Solved UEFI USB Win 7 installed. How to check if it really is in UEFI?

[Rudeboy]

Hi,

I bought a new Asus desktop which came pre-installed with Windows 8. I've decided to ditch windows 8 and to install a SSD with windows 7 64 bit.

I noticed that my motherboard can handle UEFI and I went ahead and created a bootable USB with Win 7 64bit. When I go into BIOS I can see that it identifies the USB drive as a UEFI enabled device. I went ahead with the clean install of win 7.

This is where I'm confused. I followed the steps on this link
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...e-firmware-interface-install-windows-7-a.html

When it comes to seeing 3 partitions I only see 2.

I tried msinfo32 to see "BIOS mode" but even that option is not there. All I see is "BIOS Version/Date" and "SMBIOS Version"

I have a working Windows 7 but just want to know if I did the installation correctly or not.

 

[gregrocker]

If you correctly formatted the USB as shown in UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows
and booted it as a UEFI-labeled device, then deleted all partitions and let it create new, it should be UEFI.

Is there a partition labeled EFI in Disk Mgmt?

When you click on the Disk # panel to the left of the drive map, does it offer to convert to GPT or MBR? Dont' convert it, just look to confirm if it's GPT meaning UEFI install.

 

[Rudeboy]

When I check in Disk Management I see two partitions. System Reserverd and C: partitions. Both are NTFS file systems. I don't see anything about EFI. What do you mean by clicking on Disk # left panel...?

 

[gregrocker]

No need. Having SysReserved and C means it is an MBR install without UEFI.

If you want you can reinstall in UEFI but you'll need to make the settings changes in the BIOS to support this, and be sure to boot the flash stick this time as a UEFI Device, delete all partitions during install so that it will clear the MBR formatting and create GPT.

I personally prefer MBR installs for less hassle but there are a few meager benefits to UEFI so educate yourself on it to decide: UEFI BIOS vs. Legacy BIOS - YouTube

 

[Rudeboy]

Thanks for the link that you provided.

When I go into the BIOS it identifies the USB as a UEFI device. During the install I make sure that I delete all partitions and to create new, but still I see two partition(MBR) instead of 3(GPT)

 

[gregrocker]

What are the UEFI, CSM and/or Legacy BIOS settings in BIOS setup? Pictures of all expanded choices would help.

You can try wiping the HD first with Diskpart Clean Command.

Did you use Option One from UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows to make sure the flash stick gets written correctly?

 

[theog]

This is where I'm confused. I followed the steps on this link
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...e-firmware-interface-install-windows-7-a.html

When it comes to seeing 3 partitions I only see 2.

If Using a USB Pen drive on a PC with a UEFI BIOS.
USB Pen drive need to be formatted to FAT32 as in
UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows
Take note of Step 11 for Windows 7.
Also you will need to use a USB 2.0 port, as there are no USB 3.0 drivers in Windows 7.

 

[SIW2]

Check the bcd entry is easiest.

Open cmd prompt, type:

bcdedit /enum {current}

See if the path is winload.exe or winload.efi.



I agree with Greg. Benefits to the consumer are virtually nil. In practical terms, saves a couple of seconds at startup. A lot of complications and restrictions come with it. #

The industry introduced it for their own benefit.

 

[Berton]

Quote: Also you will need to use a USB 2.0 port, as there are no USB 3.0 drivers in Windows 7.

A lot will depend upon the motherboard, my Custom has a Gigabyte board with USB 3.0 ports and installing the CD that came with it gives USB 3.0 support.

 

[gregrocker]

You won't have the USB drivers installed yet. They need to be in the Win7 installation media but MS won't give us SP2.

Use a USB 2 port or DVD install.

 

[Rudeboy]

It says my partition is in EFI. Just did the USB method again.

 

[glnz]

SIW and gregrocker - thanks for your very good info.

I have a Dell Optiplex 7010 MT that dual boots Win 7 Pro SP1 64-bit and Win 10 Pro 64-bit. Your posts here confirm that I'm in UEFI. That's good to know.

EXCEPT ... that this UEFI 64-bit dual-booting PC will NOT boot from bootable CDs that were made for my older PC running XP Pro SP3 32-bit. Even though in my BIOS the setting for Enable Legacy Option ROMs is checked (enabled).

Is there any trick to getting my UEFI 64-bit PC to boot from bootable legacy CDs?

Thanks!