Booting in UEFI from a USB drive
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flo88 Posted messages 28657 Registration date Status Contributeur Last intervention -
flo88 Posted messages 28657 Registration date Status Contributeur Last intervention -
Hello everyone
I would like to ask for your help because I have been trying to install Windows 8 on my laptop for a few days now.
Let me explain the problem from the beginning.
When I bought the laptop, Windows 8 was installed on it. Not being a fan, I quickly installed Windows 7. I struggled to do it because these concepts of UEFI, MBR and GPT partition tables were new to me.
However, I did not delete any recovery partitions.
Today, wanting to sell my computer, I would like to reinstall Windows 8. When launching the reset tool, it tells me that at least one partition is missing. Not wanting to dwell on that, I decide to boot from a USB drive that has Windows 8 on it, and to install the 32-bit Home version, as it was certainly the one installed before, and thus Windows can find the corresponding key, which is etched into the motherboard.
The problem is that after adjusting the BIOS, my USB drive is recognized in UEFI and in "normal" mode.
When it boots in normal mode, the installer tells me that Windows cannot be installed on a GPT partition.
When it boots in UEFI (which is my goal), nothing happens, and the computer will boot from the next device in the BIOS boot order.
I therefore think that I missed a step when I created my bootable USB drive in FAT32.
I did follow the method from this site:
http://www.forum-des-portables-asus.fr/www/threads/créer-une-clé-windows-seven-bootable-sur-système-u-efi.7799/
by adapting it for the new OS!
Thanks for reading, and thank you for your future help :)
I would like to ask for your help because I have been trying to install Windows 8 on my laptop for a few days now.
Let me explain the problem from the beginning.
When I bought the laptop, Windows 8 was installed on it. Not being a fan, I quickly installed Windows 7. I struggled to do it because these concepts of UEFI, MBR and GPT partition tables were new to me.
However, I did not delete any recovery partitions.
Today, wanting to sell my computer, I would like to reinstall Windows 8. When launching the reset tool, it tells me that at least one partition is missing. Not wanting to dwell on that, I decide to boot from a USB drive that has Windows 8 on it, and to install the 32-bit Home version, as it was certainly the one installed before, and thus Windows can find the corresponding key, which is etched into the motherboard.
The problem is that after adjusting the BIOS, my USB drive is recognized in UEFI and in "normal" mode.
When it boots in normal mode, the installer tells me that Windows cannot be installed on a GPT partition.
When it boots in UEFI (which is my goal), nothing happens, and the computer will boot from the next device in the BIOS boot order.
I therefore think that I missed a step when I created my bootable USB drive in FAT32.
I did follow the method from this site:
http://www.forum-des-portables-asus.fr/www/threads/créer-une-clé-windows-seven-bootable-sur-système-u-efi.7799/
by adapting it for the new OS!
Thanks for reading, and thank you for your future help :)
5 réponses
Hello,
1. If you had a pre-installed W8 in UEFI, it must have been a 64-bit version from the start.
2. You need to check which version you put on your USB stick. If it's a 32-bit version, you won't revert to the factory state. Did you create the recovery drive?
3. "A partition is missing" in UEFI. It could be either the EFI partition, the MSR partition, or the recovery launcher. That's the whole problem with W8 backups.
4. When you boot in "legacy" mode (in other words, BIOS), you are preparing to install your W8 in MBR mode. However, the disk is in GPT (hence the error message). So it needs to be converted:
Shift + F10 when the message appears ==> opens a console
diskpart
select disk 0
clean (everything is deleted)
convert mbr
exit
But once again, you won't have the initial situation. In my opinion, only the reset tool allows you to go back to the initial state, and it's still necessary to determine which missing partition is obstructing the restore.
1. If you had a pre-installed W8 in UEFI, it must have been a 64-bit version from the start.
2. You need to check which version you put on your USB stick. If it's a 32-bit version, you won't revert to the factory state. Did you create the recovery drive?
3. "A partition is missing" in UEFI. It could be either the EFI partition, the MSR partition, or the recovery launcher. That's the whole problem with W8 backups.
4. When you boot in "legacy" mode (in other words, BIOS), you are preparing to install your W8 in MBR mode. However, the disk is in GPT (hence the error message). So it needs to be converted:
Shift + F10 when the message appears ==> opens a console
diskpart
select disk 0
clean (everything is deleted)
convert mbr
exit
But once again, you won't have the initial situation. In my opinion, only the reset tool allows you to go back to the initial state, and it's still necessary to determine which missing partition is obstructing the restore.
To address your different points:
1 - I will therefore install a 64-bit home version.
2 - On my USB stick, I have several versions, including the 64-bit and 32-bit home versions.
3 - The problem is that I have all these partitions! I have one of 300MB, one of 900MB, one of 20.01GB, another one whose size I don't remember, and my main partition. In terms of partition titles, there are 2 recovery ones, one MSR, one EFI, and my main partition. So I don't understand why it says that a partition is missing.
4 - I absolutely do not want to switch to an MSR partition table, I want to stay on GPT, and therefore be able to boot my USB stick in UEFI and boot something.
Thank you again!
Apparently, everything is fine for the system restore. How did you initiate that restore?
It launches an interface where I can choose between troubleshooting, shutting down, booting from a media, or starting Windows... I choose "troubleshoot".
Then I have the choice between "repair", "reset", or "advanced options":
http://windowsquebec.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/070113_1913_Windows81C6.jpg
I choose reset, and after a few seconds, it tells me that a partition is missing.