Can't install Win7 on a Win8 machine? GPT partition.

[deadken]

My brother-in-law (finally) bought a new PC. I suggested that since he was coming from a WinXP machine, he look into a Win7 machine. But, he waited a bit too long and then ended up buying a Dell from some kind of employee discount. Sure enough, he HATES Win8. He wants to install Win7. I told him that it'd cost around $100, and maybe we can make Win8 more Win7 like with some tweaks. Nope, he wanted it GONE.

Ok, so I order him a 64-bit version of Win7 home. I go over to install it and find that it won't boot right from the DVD-Rom. No big deal, I go into BIOS and make some changes and boom, we are up and running. Well... Not for long. The installer shows like 5 partitions and I wasn't able to install it on the O/S partition because it is a GPT partition. Hmm... Ok, well I didn't want to wipe the whole drive clean, format it as NTFS, and then install Win7 because I figure at some point he *might* want to restore the PC back to its original configuration (Win8).

So, I delete the 548.8 GB partition and then create a new partition (the maximum size that I could (again, 548.8GB)) in its place. I clicked on the format button and it formatted the 548.8GB partition (but it never asked me what kind of format I wanted). Sure enought, the installer wouldn't let me install the Win7 onto the new partition (again, it was a GPT format).

So, I figure let's call Dell and see if there is a way without me wiping the drive. Boy, what a waste of time. Basically, they were of no assistance without us signing up for a $239 year subscription or $149 one time help. Ok, f--k that, I'm going to Anandtech...


So, my question is:
1) Can I install Win7 on a Win8 PC without wiping the entire drive? Please don't suggest a dual boot as my brother in law and sister wouldn't want it.

2) If I have to wipe the drive, shouldn't I be able to just delete all the partitions, create the largest single partition that I can, and then format it as NTFS and install Win7 on it?

3) Any suggestions?

-As always, thanks for any helpul suggestions.

 

[C1]

I presume that you used WIN8 to prepare the 548.8 partition. Why cant you delete that partition in WIN8, then boot WIN7 from CD and NTFS format the partition from the WIN7 install disk?

If you should finally decide to clear the HDD and start from scratch, then dont just delete partitions, but WIPE the drive.

If it were me, I would image the original WIN8 HDD as archive.

 

[Lifted]

First thing to check is that you can't boot to GPT without the SATA port in AHCI mode.

Second thing is the 4 primary partition limit.

Easiest things would be to either clone the drive to an external USB HDD (macrium reflect free will do this) or make recovery disks if possible and backup any user data in the profiles, wipe the drive, and perform a fresh install without the headaches.

 

[R0H1T]

Alright so are you booting using the (U)EFI option because GPT disks need (U)EFI, as far as I know, so you may need to adjust your BIOS options to enable EFI boot option first, before the legacy mode takes over, now Windows installation disks have both these options so you might wanna check how the system is booting through your BIOS.

 

[PinchedNerve]

Alright so are you booting using the (U)EFI option because GPT disks need (U)EFI, as far as I know, so you may need to adjust your BIOS options to enable EFI boot option first, before the legacy mode takes over, now Windows installation disks have both these options so you might wanna check how the system is booting through your BIOS.

If he has 4 partitions the system may be set for UEFI booting already. He would need to do the reverse & turn off UEFI I would imagine. I setup my Desktop for UEFI on my SSD & it automatically created 4 partitions. Other then that, there shouldn't be any issue with keeping the recovery (Win8) partition, deleting the rest & creating a new partition for Win7.

To the OP, if you want to save yourself some headache, buy a new HD & problem solved. If the BL want's to go back to Win 8 later, all he has to do is put the original drive back in.

 

[deadken]

Thank you all for the information. Yes, the BIOS was set up with something I was unfamiliar with (probably UEFI). I had to make some changes in order to get it to boot from the DVD-Rom.

My B-I-L does not want to ever go back to Win8. I'm the guy who would like to keep the restore partition in case in the future he needs Win8 (for whatever reason). He just spent around $600 on the PC, and now another $100 on Win7, so I don't think he'd be willing to spring for another HD. I like the idea of cloning the Win8 Hd, but they don't have an external drive and they sure aren't going to buy one for this purpose. I like the idea of making a recovery disk set of DVD's. There isn't anything on the PC that they need (no pics, music, documents, etc..). It is a brand new machine that they hated to use because of Win8.

There are 5 partitions on the HD now. I did use the Win7 install disk to delete, create, and then format the 548.8GB partition. It never asked me what format to create it as. So, if delete every partition, create on partition (the largest allowed), I can then choose to format it as NTFS and install Win7 on it?

Again, thanks for all of the help. I didn't realize just how much things have changed in the last 2 or so years since I built a PC.

 

[vailr]

Before doing anything rash: try the free program "Classic Shell". Use the free update for Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, then install Classic Shell. With that, you can completely bypass the Metro tiles and return to an overall "same as Windows 7" appearance and functionality. There's no reality-based argument for spending $100 on a copy of Windows 7, when you already have Windows 8 installed.
Note: I would also recommend obtaining an official install DVD of Windows 8.1 from Dell, which would allow doing a "clean install" whenever needed at some point in time.

 

[Berryracer]

why not just convert your partition to MBR using Diskpart!

diskpart
select disk 0
clean
convert mbr

done

 

[Underclocked]

At least record and keep the Win 8 key. With that, you would be able to reload Win 8/8.1 if ever desired. So get that key before you wipe the drive.

 

[DrGreen2007]

Im guessing since you formatted the largest partition (548gb) the W8 install is gone....cant get the cdkey, correct?

I had to do the same thing with 2 customers that wanted Lenovo ThinkCenter machines downgraded to W7 from W8.
In those cases I just set the bios to legacy mode, erased the entire HDD, then installed from the W7 dvd and it saw the blank drive