Fix: Windows Cannot be Installed to this Disk

Hi, there’s some time when you want to install windows 7, 8, 8.1 or windows 10 upgrade on your pc and on manage partitions screen, system cannot allow you install windows on any of the drive listed as in the following screen shots, showing you an error (Windows cannot be installed on this disk OR The selected disk is of the GPT partition style).

Causes for “The selected disk is of the GPT partition style” error

There are two formats of the hard drive. MBR and GPT. MBR stands for (Master Bootable Record) which worked with UEFI boot mode, and the motherboard of the PC should support this UEFI mode. On the other side GPT stands for (GUID Partition Table) which worked with legacy BIOS-compatibility boot mode. There are some possibilities to install windows with the current hard drive format.

You get the above error because of the following reasons.

Firstly, check if your pc is configured to boot in UEFI mode. Reboot your pc and try to boot your PC in Legacy BIOS-Compatibility mode which configurations can be found in BIOS settings. So, it will allow you to install windows with the current GPT partition style. For, converting UEFI mode to legacy BIOS-compatibility mode, do the following.

• Shut down your pc.
• Turn on your pc and press F2 for Dell pc and on HP press F10. Each PC brand has its own key to open BIOS settings.
• Find the Boot section and change its boot mode from UEFI to Legacy BIOS-Compatibility mode.
• Restart your pc and the error has gone.

If you want to install windows with UEFI mode there is workaround. Here’s the solution to convert a GPT format to MBR format of the hard disk.

Note: ( In order to convert the partition, all your drive data will be formatted. So, it’s better to backup your data into another drive for safety)

Step 1: On the above manage partitions screen, press shift + F10 keys together to open command prompt windows. Here command prompt windows allows you to configure (format, convert etc.) disk and its partitions.

Step 2: Type “diskpart”, and press enter key.

Step 3: You can see all your drives attached to the connected pc by typing “list disk”, and press enter.

Step 4: Note your disk number and then write “Select disk 0” (0 is the disk number), and press enter.

Step 5: Then type “Clean”, and Enter. Note (this will format all your drive data).

Step 6: Then type “convert gpt”. And press enter. This will convert your selected disk. Then you can easily install your windows.

Thanks for reading this tutorial. Hope it will helpful.