Installing Windows 7 Pro, GPT vs. MBR issues?

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truwrikodrorowrelupicugojestutroclulachosaswunuhospikigawakijosaswenomaruclojeueclikaspedrubewidebrisubrohutrurifruuagothunugekedrumucisiuobrobrecrupeslapuswosluprothethibakaslechurathikucli
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Posts: 19
Comments: 8

I have an MSI GT70 that came with windows 8.1 (not Pro) it has a GPT disk with UEFI boot mode.

I want to install Windows 7 Pro. I do not care if I lose any data, as long as I can get through the install.

I have an Acronis TI2015 image of the drive (GPT).

I followed some instructions on the MSI website that told me to install Windows 7 choose “advanced”, pick the drive the OS was installed on and delete it. It said then windows would format and install on that partition. That didn’t work, windows just said it couldn’t install on that partition. I recovered the partition with the Acronis image.

I have read so much conflicting info on how to go about this… I am at a loss.

It appears that I need to convert the drive to MBR and wipe out all partitions. I can do that with Acronis Disk Director 11.

My concern is that I don’t know if the Acronis image will be able to reimage the drive back to GPT partitions if I screw up and need to reinstall it.

Thought I would ask here and see if I could get some better info or a better plan.

Thanks.
I have Acronis True Image 2015
Disk Director 11 Home
New Windows 7 Pro DVD

Fri, 08/07/2015 - 00:24
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truwrikodrorowrelupicugojestutroclulachosaswunuhospikigawakijosaswenomaruclojeueclikaspedrubewidebrisubrohutrurifruuagothunugekedrumucisiuobrobrecrupeslapuswosluprothethibakaslechurathikucli
Regular Poster
Posts: 19
Comments: 94

I don't know if this will help. I have an Asus Zenbook which has a UEFI boot system. I have found that the drive will not boot if it is not GPT. Your image is not related to GPT or MBR - it is just a file. Starting from scratch, I used ATI2015 'Add New Disk' and formatted drive as GPT and then continued with restoring an image previously backed up. You should be able to use your W7 Pro image installation disk.

Just like to mention that my Asus was W7/64 Home and is now running W10/64 Home 'free' and it's possible to tailor it so it is almost like W7 but it runs better. Also have it on a desktop that was W7/64 Ultimate now W10/64 Pro. So far I have not found the urge to reinstall the older operating systems. Point being that you could move on with your W8 operating system.

Wed, 08/12/2015 - 15:30