Should I reinstall my computer to boot with UEFI?

[FuturDreamz]

I'm still trying to get a hang of how UEFI works. I did take a look at it when I went to install my OS (And again when i got a SSD), but I couldn't make heads or tails of it and used BIOS.

does UEFI make a drastic difference over BIOS, and can I convert without having to do a complete wipe and install? or how would go about switching to EFI, or is it worth it?

thanks.

 

[gregrocker]

You can always save a Win7 backup image of the MBR disk to reconvert and restore if you don't like what you find:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/26193-convert-mbr-disk-gpt-disk.html

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

 

[FuturDreamz]

Thanks, but I guess what I'm asking is: is it worth it? I don't want to do a complete nuke&reinstall just to find out it acts exactly the same.

 

[bobkn]

You can always save a Win7 backup image of the MBR disk to reconvert and restore if you don't like what you find:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/26193-convert-mbr-disk-gpt-disk.html

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

Other than the limitations of MBR (like not being able to use a boot disk larger than 2GB), is there any functional difference?

 

[seavixen32]

You might want to download and read this Microsoft document before you make a decision: UEFI and Windows

 

[gregrocker]

Thanks, but I guess what I'm asking is: is it worth it? I don't want to do a complete nuke&reinstall just to find out it acts exactly the same.

Other than the limitations of MBR (like not being able to use a boot disk larger than 2GB), is there any functional difference?

I don't have any EFI mobos yet and haven't heard of any performance advantage. We only see installation problems here as EFI mobos start coming to the fore. So, like RAID, it is problematic with WIn7 installation.

If you choose to test this, please let us know what you find.

 

[FuturDreamz]

I was hoping for something along the lines of improved performance and stability. So far it seems like dad-to-day usage will be unnoticeably different, so i'll just say with BIOS for now.

I may try it next time I reinstall, but that most likely won't be until I upgrade to Windows 8 or build a new computer.

 

[gregrocker]

Are you saying you have an EFI BIOS and are still using MBR disk? Have you installed this way?

 

[FuturDreamz]

Are you saying you have an EFI BIOS and are still using MBR disk? Have you installed this way?

pretty much. I can boot up using EFI, but my MOBO is set to use BIOS.

Oddly enough, the interface it completely text driven. if it wasn't for EFI compatibility, I'd be positive that it's a normal BIOS.

 

[bobkn]

I don't have any EFI mobos yet and haven't heard of any performance advantage. We only see installation problems here as EFI mobos start coming to the fore. So, like RAID, it is problematic with WIn7 installation.

If you choose to test this, please let us know what you find.

I've installed Win7 on a few UEFI motherboards. They were from Asus, and offered UEFI and non-UEFI mode boots for the install media (in my case, a USB flash drive). I chose non-UEFI, and the installation always proceeeded normally. (My boot drive was a 120GB SSD in all cases, and the largest data drive was 1.5TB.)

I definitely get a full mouse driven GUI for the CMOS settings, on all systems.

FuturDreamz seems to think that there's something different in the two installations, beyond GPT vs MBR. I thought that they were the same, excepting GPT. What's correct?

 

[FuturDreamz]

Mostly I was wondering if there were any noticeable performance differences, or anything that would warrant me making the switch.

 

[gregrocker]

I've installed Win7 on a few UEFI motherboards. They were from Asus, and offered UEFI and non-UEFI mode boots for the install media (in my case, a USB flash drive). I chose non-UEFI, and the installation always proceeeded normally. (My boot drive was a 120GB SSD in all cases, and the largest data drive was 1.5TB.)

I definitely get a full mouse driven GUI for the CMOS settings, on all systems.

FuturDreamz seems to think that there's something different in the two installations, beyond GPT vs MBR. I thought that they were the same, excepting GPT. What's correct?

Bob, you were able to choose in BIOS non-UEFI installing to a GPT and there were no special installation steps required? UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums

We have a case now where the only UEFI listing found in BIOS is EFI disk in boot order, which either selecting or not seems to make no difference even with the special steps taken in tutorial above.

 

[bobkn]

Bob, you were able to choose in BIOS non-UEFI installing to a GPT and there were no special installation steps required? UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums

We have a case now where the only UEFI listing found in BIOS is EFI disk in boot order, which either selecting or not seems to make no difference even with the special steps taken in tutorial above.

I'm out of my depth here.

I used the one-time boot order option (F8 with an Asus motherboard, annoyingly the same as the Windows boot mode hotkey). There were two choices for the USB flash drive I wished to boot from. One was listed as UEFI, the other was not. I used the non-UEFI version, and the Win7 installation proceeded in the traditional manner. The SSD was the only HD attached to the motherboard during the install, so I let the installer partiton and format it automatically.

I've never checked whether the drive used an MBR or GPT, but I assume that it's the former.

 

[FuturDreamz]

Well, I tried reinstalling.

I made sure UEFI was enabled and all that stuff, but Windows reinstalled as BIOS.

I'll try again when Windows 8 comes out.