Why on EFI Systems Windows Can Only Be Installed to GPT Disk?

Why on EFI systems Windows can only be installed to GPT disk? How can you migrate to a GPT disk without losing data? Here is a post that will answer your questions and provide you with assistance.

Posted by @Lucas December 17, 2024 Updated By @Lucas December 11, 2024

Many users had confronted the error 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” but don’t know much about this case. In fact, just as the message shows, the OS you want to install doesn’t match the partition table.

MBR and GPT are two different partition schemes, and each has its own requirements of your devices. For a MBR disk where Windows is installed, the boot mode should be Legacy, while the GPT disk is the location where Windows installed, then, the boot mode has to be UEFI.

So, now the best solution for installing EFI systems, you need to convert your system disk to GPT partition scheme, and then set the boot mode into UEFI.

If your system disk doesn’t have too much crucial data on it, you can go to Disk Management to clean your disk and perform convert.

Step 1. Right-click “My Computer/This PC” -->” Manage”-->” Disk Management”.

Step 2. Right-click on each partition on the disk you want to convert and select "Delete Volume" to clean the disk.

Step 3. Right-click on the target disk, and select "Convert to GPT Disk".

But if your system disk carries important data, you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional to safely convert system disk to GPT without losing data. The steps are also simple.

Download

Step 1. Download of the MBR to GPT converter. Install and run it. Right-click the target MBR disk and select “Convert to GPT”.

Step 2. In the mini window, click “OK” to confirm the operation.

Step 3. Click “Apply” button to commit the conversion.

Then, you can check BIOS firmware to finish the settings.

Step 1. Press F2/F10/Del after restarting your computer to access BIOS.

Step 2. Find and click on "Boot Order or Boot Sequence."

Step 3. Search for "EFI Boot Source" and click the circle next to it.

To learn more details for fixing “on EFI systems Windows can only be installed to GPT disk Windows 10”, you can go to: [Fixed] The Selected Disk Has an MBR Partition Table