Windows 7 won't install on a gpt drive. Installing Windows on a GPT disk

It's no secret that sometimes when installing Windows 7 on modern computers or laptops, at the partition selection stage, the installer gives an error message stating that installation on the selected partition is not possible because it has the GPT style. Many users are puzzled by this situation quite strongly. And immediately the question arises of how to change the style of GPT partitions so that the system installs as expected. To do this, you can apply three options for action, which will be discussed in more detail below.

Windows 7 installation does not recognize: what is the reason?

Without going into technical details, it is worth saying that when installing an OS with a rank higher than seventh on hard drives with a volume of more than 2 TB and a primary UEFI input / output system, it is not recommended to change partition styles.

And for Windows 7, the installation does not recognize the GPT partition style, since it can only work with the MBR (boot record) style. But here you have to think about where to install the system. It is not recommended to change the GPT with a volume of more than 2 TB, because after the conversion only the space that does not exceed this limit will be recognized, and everything else will remain unused. Therefore, it is better to choose another section.

On the other hand, the problem is observed precisely with UEFI if the computer does not have an outdated BIOS. In this case, regardless of the size, the GPT style can be assigned to the system partition.

How to change the style of GPT partitions using the OS installer?

But how then to change the style to install Windows 7? In the very simple case you can use the tools of the system installer itself.

How to change GPT partition style? Everything is simple. If suddenly a message appears about the impossibility of installation, you must first select the desired partition from the list (usually it is a zero disk with the first partition) and click the disk settings button below.

Next, a window will appear with complete list partitions contained on the disk. The essence of the question is to unite them at the first stage. To do this, you simply need to delete all partitions except for the one reserved by the system.

After that, unallocated space will appear in the list of partitions. We press the continue installation button, after which the installer will choose which style the partition needs to be converted to, perform all the necessary actions automatically and continue the installation process.

Converting via command line on a running system

Now consider the question of how to change the style of GPT partitions through the command console in an OS with a rank higher than the seventh, if it needs to be installed in the future. Using the command console is optimal solution, since even the disk administration system does not always allow you to perform such operations correctly.

So, first we launch the console as an administrator, which uses the DISKPART tool, and first of all we write the list disk command, after which a list of all available partitions will be displayed on the screen. A GPT partition can be recognized not even by its size, but by the presence of an asterisk on the right opposite the description.

The next step is to clean up the partition, which is done by entering the clean command (this is necessary so that the conversion to MBR goes without errors).

Upon completion of the cleanup operation, you can convert the style of the selected partition, which is done through the convert mbr line.

The next step is to create boot partition and associate it with the system by sequentially entering the command create partition primary and assign (you can also add formatting, but in most cases this is not necessary for the subsequent installation of the system).

Upon completion of all processes, we exit by entering the exit command. All. Now you can restart your computer or laptop and install the desired operating system from any removable media.

Using Third Party Utilities

Finally, a few words about how to change the style of GPT partitions using third-party disk utilities, of which quite a lot has been developed today.

One of the simplest and most convenient is the Minitool Partition Wizard program, the interface of which almost completely repeats the appearance of the administration window. Windows drives, but differs in instrumentation. Actually, its use is to select the desired section and call the conversion command through the RMB menu. After that, it remains only to follow the instructions and agree to the proposals for changes.

Please note that use this program in a loaded system is not possible (the OS simply will not allow such conversions to be made). But since the utility itself has its own bootloader, it must first be written to removable media, making it bootable (for example, when help UltraISO or Daemon Tools), set the device as the first to boot, start from it, and only then perform all the above steps.

What tool to use?

That's all for the question of how to change the style of GPT partitions. Which of these do you prefer? For the laziest, of course, the above utility or actions at the system installation stage will do. But here it should be noted that the conversion in both cases may be somewhat incorrect due to some features of the Windows installer and the program engine. But command line is guaranteed to change the style without causing errors. So it is better to give preference to this particular technique, although for many it may seem more complicated and lengthy in execution.

If you carefully read the official Microsoft documentation, you can take it out for yourself that all versions of Windows, starting with Server 2003 SP1, can work with GPT markup using a data storage partition. The problem is that only 64-bit versions that are installed on motherboards with UEFI can boot from such a partition.

Why is the GPT format needed?

When using the usual MBR partitioning, only 2 TB is available, while the rest of the space cannot be partitioned. Just in order to use the entire volume of the hard drive, if it exceeds 2 TB, and GPT markup is needed.

This format has other advantages:

• Support a large number partitions (128, while MBR has only 4).
• High level of reliability. Partitions are duplicated in several places on the disk, so even if the first sectors are damaged, this will not affect the performance of the equipment.
• No need to use logical partitions.

This is where you can stop the theoretical enumeration of the advantages and begin to figure out in practice how to install Windows 7 on a GPT disk.

Booting from a GPT partition

There are several methods to solve the problem Windows startup on the BIOS systems from a GPT disk, however, to use them, you need to be well versed in Linux environment. Therefore, the easiest way to use a GPT partitioned hard drive is to connect HDD MBR and boot from it.

However, there is another way, less known, but tested by users on their machines. It is with him that we will meet today. You will need:

1. USB flash drive with a capacity of at least 64 MB. It will host the bootmgr boot manager, which will provide the initial system startup, and then transfer control to the main Windows bootloader hosted on the GPT volume.
2. A system that, at the BIOS level, supports working with a USB drive.

It looks a little confusing at the moment, but you will understand everything during the installation process. In addition, using this method, you can install Windows 7 of any bitness, and not just the 64-bit version.

Installation to a blank disk

If you try to install Windows on a GPT hard drive on a computer without UEFI, you will get a message like this:

In principle, you can try to convert an MBR partition to GPT using special commands, but this method has two serious drawbacks:

• First, it is a rather complicated procedure.
• Secondly, it is highly likely that after installation, if it goes well, you will again see your disk with MBR partitioning. Moreover, some amount of free space may simply disappear, so it’s better not to experiment, and go straight to the proven option - changing the volume layout from already installed system.

In addition, as we said above, only 64-bit can be installed on the GPT partition. Windows version 7, 8 and only through the UEFI environment.

Changing the layout of the volume with the installed system

To perform this procedure, you will need the Gptgen utility on a flash drive. With its help, you can convert the partition table format from MBR to GPT without losing the data stored on the hard drive.

Important! Despite the fact that usually there are no problems with the saved information, it is recommended that you transfer the necessary data to removable media in advance so that you can easily access them if necessary, and not decide how to recover deleted files.

Working with the Gptgen utility

During the format conversion process, a warning will appear on the screen stating that the developers cannot guarantee the correct loading of the disc after changing its format. After a while, you will see a notification that the conversion was successful. Now you can start installing the bootloader on removable media.

Transferring the bootloader

After restarting the computer, the system will not start - this is a normal situation, as it should be. Connect the flash drive prepared in advance to the computer, boot from installation disk Windows 7 and open a command prompt (you can run it with Shift+F10).

After completing all the described steps on the command line and restarting the computer, you need to go into the BIOS and set the boot priority from the USB flash drive. After saving the changes, the system should boot correctly.

You can verify that Windows is hosted on a GPT partition using Disk Manager (diskmgmt.msc). On the "Volumes" tab of the system disk, the partition type "GUID Partition Table" must be specified.

Similarly, you can install a 32-bit version of Windows 7 or even a 64-bit version of Windows XP and run it safely on a disk with a GPT partition.

Users who, for one reason or another, needed to install themselves on Windows computer 7 often encounter the following problem. The installation device is inserted, the BIOS opens normally and sees all connected devices, the partition for installing the operating system is selected, everything seems to be working fine, but suddenly an error pops up on the screen “ Windows installation on the this disc impossible. The selected drive is in the GPT partition style." An inexperienced user may get confused, decide that his HDD is damaged, and even start thinking about buying a new one. But do not rush, here it is not at all in damage and not in marriage. Most likely, the GPT format is simply installed on the disk, which is the cause of the problem.

Disks that support the GPT partition style have recently become quite common among users. These devices replaced the earlier MBR format. And it is possible to work with the GPT format on the universal UEFI interface, which is usually installed on modern motherboards. Older devices are gradually becoming a thing of the past. On the one hand, this is good, because the UEFI interface allows you to boot the system faster than before, and the GPT format supports HDD devices with a large volume, while no more than 2.2 TB of information could be used in the MBR. But, despite all this, sometimes a hard drive with MBR format may be required. One such case is just installing a 32-bit Windows 7 system on a computer where the UEFI interface is not supported.

Converting during Windows 7 installation

Here we will talk about converting GPT to MBR. If, when trying to install Windows 7, you encounter the error described above, then do not despair - there is a solution to this problem. In short, you will need to convert the GPT format to MBR. Let's look at this process in more detail.

Before starting any manipulations with the disk, you should ensure that all important data stored on the computer is transferred to another location. After all, the procedure for formatting a hard drive involves complete removal all information recorded on it. It will be a pity if the files you need disappear forever. Therefore, as soon as you, for example, transfer all the data to another hard drive (or flash drive, if the amount of information is small), you can proceed directly to formatting.

Perhaps someone will think that it is difficult to carry out the process of formatting a hard drive. However, this is not so - this procedure does not represent any particular complexity. The only tool you need to carry it out is a boot disk.

So, let's move on to the question of how to convert GPT to MBR, if you need to reinstall or reinstall the operating system Windows system 7. First you need to insert the bootable device into the computer and carry out all the necessary operations to install the system using the wizard. As soon as the installation reaches the moment of selecting a disk partition (where the indicated error occurs), you need to press the key combination Shift and F10. Thus, the command line will open, where you need to do the following (after entering each command, you need to press Enter):

• Enter the diskpart command. This command, as the name suggests, allows you to various activities with disk partitions;
• Enter the disk list command, which will display a list of partitions on the hard disk;
• Enter the command select disc #. Instead of a lattice, you need to specify the number of the disk with which you had difficulties installing the system. As soon as you select the appropriate section, all subsequent actions will be performed in relation to it;
• Enter the clean command, which will start the process of completely cleaning the selected partition;
• Enter the convert mbr command, which will help us solve the problem with installing the Windows 7 system. The process of converting the partition from GPT format to MBR format will begin, that is, the partition layout will be converted to an earlier format;
• Enter the exit command, which will close the disk operations program and return us to the partition selection menu on which to install the operating system.

Well, that's all, now an empty disk in MBR format is available to us, on which you can safely install Windows 7. Now there will be no errors with the GPT format during installation.

Another option

There is another way to convert the GPT format to MBR, but for its implementation it is necessary that either Windows 7 or Windows 8 is already installed on the computer. Accordingly, system disk this method cannot be converted, but you can convert some other partition, and later, if necessary, make it a system one. You will need to open the Run window and type the command diskmgmt.msc, which will open the disk management window.

Next, in the list of disks that opens, you select the partition you need and clear it of its contents. To do this, right-click on it and select "Delete Volume". Then you need to right-click on the desired disk and click on "Convert to MBR Disk". The conversion operation will begin, after which you can re-create the desired structure of your partitions.

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The development of computer technology implies not only growth computing power, along with performance improvements, there are improvements in stability, security and convenience modern computers. One of the most significant changes that have taken place in recent years has been the replacement of the old BIOS with a more advanced UEFI, as well as the transition from the MBR to GPT disk partitioning style.

The advantages of the latter style are obvious. Unlike MBR, GPT markup allows you to create almost unlimited quantity sections, assign them unique identifiers, names and attributes. GPT also supports duplication of the boot code and partition table, work without any restrictions with media larger than 2.2 TB. However, the GPT partition style also has its drawbacks, among which the most significant is the lack of support for this technology on computers with an old BIOS.

In addition, novice users may have difficulty installing Windows on a GPT disk. So, due to the incompatibility of the BIOS software or its individual settings with modern drives, when you try to install the system on a disk with a new partitioning style, at the initial stage you may receive the error “Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected drive is in GPT style."

To users inexperienced in computer intricacies, the error may seem serious, in reality there is nothing here that could prevent the installation of the system.

The message “Windows cannot be installed, the selected disk has a GPT partition style” usually occurs on new models of computers with large disks or, on the contrary, on older PCs after replacing disks with newer models of drives. At the same time, the version of the operating system does not play a special role, an error can occur when installing both Windows 7 and Windows 10, although, according to numerous testimonies, the error is more often encountered when installing the "seven". Currently, there are two main solutions to this problem - changing the appropriate settings in the UEFI BIOS and converting the GPT style to MBR.

Setting up UEFI and installing Windows on a GPT disk

This method is only applicable for computers with UEFI firmware, so the first step is to make sure that it is really present. If when you enter the BIOS you see GUI with mouse support, it's more likely that your PC is running UEFI firmware, so you can install the system on a GPT disk. You can get into the new BIOS in the same way as in the old one - just hold down the F2 or Del button during boot.

Further in the BIOS Features section or BIOS Setup you need to find and enable UEFI boot instead of CSM, and in the Peripherals section, select SATA mode instead of IDE, select AHCI. If you are installing Windows 7 or earlier, you must also disable the secure boot(usually located in the Boot partition).

After doing the manipulations, the message “Windows cannot be installed. GPT Partition Style" should no longer appear.

Important: the system installed on a GPT disk must be 64-bit, these are the conditions of Microsoft policy. If you want to install a 32-bit version of Windows, the markup will have to be converted to MBR. If the system is installed from a USB flash drive, it is recommended to recreate it so that it supports UEFI. To do this, you can use the command line, or even better - special utility Rufus.

Convert GPT partition to MBR

If your PC is using a regular BIOS, you won't be able to install Windows to a GPT disk. In this case, the most correct solution would be to convert the GPT style to MBR just before installing the system. If you receive a notification that Windows cannot be installed, close the wizard window and click Shift+F10. In the command prompt that opens, run the following commands in sequence:

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
clean
convert mbr

The first command starts the utility diskpart, the second one displays a list of all physical disks connected to the PC, the third command selects desired disk(in this example this is disk 0), the fourth one performs its complete cleaning (all created partitions are deleted), the fifth command converts the GPT markup style to MBR. When executing the list disk command, pay attention to the asterisk in the GPT column, it just indicates that the disk has the GPT style.

In order to make sure that the conversion was successful, you can once again display the list disk (list disk) - the asterisk in the GPT column should disappear. That's all, exit the Diskpart utility with the exit command, close the command prompt and continue installing Windows, after restarting the computer. After cleaning, partitions will have to be created again, but this time there should not be any notifications about the impossibility of installing into the selected partition, since the disk will already have an MBR layout.

Using Third Party Programs

It is unlikely, but it may turn out that you will need to convert the GPT to MBR markup style on a disk with data already on it. The method described above using Diskpart in this case, it is not suitable, since the clean command removes all partitions from the disk, and with them the data contained in them. In such a situation, you can use third party applications, such as Minitool Partition Wizard Bootable, Paragon Hard Disk Manager or AOMEI PE Builder.

All these programs allow you to convert a basic GPT disk to MBR and vice versa, while the conversion procedure to them is simple and accessible to users with any level of training.

Installing the system in unallocated space

In some cases, you can do without using the command line or additional applications. If at Windows installation 7/10 the wizard writes "it is impossible to install on this disk", and the disk size does not exceed 2.2 GB, it is worth trying this method. Delete all created partitions using the installation wizard and try to install Windows in a single unallocated space.

If no error occurs, the system itself chose the MBR style and converted the disk into it. True, in this case, after installation, you will have to create a user partition D separately. Also, you will not have a hidden “System Reserved” partition on the disk, which will slightly reduce the fault tolerance of Windows.

If you see a message while installing Windows 7, 8 or Windows 10 on your computer that Windows cannot be installed to this disk because the selected disk has a GPT partition style, below you will find detailed information about why this happens and what to do to install the system on this disk. Also at the end of the instructions there is a video on converting the GPT partition style to MBR.

The instructions will consider two options for solving the problem with the inability to install Windows on a GPT disk - in the first case, we will still install the system on such a disk, and in the second, we will convert it to MBR (in this case, the error will not appear). Well, at the same time, in the final part of the article I will try to tell you which of these two options is better and what it is all about. Similar errors: , .

Problems when installing to a disk with the GPT partition style are more common for users installing Windows 7, but in version 8 you can get the same error with the text that installation on this disk is not possible.

In order to install Windows on a GPT disk, we need to fulfill the following conditions (some of them on this moment fails when an error occurs):

• Install 64-bit system
• Boot in EFI mode.

It is most likely that the second condition is not met, and therefore immediately about how to solve it. Perhaps one step will be enough for this (changing BIOS parameters), perhaps two (preparation is added bootable UEFI drive).

First you need to look into the BIOS (UEFI software) of your computer. As a rule, in order to enter the BIOS, you need to press a certain key immediately after turning on the computer (when information about the manufacturer of the motherboard, laptop, etc. appears) - usually Del for stationary PCs and F2 for laptops (but may differ, usually on the desired screen written by Press key_name to enter setup or something similar).

The BIOS requires the following two important options to be enabled:

1. Enable UEFI boot instead of CSM (Compatibility Support Mode), usually found in BIOS Features or BIOS Setup.
2. Set SATA mode to AHCI instead of IDE (usually configured in the Peripherals section)
3. Only for Windows 7 and earlier -

In different versions of the interface and language, items can be located in different ways and have slightly different designations, but usually they are not difficult to identify. The screenshot shows my version.

After saving the settings, your computer is generally ready to install Windows on a GPT disk. If you are installing the system from a disk, then most likely, this time you will not be informed that Windows cannot be installed to this disk.

If you are using bootable flash drive and the error reappears, I recommend that you re-burn the installation USB so that it supports UEFI boot. There are various ways to do this, but I would advise that it will work in almost any situation (in the absence of errors in the BIOS setup).

Additional information for advanced users: if the distribution kit supports both boot options, then you can prevent booting in BIOS mode by deleting the bootmgr file in the root of the drive (similarly, by deleting the efi folder you can prevent booting in UEFI mode).

That's all, because I believe that you already know how to put a boot from a USB flash drive into BIOS and install Windows on a computer (if not, then on my website there is this information in the appropriate section).

Converting GPT to MBR during OS installation

If you prefer to convert a GPT disk to MBR, on a computer with a “normal” BIOS (or UEFI with CSM boot mode), and you are apparently planning to install Windows 7, then the best opportunity to do this is at the OS installation stage.

Note: During the following steps, all data from the disk will be deleted (from all partitions of the disk).

To convert GPT to MBR, in the Windows setup program, click Shift keys+ F10 (or Shift + Fn + F10 for some laptops), which will open a command prompt. Then, in order, enter the following commands:

• diskpart
• list disk (after executing this command, you will need to note the number of the disk to be converted)
• select disk N (where N is the disk number from the previous command)
• clean (disk cleanup)
• convert mbr
• create partition primary
• active
• format fs=ntfs quick
• assign

You may also find it useful: . Additionally, from another instruction describing a similar error, you can use the second method to convert to MBR without data loss: (only you will need to convert not to GPT, as in the instruction, but to MBR).

If you were in the drive configuration step during installation when you ran these commands, click Refresh to update the drive configuration. Further installation takes place in normal mode, the message that the disk has the GPT partition style does not appear.

What to do if the disk has GPT partition style - video

The video below shows only one of the options for solving the problem, namely, converting a disk from GPT to MBR, both with and without data loss.

If, when converting using the demonstrated method without data loss, the program reports that it cannot convert the system disk, you can use it to delete the first hidden partition with the bootloader, after which the conversion will become possible.

UEFI, GPT, BIOS and MBR - what is it

On "old" (in fact, not so old yet) computers, the motherboard had software BIOS, which carried out the initial diagnostics and analysis of the computer, after which it loaded the operating system, focusing on boot record hard drive MBR.

UEFI software is coming to replace the BIOS on currently manufactured computers (more precisely, motherboards) and most manufacturers have moved to this option.

Among the benefits of UEFI are faster boot speeds, security features such as secure boot and support for hardware encrypted hard drives, UEFI drivers. And also, what was discussed in the manual - working with the GPT partition style, which makes it easier to support large drives and with large quantity sections. (In addition to the above, on most systems, UEFI software has BIOS and MBR compatibility features).

What's better? As a user, at this point in time, I do not feel the advantages of one option over the other. On the other hand, I'm sure that soon there will be no alternative - only UEFI and GPT, and hard drives more than 4 TB.