Help with GPT, UEFI, Windows 7 Install...

[GZA/Genius]

Hi everyone,

I'm having a bit of a nightmare trying to set up a HTPC for a friend of mine. I am using an old Dell Optiplex 780 SFF box, and swapped the hard disk for a 4TB drive. When I try to install Windows 7 from a USB key onto the drive, it tells me that I can't install it on the partition because it's a GPT partition. I have done a few hours of troubleshooting and googling and it seems like it should be fine provided the computer is booting in UEFI and not BIOS. The problem is I have no idea if it actually boots in UEFI mode or not and I cannot find any options for this in the BIOS settings. Can anyone help with this?

Cheers
G.

 

[tiraides]

Old Dell Optiplex? You're stuck with the BIOS; the system was likely built before UEFI became widespread.

As such, I don't believe that you could install Windows 7 onto your new 4TB drive unless you create a new partition that's less than 2TB.

I tried searching for the answer online and I didn't like what I found. It seems that those who were successful:

- Used a CD/DVD instead of a flash drive
- Used Windows' diskpart to delete the old partition(s), then created a new GPT partition
- Rebooted (without installing Windows) after creating the GPT partition, then restarted the Windows installation process
- (Most likely) used Windows 8 (I read a few that tried with Windows 7, but I didn't know whether or not they succeeded)

However, I saw no instances of people taking the above steps using BIOS.