[Fixed] The Selected Disk Has an MBR Partition Table
The full description of this error message is "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" (see picture below).
When "the selected disk has an mbr partition table on EFI systems" error comes?
As seen above, this error message comes when you install Windows. As a computer fan, I often see posts about this question from computer forums. Here are some typical extracts:
▶ "I have been trying hard to upgrade to Windows 11 from my old Windows 10 PC. I followed the instruction given by BootCamp, all things went smoothly until I was asked to Windows Setup Installed to select the hard drive. Then comes the error: “Windows cannot be installed to this disk 0. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On the EFI system, Windows can only be installed on GPT disks.” What should I do?"
▶ "I’m getting the following error when trying to install Windows from a USB: 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..."
▶ "When trying to install Windows 7 64-bit form using an Intel motherboard. I get the error message: The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks..."
▶ "I'm trying to do a clean install on Windows 7 64-bit on my laptop. I currently have 32-bit Vista running. I initially created a new partition, copied all my data there, then started to do the custom install. I got the message: 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..."
Solution: Convert system disk to GPT without data loss
Now we know the error message comes in these situations, and then what's the solution? There are many ways to solve the problem, but the most direct way is converting MBR to GPT disk, as mentioned “Windows can only be installed to GPT disks”. You can choose CMD or Disk Management to convert the data disk, and you need to clean all data on the disk. If there's anything important on the disk, you'll need to spend much time backing up the whole disk.
But, if you're planning to convert a system disk, we sincerely advise you to choose Qiling Disk Master Professional, its function "Convert to GPT Disk" is specifically designed for your requirements. The conversion won't cause data loss, you can safely do the conversion within only 3 steps.
Tip: If you need to convert a system disk between MBR and GPT, you will need to change the boot mode from Legacy to UEFI.
Step 1. Install and launch the program. In the main window, you should right-click on the disk that you want to convert and choose the "Convert to GPT" option or directly click the disk and choose "Convert to GPT" from the right column.
Step 2. Waiting to perform the pending operations.
To sum up
The error "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" only happens when you're installing an EFI system on an MBR disk. After you convert it to a GPT partition scheme, the problem will be solved.
Qiling Disk Master Professional is a good partition converter to help you fix 'The selected disk has an mbr partition table on EFI system'. Besides converting between MBR and GPT, it can also convert FAT/FAT 32 to NTFS or convert primary to a logical partition, even move programs and migrate OS to another disk without reinstalling. We have a Server edition (supporting Windows Server 2022/2019/2016/2012(R2)/2008(R2)/2003) for Windows Server users to organize their devices.
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