I have a Lenovo laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium. I want to install Win 7 Professional or Ultimate on it. When I run the install program, I get to the screen that says, "Where do you want to install Windows?" The following partitions are listed: Disk 0, Partition 1 200 MB Type: System Disk 0, Partition 2 654.7 GB Type: Primary Disk 0, Partition 3 29.0 GB Type: Logical Disk 0, Partition 4 Lenovo_Part 14.7 GB Type: OEM (Reserved) Obviously Disk 0, Partition 2 is the one I should install to. 0,3 is probably system recovery. However, on any of these partitions, the install prog says, "Windows cannot be installed to Disk 0 Partition [whichever] (Show details). " When I click on show details, it says: "The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks." Anyone know what's going on? I also tried booting to a Linux-based Gparted partition utility and formatted the drive to NTFS. I still had the same results.
You may have to change the partition (#2) to GPT instead of MBR or disable EFI on that machine. EFI need a GPT Partition for to run.
You cannot change single partitions to GPT - it would have to be the whole disk to be converted. I'd recommend to boot the DVD in non-EFI mode (through the boot menu or by setting the EFI BIOS to Legacy/CSM).
So I could probably use a utility such as Gparted Live to boot up the PC and format the entire drive as one GPT partition and then install after that. I would lose Lenovo's recovery partition (which I don't need) and the other ones. Or is this a bad idea for any reason? I was wondering why there's that small 200 MB partition.
Do I need to keep it? What I'm wondering is if I can use a utility like Gparted to eliminate all existing partitions and convert them into one GPT partition and then install Win 7 Pro. Also, if for any reason I ever want to go back, how good are the Lenovo Recovery DVDs that I made? I made two sets of them and know they're good. If I've been trying with Win 7 Pro, GPT, etc. and I want to turn back, are the Lenovo Recovery DVDs smart enough to put all the partitions back exactly as they were and reinstall exactly as before? Just in case. There are a lot of reasons I'd rather have Win 7 Pro, but I wonder if my bridges are burned once I've done the GBT partition.
You basicly answered your own question. Your current partitions are all on 1 physical hard drive... I am not familiar with current Lenovo system recovery/restore/backup procedures but I'm guessing the (Lenovo) recovery DVD you created will at least need the recovery partition to restore the system to its default state.
The purpose of making the recovery DVDs is for restoring the machine if the Restore partition got lost. They should be fine to restore. Ridding the disk of all partition and changing to GPT partition scheme will let you boot the install DVD in EFI mode and install. The Setup will need to create multiple partitions due to how EFI+GPT works. Of course you could simply use the Anytime Upgrade option with the Pro or Ultimate OEM:SLP key. That way you don't need to format anything.
Okay, I booted in Gparted and zapped all the partitions, then reformatted the whole disk as an NTFS partition. Gparted did not show a way to choose a GPT partition, so I just used the NTFS command, thinking maybe it would make a GPT. Nope. Even though this is the latest release of Gparted. I'm looking through for a way to create it as a GPT. Is there some way to do it with the Windows 7 install disk? Edit: Hold that thought ... I'm back in Gparted and have found a command to convert it over to GPT. Will let you know how it goes. If this doesn't work, then maybe I'll search for another way.
In GParted, delete all partitions on the disk. Then, in the Device menu, there is ''Create a Partition Table''. Select ''GPT''. Note the ''MSDOS'' selection is MBR.
It converted to GPT, but now I get a different error message: I've thought of doing a Lenovo system restore and then doing as Carlos suggests and installing as an upgrade. My concern about that is the junkware that may be left behind. I was hoping for a clean install. In LibreOffice Writer, there are some hotkeys that work on my desktop, but not on my Lenovo laptop when I assign them to my macros. That's why I was wanting to just wipe the laptop and install Pro or Ultimate. Edit: I went back into Gparted and made sure it was GPT and that I created an NTFS partition. Now I get past that one menu, but get this:
It's a bit confusing. Does it boot as EFI or does it not? It throws errors in both cases (GPT vs. MBR aka ''MSDOS'' partitioning scheme)?
An update: I re-did the hard drive in Gparted, making sure to use GPT and to format it as NTFS. Now the Windows install disk squawks: "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style." it doesn't seem to like it either way. Edit: I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but the first time I made a new partition, I chose "Align to: MiB." The second time I chose "Align to Cylinder".
Make sure that the GPT partitioning is done via Windows Setup so that the System Reserved and EFI partition is created properly. If not (as you plain format it in GPT style by GParted), Windows can't be installed.
...yes, make sense, probably is... Thing is I have an HP (older model) and this one needs a recovery dvd AND the the recovery partition to restore everything to its 'default' state. As I wrote, I'm not familiar with Lenovo recovery procedures. Anyways, as the TS decided to zap all partitions and format the hard disk it would be the ultimate opportunity find out. /edit/ ...and he did, recovery dvd's work.