Windows cannot be installed on this disk - GPT partition style. It is impossible to install OS Windows on this disk: solving the problem with the GPT partition Windows 10 gpt partitions cannot be installed

Before you start installing Windows 10 on a new computer that has a motherboard that supports the modern API called UEFI, you need to understand the basic concepts so that you have an idea of ​​​​what you are dealing with.

Having purchased a new computer/laptop that supports UEFI, it is strongly recommended to immediately convert the table of its hard drive to GPT due to the many advantages that we will consider below, and only then install Windows 10 on it and copy any data.

What do all these abbreviations mean?

The outdated API, which ensured the interaction of the operating system with the hardware and transferred the first reins of control after initializing the equipment, has been replaced by the UEFI interface. UEFI features that are important for a Windows 10 user are:

• support for GPT partition scheme – we’ll talk about it later;
• the presence of services, one of which is necessary to boot Windows 10, and the second is used in Linux to store dumps, which records information about problems that arose when the PC was last shut down;
• modular architecture - installation of your own (downloaded from the Internet) drivers in UEFI is implemented here. They are needed, for example, to gain access to the file system on a computer without an installed operating system;
• supports hardware-encrypted hard drive or logical drive;
• UEFI is characterized by increased performance compared to BIOS;
• works only in 32 and 64-bit mode, does not support operation in 16-bit;
• integrated download manager – can add your own boot menu items.

GPT is a new standard for placing file tables on physical media, which came as a replacement for MBR. Unlike its predecessor, released to the masses back in 1983, GPT supports any hard drive whose capacity exceeds 2 TB (when using MBR there is simply not enough address space to address all sectors), it can work with more than 4 active volumes and 128 partitions on one physical medium. GPT also stores multiple copies of boot data in different places on the partition, which is why, using this file storage standard, you will recover damaged boot sectors much faster.

Preparing the drive

Installing an operating system on a hard drive always begins with proper preparation. In our case, this means downloading a suitable image and deploying it to a flash drive. Let's look at the process assuming that the ISO is on the computer and the latest version of Rufus is already running.

We will use Rufus due to its ease of use and the absence of unnecessary menu options.

• Select a flash drive that will act as a carrier for the Windows 10 distribution.
• In the second drop-down menu, be sure to select GPT for PCs with UEFI.
• It is better not to change the file system and cluster size - these parameters have no meaning for installing the operating system.
• We activate the quick formatting option so as not to wait ten minutes.
• Check the box next to “Create a boot disk” and click on the drive icon.
• Select the image with the Windows 10 distribution and click “Start”.

Converting partitions using OS tools

Windows 10 allows you to convert an MBR partition to GPT using the standard Disk Management tool.

• You can call it by executing the “diskmgmt.msc” command or the “Start” context menu.

• We select each hard drive and delete it using the context menu.

• Through the context menu of the hard drive, call the “Convert to GPT disk” command.

Please note that it will become active after all volumes are deleted, and in the event that running Windows is not on the media whose table you want to convert.

Conversion will take ten or two seconds if the disk does not have damaged sectors. After this, partitioning the disk and installing Windows 10 on its active partition becomes available.

Installation problems

If installing Ten on your hard drive was stopped by an error stating that installing Windows 10 in a UEFI system on MBR partitions is impossible, to continue you need to convert GPT to MBR. The problem is encountered by most users who did not perform the conversion before installing the OS.

This is done using a set of commands executed.

• To convert a disk, you need to restart your computer, and in the installation program, when the “Install” button appears, click “System Restore”.

Keep in mind that following the instructions in the next step will clear your hard drive of all information and convert its partition tables to the new GPT standard, making it impossible to recover anything stored on the hard drive prior to conversion.

• After opening the command line, we sequentially enter the following chain of system commands into it:
• diskpart – launch a utility for working with partitions;
• list disk – visualization of a list of volumes in order to select the future system disk for conversion;
• select disk X – select the desired volume;
• clean – cleans the active partition numbered X;
• convert mbr – converting an mbr partition;
• create partition primary size xxxxxxx – create a new partition of the size specified in bytes;

When entering the volume size, keep in mind that 1 GB = 1024 megabytes, so to obtain a 50 GB disk, its size must be multiplied by 1024 twice.

• active – make it active;
• format fs=ntfs quick – perform quick formatting in ntfs;
• assign – the disk will bear the letter label of the first free letter of the English alphabet, starting with “d”;
• exit – exit the Windows 10 command line.

• Click “Refresh” to get the latest information about the disk and its partitions again.

If the installation of Windows 10 on the GPT partition fails and a familiar window appears, several additional conditions must be met:

• a 64-bit system must be installed;
• The computer must be turned on in U mode

Most likely, setting the “ten” is impossible due to the second factor.

• To solve it, you need to go into UEFI, which is done mainly with the F2 (for laptop) or Del (for PC) keys.
• Find and activate (set the value to “Enable”) the UEFI boot function.

Typically, it is located in the BIOS Features or BIOS Setup section.

• Switch the SATA operating mode to AHCI instead of IDE mode. Most often, changing this option is not necessary, but you should check it just in case.

• Save the new settings.

In different versions of UEFI, settings options may be located in different sections and even have different names.

After this, installing Windows 10 on a partition with a new standard for placing file tables is carried out like a regular “tens” installation.

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Hello admin! The question is, how to install Windows 10 on a portable GPT USB hard drive that will boot on a laptop in UEFI mode?

I have a new laptop with UEFI BIOS and Windows 8.1 installed. I also have a portable USB hard drive and I want to install Windows 10 on it.

Note: I need Windows 10 installed on an external USB drive to have an independent bootloader, and if I disconnect the portable USB hard drive from the laptop, then Windows 8.1 will simply load on it. But if I connect an external USB drive to my or someone else’s laptop, then Windows 10 would load on it like a portable operating system. Is this possible?

Hello friends! This is very easy to do, we will use the AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition program and the command line, for those who find it difficult to work on the command line, at the end of the article we show how to use the WinNTSetup utility.

For example, let’s take a new laptop with Windows 8.1 installed and a UEFI BIOS; we’ll also take a 1 TB USB portable hard drive and install Windows 10 on it.

On an external USB drive, Windows 10 will have a separate independent bootloader and to boot Win 10 we will just need to select a portable USB hard drive in the laptop boot menu, and by default the laptop will boot into Windows 8.1. Windows 10 installed on a USB portable hard drive can be used as a portable system; it will run on almost any laptop with the UEFI interface enabled.

Laptop disk management

Disk 0 is the laptop hard drive with Windows 8.1 installed, GPT style.

Disk 1 is a 1TB USB portable hard drive, MBR style (will need to be converted to GPT)

There is a 29.30 GB partition on the USB portable hard drive, so we will install Windows 10 on it.

If you do not have such a section, then you can create it, we have already done this in previous articles and we have one on this topic, please read. A 29.30 GB partition is enough for me to install Windows 10, but you can create a partition of any size.

After creating the partition on which we will install Windows 10, we convert the portable USB hard drive from MBR to GPT, for this we will use the AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition program, the conversion will occur without deleting the files located on the portable USB hard drive.

In the main program window, select with the left mouse portable USB hard drive and press the button"Convert to GPT"

"OK"

"Apply"

"Go"

"Yes"

Conversion process.

The conversion of the external USB drive has been completed successfully.

"OK"

Now we need to delete the partition on which we will install Windows 10, in my case drive (G:)

Select the section with the left mouse, on which we will install Windows 10 and click on the button"Deleting a partition."

Quickly delete a partition.

"OK"

"Apply"

"Go"

"Yes"

The partition removal operation has completed successfully.

"OK"

The partition was deleted and unallocated space was created instead.

We launch the command line as administrator and create two partitions on the unallocated space:

1. Encrypted (EFI) system partition 100 MB (we will place Windows 10 download files on this partition).

2. MSR service section 128 MB required for markup EFI.

Enter the commands:

diskpart

lis dis (display a list of disks).

sel dis 1 (select a portable USB hard drive).

create par efi size=100 (create an encrypted (EFI) system partition of 100 MB).

format fs=fat32 (format it to the FAT32 file system).

creat par msr size=128 (create a 128 MB MSR partition)

Return to the main window of the AOMEI Partition Assistant program and click on the “Reboot” button

Select the remaining unallocated space with the mouse and click on the “Create partition” button

"OK"

"Apply"

"Go"

"Yes"

"Yes"

Partition creation from unallocated space has been successfully completed.

"OK"

The created partition is assigned the letter (G:).

Download the ISO image from the Microsoft website.

Double-click on the image with the left mouse and The ISO image is attached as a virtual drive.

Virtual drive letter (M:).

IN In the Windows 10 ISO image we need a folder« sources ", and in it the file install.wim with Windows 10.

DISM /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:M:\sources\install.wim(with this command we determine the number of Windows images in the install.wim file - there can be several Windows images in the install.wim file and each image has its own index. In our case, there is only one image - Windows 10 Single Language 64bit and its index is 1)

Dism /apply-image /imagefile:M:\sources\install.wim /index:1 /ApplyDir:G:(with this command we deploy Windows 10 Single Language 64bit from file install.wim to partition (G:).

M:\sources\install.wim - location of the install.wim file.

index:1 is the index of the Windows 10 Single Language image.

G: - letter of the partition on which Win 10 is deployed.

The operation was completed successfully.

Now it remains to create download files for Windows 10 (drive G:) on an encrypted (EFI) system partition of 100 MB

Launch the command line as administrator and enter the commands:

diskpart

lis vol (we display a list of disks).

sel vol 11 (select an encrypted (EFI) system partition of 100 MB)

assign letter V (assign a drive letter to it (V:)

exit (exit diskpart)

bcdboot G:\Windows /s V: (this command means to create a boot loader for Windows located on the volume (G:), and place the boot files on the volume (V:))

The download files have been successfully created!

Important Note: We create a bootloader on a running systeminstalled on gpt (UEFI mode), sothe command looks like this:

bcdboot G:\Windows /s V:

but if we created a bootloader on a system installed on MBR (Legacy mode) then the command would be like this:

bcdboot G:\Windows /s V: /f uefi

If you work in the WinNTsetup program, then everything is the same for it, both in uefi and in Legacy.

Reboot the laptop and enter its boot menu.

Select a portable USB hard drive to boot.

Devices are being installed.

The final phase of installing Windows 10 begins.

If you don't have a license key, click "Do it later"

We accept the license agreement.

You can connect to the Internet now, or you can “Skip this step”

You can click the “Use standard settings” button, or you can configure them manually using this article: .

Come up with a local account name.

Windows 10 boots from a portable USB hard drive.

The operating system is installed on (C:) of a portable USB hard drive and has its own separate bootloader located in the first hidden(EFI) system partition 100 MB.

Conclusion

Friends, almost everything that we did in the article using the command line can be done with a very simple utility.

Download and run WinNTSetup

In the main program window, we need to specify the Windows 10 files, or rather the install.wim file located in the M:\sources folder. Click Select.

Find the file M:\sources\install.wim in Explorer and click Open.

Select the disk on which the bootloader will be installed.

In the Explorer window that opens, select the 100 MB encrypted (EFI) system partition we created on the USB portable hard drive (drive letter Z:), as we can see, in Explorer there is also an encrypted (EFI) 256 MB system partition of the laptop hard drive, it cannot be selected , if we want to have a separate bootloader for Win 10.

Select the drive on which Windows 10 will be installed.

Select the drive (G:) and click on the Select folder button.

Installation

Select bootloader UEFI and click OK

The Windows 10 image begins unpacking.

Ready! OK.

We select a portable USB hard drive to boot, and then you already know what to do.

Articles on this topic:

About the operating system Windows 10 order required for installation 15 GB free space on the hard drive - not much if it’s a regular HDD -disk and too small if it is a solid state drive SSD . As the latter become increasingly popular, soon after release Windows 8.1 Microsoft introduced a new technology that offers an alternative way to install the system, in which most of the files from the installation image remained compressed.

The new technology is called Windows Image Boot or for short WIMBoot. With the exception of a slight, almost imperceptible decrease in performance, for the user WIMBoot nothing changes for the user, but after installing the system using WIMBoot, there remains an order of magnitude more free space. By the way, you can use this technology when installing Windows 10, but, as in the case of the eighth and tenth versions of the system, certain restrictions apply.

Firstly, using WIMBoot during the installation process is only possible on computers and laptops with modern BIOS, that is UEFI, secondly, the installation of the system using WIMBoot is carried out in a non-standard way using the command line and a pre-boot environment, which can cause difficulties for users who are not sufficiently experienced in such matters. But does this mean that saving space by compressing system files by PC Is it not possible with a regular BIOS? Of course not. Because another, more advanced compression technology called Compact OS .

Compact OS, which is an improved technology WIMBoot Another good thing is that it can be used both on MBR -discs with regular BIOS, and on disks GPT With UEFI with minor differences in markup. In this article we will look at installing Windows 10 using Compact OS on SSD- disk with markings MBR and classic BIOS.

So, we have a bootable USB flash drive at our disposal (disk) with recorded ISO -image of Windows 10 and laptop with hard drive size 16 GB. Boot from the installation media and when the installation wizard window appears on the screen, press Shift + 10

Open a command prompt and run the following commands:

diskpart list disk select disk 0 clean create partitiom primary format fs=NTFS quick active assign letter W

diskpart list disk s el ect disk 0 cl ean cr eat epartitiom prim ary format fs = NTFS qui сk activ e assign letter W

• The first command launches the disk utility.
• The second displays a list of all available physical media (we have one with index 0).
• The third sets the focus on it.
• The fourth clears it.

• With the fifth command we create a main partition on the selected disk.
• Sixth, format it into a file system NTFS.
• Seventh, we make it active.
• Since the operating system will start from it.
• Team assign letter assign a drive letter. It can be arbitrary, let it be W .

We continue to work with the command line, executing the following commands one after another:

list volume exit dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:D:\sources\install.wim

list volume exit dism / Get - WimInfo / WimFile : D : \ sources \ install . wim

• The ninth command lists all partitions,
• The tenth exits the utility Diskpart .

Then the fun begins. Please note that the team dism letter used D– this letter designates the bootable media on which the image file is located install.wim (this could also be install.esd) . The command itself allows us to determine the system release index in the image. We have it Windows 10 corporate with index 1 . Let's move on.

dism /apply-image /imagefile:D:\sources\install.wim /index:1 /applydir:W: /compact bcdboot W:\Windows

dism / apply - image / imagefile : D : \ sources \ install . wim/index:1/applydir:W:/compact bcdbootW:\Windows

• With the twelfth command we expand the contents of the image install.wim to the main disk W (future system) with compression option compact.
• And thirteenth, we create a bootloader for our operating system on it.

Ready.

This completes the command line and boots the computer as usual from the disk. The final stage of installing Windows 10 will begin, during which you will be asked to specify the region, language and other settings, in short, everything is the same as during a normal system installation.

It is easy to verify that the installation was performed using Compact OS: If you open the properties of the Windows folder, you will see that the disk space it occupies is significantly less than its actual size, whereas on a system installed in the usual way, these two figures should be approximately the same.

And one last point.

After installation, it would be a good idea to check whether the recovery environment is active on the system. To do this, in a command prompt running as administrator, run the command reagentc/info and make sure the recovery environment state matters Enabled .

If the environment appears to be disabled, reactivate it by running the command reagentc /Enabled .

Note: installation Windows 10 using Compact OS on laptops with UEFI practically no different, with the exception of a few additional commands when partitioning the disk. You can download an example of such markup from the link yadi.sk/i/amYOjGmY36tuom .

Having tinkered with the MBR partition table on the hard drive, the developers decided to spoil us with a practical new product in the form of the GPT style. The advantages of such an innovation seem to be obvious: faster system loading, a more convenient BIOS, support for large external drives. However, despite these advantages, a GPT disk is not suitable for every user. The fact is that installing an OS on such a hard drive without errors is not at all easy. Somewhere in the middle of the process, a notification may unexpectedly pop up on the screen: installing Windows OS on this disk is impossible - the GPT partition style is selected.

What's the catch? The fact is that the GPT partition has several restrictions on use. In addition to the fact that activating the operating system on it is very problematic, to work with it you will also need:

• BIOS installed on the computer in the UEFI version;
• Windows 7/8/8.1 64-bit release system.

Note that if at least one of these parameters is omitted, you will not be able to get rid of the above error. However, if the motherboard gets along well with UEFI and at the same time you yourself are not averse to installing a 64-bit Windows 7 / 8 system on your PC, then it is not difficult to cope with the problem when installing the system: you just need to set the necessary settings for the GPT partition.

Step #1: Prepare a bootable USB flash drive

In principle, a GPT partition can be formatted using a standard Windows distribution disk. However, in practice, it is easier to install and further operate the system using a regular flash drive. The only thing worth considering is its volume. Ideally, it should be at least 8 GB, so as not to lose the data we need during the recording process.

In any case, to create a flash drive distribution, you will have to download (copy) the image file from the OS, and then burn it using the command line, the UltraISO program, Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool or any other utility. You can read in detail about how to do this. Naturally, it is better if Windows is licensed, since activation problems may arise in the future.

Step #2: Setting up UEFI BIOS

After the bootable flash drive is ready, without removing it from the USB port, reboot the computer and when starting again, press Del or F2 on the keyboard to enter the UEFI BIOS. But then there are 2 possible options.

Method No. 1: Simplified configuration of BIOS parameters

You can use this method when you need to immediately download the distribution and debug GPT partitions.

After the UEFI BIOS menu appears, you need to enter the “Boot Menu” section and set the option to start the system from the installation flash drive in the list of devices that appears:

As a result, the computer will automatically restart and the system will start from the flash drive.

Method No. 2: Full UEFI BIOS debugging

For advanced BIOS settings, once in it, the first thing you need to do is enter the “Advanced” section. You can find it in the lower left part of the open UEFI BIOS window, although simply pressing F7 on the keyboard is enough. Next, you need to open the “Boot” menu, select the “USB Support” tab in it and set this parameter to Full Initialization:

The next step is to select the CSM item in the same section and set the Enabled option for it as a launch parameter:

As a result, a window of additional options should appear. You can work with it according to the following plan:

1. go to “Boot Device Options” and set it to “UEFI Only”;
2. select the “Boot from storage devices” item in the proposed list, enter the second option from the menu for it – Both, UEFI first;
3. go back by clicking the Back button:

Now in the Boot menu we need to set the Windows UEFI mode to the Secure Boot option. To do this, enter the appropriate section, click “OS Type” and select the required option in the menu presented:

After this, it remains to set the download priority:

Have you completed this step? On to the next one!

Step #3: Editing the GPT Disk

After the PC boots from the installation flash drive, in order to avoid the appearance of messages such as “installation is impossible”, “this partition is not suitable” or “GPT style is selected instead of MBR”, when starting the Windows Installer, you must open the “Full installation” tab:

Of course, it doesn’t open right away. When loading a flash drive, you will initially need to configure the installation language, then click “Install”, and then agree to the Windows license terms. Only after this will access to the “Installation Type” tab be opened.

One way or another, after selecting the required item, a list of disk partitions will be displayed on the screen. Let’s skip it for now, press Shift+F10 (Shift+Fn+F10) and one by one enter the following tasks into the command line, alternating with pressing Enter:

1. diskpart
2. seldis 0
3. clean
4. convert gpt

At the same time By replacing the convert gpt command with convert mbr, you can get a disk partition in MBR format(OS activation is easier in it):

In any case, all information from the hard drive will be deleted! Now, after exiting the command line to complete the setup, return to the list of sections, click “Update” and select “Next”:

As a result, a standard Windows installation starts (details). We wait for it to complete and move on.

Step #4: Checking Disk Information

After you have successfully installed Windows, you should check the current partition data. In this case, the procedure will be as follows:

1. right-click on the “Computer” shortcut on the desktop and select “Manage” from the list;
2. in the new window, click the “Disk Management” tab;
3. in the list of partitions we find drive C, right-click on it and go to “Properties”;
4. select the “Volumes” tab and check the information on the section:

If all three steps were completed without problems before, no surprises should arise.

Step #5: Activate the system from a GPT disk

And the last, perhaps the most heartbreaking moment is the activation of the operating system installed on the GPT disk. It is worth recognizing that often the biggest problems arise precisely at this stage. Why? The fact is that activating Windows with GPT without a license key is almost impossible. In this case, you will have to choose one of the following options:

1. format the GPT disk to MBR format (see step No. 3);
2. perform activation using special programs;
3. purchase a license for the OS;

Ideally, of course, activate the operating system using a license key received from the developer. True, such a pleasure is not cheap, but this is the only way to ensure full-fledged operation of the computer while maintaining the advantages of GPT.

If this is not possible, to activate Windows you should try your luck using activator programs, for example, KMSPico 10.0.3, or ordinary cracks. Naturally, in this case you have to act at your own peril and risk. The question arises: wouldn’t it be more efficient to replace GPT with the MBR format and forget about the hassle of activation? The answer, of course, is different for each user.

A friend brought me his laptop Lenovo, and asked me to install it on it Windows 10 instead of Windows 8. By the way, the “eight” was on it from the moment it was purchased at the store. This laptop has BIOS UEFI. I already told you once about laptops with such a Bios.
So, I inserted my bootable USB flash drive with Windows into this laptop. Then I set it in Bios so that loading from the flash drive was successful. I'm starting to install.

At first everything goes as usual:

I select the largest partition on the hard drive where I will install the system. And then I discover that the “Next” button is not active. Below I see a warning: “”. I click here “ Show details”:

An error window appears: “”:

Now I will explain what this error means. And how do you install Windows in this situation:

GPT(GUID Partition Table) is a new standard for placing partition tables on a hard drive. Most modern laptops sold with Windows 8 or Windows 10 pre-installed use this standard.

To install Windows 10 on a GPT disk of a laptop with UEFI BIOS from a bootable USB flash drive, one of the following conditions must be met:

1) either it was UEFI flash drive(created in a special way. For example, using the program Rufus)

2) or, if the flash drive is not UEFI, then you need to convert hard drive from GPT standard to legacy MBR standard

I had a regular bootable flash drive with an operating system (not UEFI), and I didn’t want to remake it at all. Therefore, I decided to use the second option - convert the laptop hard drive. This is done at the time of OS installation using command line.

Important: During the conversion process, all data from the hard drive will be deleted! Even if your disk is divided into several partitions (for example, “Local Disk C” and “Local Disk D”), all these partitions will be deleted! Therefore, if you, for example, have some important personal files on drive D, then it is better to cancel the installation, then throw these files somewhere on a flash drive or external hard drive, and only then continue.

In my case, the Lenovo laptop still had a hidden partition with a program to roll back to the “store state”. After converting the hard drive from GPT to MBR, it will also become inoperable. When I warned the owner of the laptop about this, he stated that he had no intention of returning to Windows 8 - he asked to give him either a “seven” or a “ten”.

The instructions for installing Windows on a laptop given in the article are relevant for both Windows 10, and for Windows 7.

So, I told you about the reason for the error: “ Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk has a GPT partition style" He also warned about the consequences of converting a hard drive from GPT to MBR. Now let's continue with our installation:

After an error occurs about the GPT partition style - call the command line by pressing the keyboard shortcut Shift+F10(on my laptop I had to press Fn+Shift+F10):

In the black window that opens, type the command diskpart and press the key Enter on the keyboard:

Now we need to select the hard drive that we will convert. At first find out his number. To do this, enter the command list disk and press the key Enter:

In my case, the system detected two disks. But from the volume it is clear that Disk 0 is the computer's hard drive, and Disc 1– this is my personal flash drive with which I am currently installing Windows.

Naturally we will work with Disk 0. Therefore, on the command line we write the following command: seldis 0 and press the Enter key:

Then enter the command clean and press the Enter key. The hard drive will be completely cleaned, including all files and partitions:

Now enter the command and press the Enter key. Thus, we converted the disk to the MBR standard:

After that, enter again exit and again press Enter:

We return to our window with sections and click here “ Update" Then press the button “ Next”:

We see the following window:

We can immediately click “Next” and the Windows installation process will begin. Can we first create the number of partitions we need on the hard drive by pressing the “ Create”:

In any case, the further process of installing Windows on the laptop should proceed without problems: