Is it best to install Windows 7,8,10 in UEFI mode ?

Daytrader

Daytrader

Daytrader

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Is it best to install Windows 7,8,10 in UEFI mode ? i need to know before i copy my iso to my usb drive, what do most people chouse, i have only ever installed win xp pro, so never heard of UEFI before, just that i am building a new skylake socket pc, and to install in UEFI mode i think i have to copy iso onto usb drive in a certain way, cheers
 
Well you cant install a uefi os without it going on to a gpt drive, as it uses 3 partitions also, If i install windows just as standard, like traditional bios, will i still get to see and use my motherboards uefi/efi bios still thou ? i think i would, as no where in the manual it says to prepare a iso disc as uefi bootable, and i bet 99% of people wont even know about a uefi install, i been pc gaming for like 15 years and never heard of it let alone having to make a special install disc, what about all the millions of copys of retail window discs that are not uefi.
 
Daytrader said:
Well you cant install a uefi os without it going on to a gpt drive, as it uses 3 partitions also, If i install windows just as standard, like traditional bios, will i still get to see and use my motherboards uefi/efi bios still thou ? i think i would, as no where in the manual it says to prepare a iso disc as uefi bootable, and i bet 99% of people wont even know about a uefi install, i been pc gaming for like 15 years and never heard of it let alone having to make a special install disc, what about all the millions of copys of retail window discs that are not uefi.
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Yes, you will still get to use your BIOS even if you install without UEFI and on a MBR formatted disc.

IIRC, you can install on MBR disks due to CSM if for example you have a preformatted disk.
 
Why does the iso/stick have to be formatted a certain way? Pretty sure for all the UEFI installs I've done it just comes down to what boot options you select. In my case for each compatible device (usb + dvd drive) there would be 2 options in the boot menu, one was just the device name, the other was the same but with "UEFI: " before it. And that was the only difference - install via the 2nd one and you've done a UEFI install, install via the 1st one and it's a regular install
 
Yes it needs to be UEFI bootable, as above use Rufus to format it correctly and transfer the ISO files to the USB.
 
I had to laugh, because I tried and tried to get one of my PCs to boot with this, onto an SSD, but I could not for the life of me, get it to do it.

Turned out that you need to have the disk initialised as a GTP disk not an MBR one.
I know that now, but didnt at the time.

I have put it on, and sure, its all very well, but if it any quicker? It is a bit at booting, but other than that, not really worth it I dont think?

I dont bother with it anymore and I have no real reasons to use it.
 
Well i will be installing it to a brand new ssd, so wonder if when installing windows i get the choice to make ssd GTP, otherwise i wont be able to install in uefi mode.
 
No, you dont get a choice of how to do it.

If there is a way to do it during the installation process, then I would love to know.

But what you need to do, is firstly, prepare the SSD in Windows first, so since you said you will do it on a new SSD then you will be fine... When you buy the SSD, simply add it to your setup, and initialise the disk as a GTP and then install to that disk and you're sorted.
 
Daytrader said:
But its going in a new build, i have no way of formatting the SSD to GTP.
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Boot your machine off the install media in UEFI mode. There's usually an option in the BIOS or you can hit a key during boot and choose a boot device. Those devices will be standard devices and UEFI devices (for instance your DVD drive will show as both). Choose the UEFI option, and Windows should then install on GPT by default.

If your drive is already formatted as MBR, you will need to wipe that out first so Windows doesn't follow the existing format. Even on a blank system, you can easily do that off a boot disc using diskpart.
 
zola25 said:
Windows will take care of that during the installation.
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It will only take care of it, if the drive is over 2TB and then it will force GTP otherwise it will be MBR

Since its an SSD, he needs to use another PC to set it up as a GTP first.


Steampunk said:
Boot your machine off the install media in UEFI mode. There's usually an option in the BIOS or you can hit a key during boot and choose a boot device. Those devices will be standard devices and UEFI devices (for instance your DVD drive will show as both). Choose the UEFI option, and Windows should then install on GPT by default.

If your drive is already formatted as MBR, you will need to wipe that out first so Windows doesn't follow the existing format. Even on a blank system, you can easily do that off a boot disc using diskpart.
Click to expand...

If you setup to boot from UEFI mode, then you need to make sure that your boot media is also GTP mode too, otherwise it wont boot.

If you are using a flash disk for example, that must be initialized as GTP to let you boot onto that

DVD Drives can be setup as either or, so you can get away with it on that way, but I dont use my Disks to boot... I use Flash drives.
 
FatRakoon said:
It will only take care of it, if the drive is over 2TB and then it will force GTP otherwise it will be MBR

Since its an SSD, he needs to use another PC to set it up as a GTP first.
Click to expand...

That's not been my experience at all, when clean installing either Windows 8.1 or 10 in UEFI mode, the install has taken care of this for me.
 
Ok thx guys, i will let you know when i install the os if it formats my ssd for me, im only installing win 7 to get free windows 10, then will install that in uefi mode.
 
To be fair, I can't confirm if Win 7 will do this for you, FatRakoon may well be correct in that you need to do it on another machine. Win 10 will certainly sort this for you, but you'll need GPT before the upgrade. It may be possible to start a 10 install, get it to initialise as GPT, then cancel the install and install 7 before upgrading.
 
Best thing to do as always is select custom install and delete ALL partitions on the operating system drive that you intend to install it on.

Then simply select the drive and let windows do what it needs - it will automatically set it as GPT or whatever it needs provided you have used RUFUS to setup the installation media ;)

easy peasy - I always install in UEFI mode, works fine on 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 using the guide linked above.
 
Win 7 will install GPT. You need to have your boot media written as UEFI, boot off UEFI, wipe all drive partitions (maybe with diskpart if they are being stubborn), and then Win 7 should default to GPT.

The recommendation of Rufus is a good one for making your boot media, it makes things very simple.
 
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