Windows operating systems have gone a long way in their entire existence. They improved every year, and now the latest version of Windows 8 was released, hovering right at the first presentation of Microsoft, and then recognized by the development company as unsuccessful. And here the user is faced with a very serious problem. On the one hand, all the latest models of computers and laptops are available with the "eight." On the other hand, modern hard drives used in them have gpt markup. As a result, an error occurs during the installation of Windows 7. What could be the reason? Why does the laptop display the message "Windows cannot be installed on this drive"? The GPT partition is to blame.
"Junk" or a reliable friend?
Until the creation of Windows 8, operating systems used partitioned hard drives called mbr. Accordingly, the support of sections in them is carried out exclusively to the latest version. Thus, if you are going to demolish the installed "eight" and install an older version of the operating system, they will not be able to recognize the latest GPT interface, as a result of which the installation may display the message "Windows cannot be installed to this drive." GPT will not be recognized, so the user will not even be able to determine what the problem is. Let's understand its essence.
Older operating systems work with MBR. What it is? MBR (master boot record) is the program code and information needed to pre-launch the system. They are located in the first marked sector of the hard drive. The MBR starts after the initial BIOS check of all devices. Its main function is to determine the location of the files needed to load the operating system. As you understand, an error during the installation of Windows 7 can be caused by the fact that the new EFI standard using GPT is not able to determine the OS and write it to its start section.
What is GPT?
GPT is the standard format for placing a partition table on a hard disk. The fact is that Intel has proposed a new interface to replace the familiar BIOS. It is called EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface), and it is part of it that the new format - GPT.
One of the features of the EFI standard is that it has both possible initial boot methods. Since the GPT uses a logical block addressing system, the start blocks have the following structure:
- LBA 0 is the very first sector containing MBR information. So the creators made sure that it was always possible to convert the disk to the desired format.
- LBA 1 - here is the table of contents of the GPT format partition table.
- LBA 2 - this sector is intended for storing the partition table itself.
Based on the foregoing, you should understand that these two standards for disk layout are so different that Windows cannot be installed on new hard drives. GPT simply will not let the operating system using mbr take and erase the hard drive partitions and thereby possibly damage its structure.
On your marks!
So, if you still decide to reinstall the operating system, do not forget to prepare everything you need:
- Back up your data. Moreover, it is desirable on an external medium in order to avoid their loss.
- Make sure that you have the installation disk of the operating system, it is working, and with it you can really carry out the reinstallation. And it doesn’t matter if he is pirated or not.
- Be prepared for the fact that your actions can cause irreparable harm to your computer or laptop. Make sure there are no problems specifically with your PC model. For example, HP laptops are very well protected from being overwritten, and even experienced programmers have difficulty reinstalling the system on them. If you remove the system from such a laptop, most likely you will not be able to personally return even the old one.
Are you ready Then we begin.
Reinstall
The first series of steps to follow when installing the operating system:
- Start rebooting your computer. At this moment, hold down the F2 key in order to get into the BIOS control. Remember that the buttons needed to run this subroutine may differ for different laptop models, and because of the very short time interval in which you need to have time to press the button, it’s better to just hold it down for the entire reboot.
- Once in the BIOS, you can finish the last stage of preparation for reinstallation - insert the installation disk into the computer.
- In the settings, specify the device from which you want to boot the laptop. You need to install your drive on the first line.
- In the additional options, in the security settings, instead of the UEFI standard used, set the parameter "Legacy" or "Legacy and UEFI". This will remove the protection against reinstallation.
- We save and exit the BIOS. After that we reboot the computer.
- When the inscription "To boot from disk, press any key ..." appears, we fulfill the request of the computer.
- The start window of the operating system installer appears. We go through the dialog boxes, we get to the hard drive management manager. Delete all existing partitions (except the very first). We format the hard drive. We try to specify it to install the OS.
- It is at this stage that the system can warn you that installing Windows on this drive is not possible. GPT format will not allow you to install the system.
- If you do not have any difficulties or signs, calmly continue the installation according to this instruction. If you cannot complete the installation, see the next chapter in this article.
- So, having eliminated all the obstacles, we proceed to the installation. It can take you up to two hours of free time, therefore, leaving your computer, you can safely go and drink tea.
- The last step will be the initial setup of the PC. Set the date, time and language format . Enter the activation key. Your OS is ready to go.
Conversion
If you encounter a problem at the stage of choosing a hard disk for installation, and you receive a message that Windows cannot be installed on this disk, you need to convert the gpt format to mbr. To do this, you must perform the following steps. Press "Shift + F10". And then enter several commands in sequence:
diskpart - sel dis 0 - clean - convert mbr - exit - exit.
This will allow you to convert partitions to the mbr format. Now you can safely continue installing the operating system according to the previous chapter.
An exception
So, after reading, you can independently proceed to reinstall the operating system. Despite what was said in this article, installing Windows on gpt (a section without "witchcraft") is possible in two cases. Firstly, if you install an operating system or assembly that supports GPT partitions on a disk. Secondly, in the case when the assembly of the operating system is “younger” than Windows 8, it can independently convert hard disk partitions to the required format. In other cases, installation is not possible, gpt has nothing to do with it. The creators of the laptop could initially make sure that users themselves do not reinstall the OS and do not produce pirated copies.