Windows 8 and GPT to Windows 7 and MBR Complete Conversion

[mcflurryXD]

I have a Dell Inspiron 3520 (I believe, can't check at the moment) that I want to wipe 8 off of completely, partitions and all, and start with a freshly formatted MBR drive with windows 7. I know I cannot completely destroy all of the partitions within Windows 8 because its running on the drive. can I do it with Gparted within a a Linux live USB or some other stand alone program, and if so, any suggestions and help with it? Data loss is not a problem. Nothing on the drive needs to be saved.

 

[gregrocker]

If this is a PC which came with Win8 preinstalled then it should have Secure Boot, so the first thing you'll need to do is boot into BIOS setup to turn it off in order to install any other OS: DownUPgrade Windows 8 to Windows 7.

Then understand fully the choice between UEFI BIOS vs. Legacy BIOS - YouTube

If you still want to do so here's how to Bypass UEFI to Install WIn7.

 

[pachmarhi]

please ignore. Meant to start a new thread

apologies. please ignore

 

[theog]

1) Downgrade to Windows 7.
Downgrade Windows 8 to Windows 7
Warning you must have the uEFI/BIOS firmware setting in Step Three set.


2) If Using a USB Pendrive on a PC with a uEFI BIOS.
USB Pendrive need to be formated 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.