Devontechie Posted October 1, 2013 Posted October 1, 2013 I have got 3 Acer Laptops that came with Windows 7 & 8. We want them running Windows 7 so we can run TrueCrpyt. Truecrpt doesn’t work on drives that have a GUID Partition Table (GPT). So I found that I can do a DISKPART and remove all the partitions and convert to MBR. The drive shows has not being GPT. The bios is set to legacy boot. When I try installing Windows 7, I get “Windows cannot install to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks.” Anyone got any ideas on what to do?
kevin_lane Posted October 1, 2013 Posted October 1, 2013 How big is the disk also try setting the hard drive to either compatibility or apci and see what that does
AngryTechnician Posted October 1, 2013 Posted October 1, 2013 From what you've described, you have successfully converted the disk to MBR. However, you now need to switch off EFI in the BIOS. It's currently switched on and that's why Windows is complaining.
Devontechie Posted October 2, 2013 Author Posted October 2, 2013 How big is the disk also try setting the hard drive to either compatibility or apci and see what that does @kevin_lane The disk in only 500GB From what you've described, you have successfully converted the disk to MBR. However, you now need to switch off EFI in the BIOS. It's currently switched on and that's why Windows is complaining. @AngryTechnician I can only find UEFI in the Boot Mode in the BIOS. I have got that set yo Legacy BIOS.
SovietRussia Posted October 2, 2013 Posted October 2, 2013 Its due to the Windows Installation - When you install it on a GPT it reconfigures for the dynamic disk etc. I do believe you will have to reinstall Windows. (This happened to me using Windows 8, I had a perfectly good MBR and it changed it to damm GPT!)
Devontechie Posted October 2, 2013 Author Posted October 2, 2013 Its due to the Windows Installation - When you install it on a GPT it reconfigures for the dynamic disk etc. I do believe you will have to reinstall Windows. (This happened to me using Windows 8, I had a perfectly good MBR and it changed it to damm GPT!) @SovietRussia I am reinstalling Windows on it. It seems like I get the drive to be MBR when using DISKPART but as soon as I install Windows 7, the drive goings to GPT. Its driving me mad! lol!
kevin_lane Posted October 2, 2013 Posted October 2, 2013 Strange because you should only use gpt with drives over 2TB I believe
Devontechie Posted October 2, 2013 Author Posted October 2, 2013 Strange because you should only use gpt with drives over 2TB I believe As you can imagine, its driving me mad. It came with Windows 7 & Windows 8. So we went for Win7 but couldn't use Truecrpyt because of the GPT. So I thought I'd remove all partitions & convert to MBR using DISKPART and then install Win 7 again after I had changed the BIOS to Legacy BIOS and it would work.. It installs but its still GPT!
LosOjos Posted October 2, 2013 Posted October 2, 2013 Sounds daft, but if you're installing from DVD, is the DVD drive in EFI mode in the BIOS? If so, try changing it to Legacy/SATA mode and try to install again. Apparently some BIOS will try to boot from DVD in both modes; if yours is doing that the "press any key to boot from DVD" will appear twice, try waiting for the second time then pressing a key
DMcCoy Posted October 2, 2013 Posted October 2, 2013 Diskpart from what 7 or 8? I assume the drive shows up in diskpart on 7? You may still need to add the controller driver though.
Devontechie Posted October 3, 2013 Author Posted October 3, 2013 try using a linux disk to kill the partitions @sted Is there any Linux disk you would recommend? I am not good with Linux!
Devontechie Posted October 3, 2013 Author Posted October 3, 2013 Diskpart from what 7 or 8? I assume the drive shows up in diskpart on 7? You may still need to add the controller driver though. @DMcCoy I used DISKPART from Windows 7. It was done by going pressing Shift F10 for the CMD when the Windows install starts
sted Posted October 3, 2013 Posted October 3, 2013 @sted Is there any Linux disk you would recommend? I am not good with Linux! for deleting drive partitions pick one it will probably make 0 difference you arnt installing the os just using its disk tools from the install media
Devontechie Posted October 3, 2013 Author Posted October 3, 2013 Have been told by ACER that I can't turn off EFI in the BIOS even thou I have got it set to Legacy BIOS! 1
Devontechie Posted October 5, 2013 Author Posted October 5, 2013 Perhaps your Acer's are Class 3 UEFI devices (despite the presence of the 'Legacy BIOS' option)? http://i.imgur.com/yTh4S1U.png In the image, it says about class 3 UEFI devices only supporting windows 8 or newer. The laptops came pre-installed with windows 7!
Devontechie Posted October 6, 2013 Author Posted October 6, 2013 Did you try my suggestion? How did it go? @LosOjos I couldn't see sny efi mode in the bios for the dvd drive. It only comes up with press any key to boot ftom cd/dvd once..
SYNACK Posted October 6, 2013 Posted October 6, 2013 Do you have volume licence? Windows 7/8 enterprise would allow bitlocker which is an easier system to manage and will support efi.
Arthur Posted October 6, 2013 Posted October 6, 2013 (edited) I couldn't see any uefi mode in the bios for the dvd drive. It only comes up with press any key to boot from cd/dvd once.. When you go to the boot menu (F12 key?), do you see your DVD drive listed twice - as in the screenshot below? http://i.imgur.com/zNWuloa.png Also, have you tried installing Windows 7 from a USB flash drive? Rufus is a good program to use for this. Prepare a USB thumb drive to boot windows 7 or 8 in UEFI mode Edited October 6, 2013 by Arthur 2
Devontechie Posted October 6, 2013 Author Posted October 6, 2013 When you go to the boot menu (F12 key?), do you see your DVD drive listed twice - as in the screenshot below? http://i.imgur.com/zNWuloa.png Also, have you tried installing Windows 7 from a USB flash drive? Rufus is a good program to use for this. Prepare a USB thumb drive to boot windows 7 or 8 in UEFI mode If I try from usb, I'm guessing I'll need to do a diskpart again to remove the current partitions? I'll get a usb pen drive setup tomorrow to try installing windows from...
Arthur Posted October 6, 2013 Posted October 6, 2013 If I try from usb, I'm guessing I'll need to do a diskpart again to remove the current partitions? It's probably a good idea to start from scratch.
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