Any way to mod a Windows 10 iso so it'll install on an MBR partition?

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  1. teckneeculler
    Posts : 467
    Win7 Ultimate SP1
       New #1

    Any way to mod a Windows 10 iso so it'll install on an MBR partition?


    I'm experimenting with a temporary dual-boot W10 install on my W7 system.
    My system drive is a 500GB SSD which has been running with just two partitions - System Reserved and C:\ .
    Using Disk Management I shrunk the C partition and created a new 125GB partition for W10.
    Only problem, when I began the install it told me I couldn't install W10 there because it was an MBR partition. I must have arranged this when I first installed W7 on the SSD. I confirmed the drive's state via cmd. It's definitely not GPT

    Is there any way of making that new partition GPT? Or, if not, is it possible to reformat the entire 3x partition 500GB SSD from MBR to GPT without losing data?
    Last edited by teckneeculler; 07 Jul 2024 at 22:08.
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  3. Bree
    Posts : 678
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
       New #2

    teckneeculler said:
    ...Only problem, when I began the install it told me I couldn't install W10 there because it was an MBR partition.
    Windows 10 is quite capable of being installed on an MBR partition. A W10 install usb can boot in both Legacy mode or UEFI. Whichever mode you boot, than that is the one it will try to install. Boot in Legacy mode and it will install to MBR, boot in UEFI and it will be GPT.
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  4. samuria
    Posts : 3,872
    win 8 32 bit
       New #3

    Lots of way of converting mbr to gpt 4DDiG Partition Manager - Fast and Safe Windows Partition Management Software
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  6. teckneeculler
    Posts : 467
    Win7 Ultimate SP1
    Thread Starter
       New #4

    Thanks Bree.
    Thanks, Samuria. 4DDiG doesn't appear to get good press. One comment suggests that the free version is very limited, and buying it only works for a month.
    The problem is that my W7 is on a 500GB M.2 SSD that's been formatted MBR. I want to install W10 on a new partition on that drive, so I'll need to back up the OS and System Reserved partitions somewhere else, format the drive GPT, then copy those partitions back, then create a third partition for W10. It might be a little more complicated but I'd be more confident of making it work.
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  7. Volume Z
    Posts : 194
    Windows 7 Home Premium
       New #5

    No, no, no. It's a matter of booting the Setup the right way. There is an EFI and a non-EFI way of doing it, and so far you chose the EFI one. Choose the non-EFI aka MBR one.
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  8. teckneeculler
    Posts : 467
    Win7 Ultimate SP1
    Thread Starter
       New #6

    Thanks VZ: Thing is, I don't want to risk any problems with the other drives - spinners and USBs - by changing the BIOS to MBR. Even though (I assume) the change is only temporary. Spinners are 0,1,2. USBs are 4 and 5. Disk 3 is the 500GB M.2 SSD. New Volume Q is where I intended to put W10.Any way to mod a Windows 10 iso so it'll install on an MBR partition?-dpart.jpgAny way to mod a Windows 10 iso so it'll install on an MBR partition?-dpart2.jpg
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  10. Volume Z
    Posts : 194
    Windows 7 Home Premium
       New #7

    I don't know what this means. The BIOS is booting MBR right now. Only your Windows 10 Setup is booting GPT by your choice. If you can boot it GPT, you can boot it MBR. Could be called Legacy in the UEFI menu.
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  11. teckneeculler
    Posts : 467
    Win7 Ultimate SP1
    Thread Starter
       New #8

    Thanks, I'll check. The mobo is an Asus PRIME H310M-E R2. But right now I have to grab my chainsaw and go get some firewood. BRB.
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  12. Megahertz07
    Posts : 7,390
    Windows 7 HP 64
       New #9

    MBR or GPT is a characteristic of a drive, not a partition.

    From your Disk Manager image, your Win 7 is installed on drive 3 that is a MBR drive.
    So you must install Win 10 on the drive as Legacy - MBR and not UEFI - GPT.

    Windows can be installed in two ways: Legacy-MBR or UEFI-GPT
    To install as Legacy-MBR you must boot the installation drive as Legacy
    To install as UEFI-GPT you must boot the installation drive as UEFI.


    Detach any other drives (SATA or Power cable) from the MB.

    During POST, press F8 to launch the boot menu. You will see two options for the USB drive. USB UEFI (Name) and USB (Name). Select USB (name) to install as Legacy-MBR.
    Go to install and select the last partition to install on and then proceed.
    If you don't want to use MS account, don't enable updates or connect to the internet during installation.
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  13. SIW2
    Posts : 16,406
    7 X64
       New #10

    Some motherboards allow the user to select "both" in bios.

    I think the asus 310 motherboard does not have that setting. I had a couple of those briefly, till I realised a higher 300 series has advantages. In that case, should be able to select by using the one time boot menu key. No need to keep going into bios to change the setting there.

    From memory, I think tap F8 at post beep on asus to get the one time boot menu.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Or you could convert your 465GB NVMe Samsung SSD 970 disk to gpt partition style. It is quite easy.

    - - - Updated - - -

    To install as Legacy-MBR you must boot the installation drive as Legacy
    Not necessarily. Could use the apply method, either from winpe or from within the existing win7 installation.
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