Win10 only supports GPT on EFI systems.Can't install as dualboot on exist. MBR drive

Discussion in 'Windows 10' started by dummekuehe, Oct 3, 2014.

  1. dummekuehe

    dummekuehe MDL Senior Member

    Jan 11, 2009
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    Just tried to install Windows 10 on my Laptop.
    When I tried to select the free partition on my drive it said it couldn't install because on EFI systems it only support GPT and not MBR. WTF?
    What about dual booting with older systems? I'm not going to reinstall everything because of this.

    Any ideas? Am I doing sth. wrong? Or are they really big aholes?
     
  2. Tito

    Tito Super Mod / Adviser
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    Nov 30, 2009
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    No need to spread panic; try to boot using non-UEFI mode ;)

    In UEFI mode, every NT 6.x OS needs GPT.
     
  3. dummekuehe

    dummekuehe MDL Senior Member

    Jan 11, 2009
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    I just put it on the stick as I've always done with Windows 8 and older versions.
    And I selected the stick from my boot menu.
     
  4. Hadron-Curious

    Hadron-Curious MDL Guru

    Jul 4, 2014
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    Indeed, I installed my Windows 10 to MBR/UEFI mode. So it's installed to BIOS rather than the hard disk device as it's in the case of GPT. It's running perfectly well without any error. Although, I used Rufus to do that.
     
  5. CorporateRAT

    CorporateRAT MDL Member

    Aug 4, 2012
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    If your drive has MBR partition style, you won't be able to install windows in EFI mode. To install in legacy/mbr mode make sure you marked boot partition on your stick as active.
     
  6. dummekuehe

    dummekuehe MDL Senior Member

    Jan 11, 2009
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    So, partition on boot stick is active. Still the same. Even Set UEFI in Setup to Legacy. Same result.
    But I remembered that last time i used the stick with a tool to make a UEFI mode Win7 installation.
    Today i just removed all the files from that stick and extracted the iso to the stick.
    So is it possible that the USB stick was somehow "marked" to make an UEFI installation by the tool and therefore now only tries to install in UEFI mode?
    Thanks
     
  7. EFA11

    EFA11 Avatar Guru

    Oct 7, 2010
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    format the stick to NTFS and then extract the iso. EFI cannot boot to NTFS, only Fat32. That might solve your problem.
     
  8. dummekuehe

    dummekuehe MDL Senior Member

    Jan 11, 2009
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    thanks
    i think i used rufus last time
    i'll reformat, this time with "target:mbr" and try again
     
  9. hexidiot

    hexidiot MDL Novice

    Apr 17, 2014
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    #9 hexidiot, Oct 3, 2014
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2014
    hi,
    i wonder if one could use dism command to set up windows 10 into MBR partition scheme on C:\ with .wim file extracted into your D:\
    the smiley is ": D : \" without spaces
     
  10. postace

    postace MDL Novice

    Oct 4, 2014
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    If you have a USB device , i think you can install Windows 10 by USB boot , use Rufus USB or Window 7 USB tool
    I dont have EFI & GPT too, but when i used USB boot, i can install it normally
     
  11. TGNT

    TGNT MDL Member

    Mar 2, 2010
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    I tried to install Ubuntu 14.04 (dual boot) with windows 10, but Ubuntu failed to recognized the windows partition. Any idea?
     
  12. Tito

    Tito Super Mod / Adviser
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    Nov 30, 2009
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  13. agent268

    agent268 MDL Junior Member

    Feb 20, 2012
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    You can install Windows 10 manually using DISM. Just remember to use BCDBoot when your done. Heck, you can do that on Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1. Personally, I manually create my partition layout via DiskPart, use DISM to install Windows, use BCDBoot to create the primary boot components, then use REAgentC to finish deploying WinRE and a Recovery Image file for Push Button Reset.
     
  14. hexidiot

    hexidiot MDL Novice

    Apr 17, 2014
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    or just remove the efi folder,
    i just tested, it works, Win 10 on MBR now.