MBR partition table? Windows 7 won't install on hard drive that previously had win7.

Anonymous

(long story) Alright, so I have had this same exact harddrive for a while, and out of nowhere, I get a message: Microsoft Windows has stopped responding. I think, oh ****! I gotta restart it! And so I hard-restart it and now windows won't load. I get the bios, but not the OS. So I try to save my files and reinstall windows7 by using a linux usb to save my stuff, except that doesnt work. So I accept my fate, use GParted to format the partition to NTFS and then I restart and boot up from the windows install disc. And I go to install windows on the empty partition (also I guess I should mention there is another partition that's 100mb and says sytem reserved, I never touched that one) and I get this and I quote "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks." and thats it. And the weird thing is, I installed win7 on that SAME harddrive before with now problems. So did my Hard drive poop out on me? Is windows just being a butt? Help pls, I NEED my computer, I am in a programming for game design class and I need my PC in order to make my end of the year project. (Oh, I guess I should also mention I am currently using a Lubuntu usb stick to type this... if that is relevant at all...) Oh, and the windows version is 7 ultimate.

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Anonymous

2016-02-14T05:09:53+00:00

i did delete the partitions in the windows setup program on the disk... to be honest the UEFI stuff is confusing me.
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Greg Carmack 24,780 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2016-02-14T04:57:40+00:00

DVD should always show up as a UEFI device as long as UEFI is not disabled in BIOS setup/UEFI firmware.

Did you do the zero fill yet or wipe the drive? This should clear the partition table and reset the formatting to GPT.
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Anonymous

2016-02-14T04:53:44+00:00

well im using a dvd... so howdoes a dvd play into this
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Greg Carmack 24,780 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2016-02-14T04:41:57+00:00

The error reported in first post can only occur if you have a UEFI BIOS's and are booting the media as a UEFI device, then trying to install to a Legacy MBR hard drive format without first clearing the hard drive to allow Windows to reset the format.

If this is the case then using flash stick installation media it needs to be specially formatted using Rufus for UEFI/GPT with the settings as shown below:

![](http://fud.community.services.support.microsoft.com/Fud/FileDownloadHandler.ashx?fid=8a13d800-b6f3-48a9-a7a3-023d06989566)

Then power up pressing the BIOS Boot Menu Key to boot the installation media as a UEFI device, choose Custom install, delete all partitions down to Unallocated Space - or the wipe which only needs quick Clean and not zero-fill Clean All which is overkill - then click Next to autoformat and begin install.

The error you got proves you have a UEFI system which is the modern BIOS replacement and offers features including better security and stability.

If any problems report back error text and numbers, and the exact settings in BIOS setup/UEFI firmware for UEFI, Legacy, CSM, Secure Boot and Boot Priority order.
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Anonymous

2016-02-14T03:40:17+00:00

Yes, it WOULD be the easiest way to do it... And factor in my luck, and it doesnt work. I get the same error code too. I followed the instructions exactly... Starting to get peeved.
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