In other words, if you're going to have more than one OS on same disk, USE UEFI.

If your Dell came with Win 8.1 make the factory recover disks. Then under win 8.1 upgrade to Win 10.
Once Win 10 is activated, MS will record the LAN MAC address. That means that you'll be able to do a future clean install and it will be activated.

Installing Windows 7 and 10 in UEFI syatem with MBR sometime causes crashing on Windows starting screen possibly due to partition mapping problem. Therefore, in UEFI system I found it is better to install Windows 7 on GPT.

One possible method that finally worked for me:
1. Disable secure boot and compatibility mode (CSM) in UEFI
2. Install windows 10 in GPT
3. Use the Win7 bootable USB created by rufus for "MBR + UEFI-CSM + BIOS"
4. Start windows 7 installation under windows 10
(Note: the UEFI with GPT version of win7 bootable USB created by Rufus did not work due to file missing error)
5. On restart make sure UEFI-CSM is enabled back, otherwise Windows 7 will again halt.
6. Now both Win 7 and 10 working reliably.

Nasty7,

The 660s does have Win7 drivers available from the Dell link you provided. I have installed Win7 on many 660 and 660s models for clients, and can attest it runs quite smoothly.

I disagree with Megahertz07's blanket statement that, "if you're going to have more than one OS on same disk, USE UEFI." I've been happily multi-booting MBR disks for more than a quarter century, and wouldn't have it any other way. My laptop has ten partitions (both primary and logical) on two MBR disks, and multi-boots eight OSes, including Win10. I find MBR multi-booting far easier than GPT, especially when it comes to backing up and restoring images.

Genuine multi-booting on a MBR disk does require a third-party boot manager to manage the boot menu. Do not--repeat, DO NOT--do it Microsoft's kludgy way. Use a proper boot manager. There are several free boot managers around--even the linux grub bootloader will do, though I prefer Terabyte's "BootIt Bare Metal" (BIBM). It also comes with a first-rate partition manager and first-rate image/restore utility built in, which take the place of Windows-based utilities like Mini-Tool Partition Wizard and Macrium Reflect, et al. (As a purist, I prefer the straightforward cleanliness and simplicity of repartitioning and imaging from outside Windows, anyway, rather than using Windows-based tools.)

I agree with TrashZone that in your case UEFI/GPT offers nothing that can't be done with MBR disks, other than the marginally better safety of Secure Boot. (Personally, I find Secure Boot more trouble than it's worth ... but everyone has their own opinion, I guess.) For me, the one and only advantage to a GPT boot disk is it can be larger than 2TB. But in your case (and mine), that is not an issue.

Regardless of how you multi-boot, you'll want to disable Fast Start, as ThrashZone mentioned. (I suspect that may be the root of Abhiji's problem.) Fast Start is essentially a form of hibernation, which can play havoc with multi-boot setups.

If you want to learn more about multi-booting with a MBR boot disk, I have plenty of background information on my website, "Understanding MultiBooting". The Terabyte utility actually makes it even easier than my way (through Terabyte's "unlimited partitions"). Though I still use my method (and just use BIBM for its boot manager), for newbies I recommend the BIBM way instead of my way, while my website has all the background info you'd want to understand how things fit together.


Dan