Problem updating to v1903, disk running MBR and not GPT

[Jonas Bjorklund Svensson]

Hi,

 

I just ran into a problem when I tried updating to version 1903. I get the error message "Windows cannot be installed because this PC has an unsupported disk layout for UEFI firmware". The issue seems to boil down to that my disk is not running GPT, but MBR.

 

A bit of background:

A while ago I got a new NVMe drive and made a stupid mistake by not unplugging my old drives (incl. old boot drive, which I did backup and format before) before reinstalling Windows on the new drive. The issues started at the first update, where I got stuck in a nearly endless cycle of failed updates. I tried a shitload of things, but ended up just reinstalling the whole thing, with all other drives unplugged. A bit annoying, since I had installed all the software and made all the settings tweaks that I normally do, but after the reinstall it updated as it should and everything has looked just peachy for a while, until today when I tried installing v1903.

 

I looked around a bit and ended up launching diskpart, where I found out that all of my disks were running MBT, including the new one. As I understand it, this is the root cause of the issue. Does anyone know if this happened because of the stupid stuff I did before, where the partition system was somehow kept? I have never, ever, seen the option for choosing what partition system to use when installing windows. I also didn't have any issues with my old SSD, but maybe that was running GPT before?

 

Can this be resolved without me reinstalling everything once again? And how do I make sure that I don't get the same issue in the future? I'm quite a bit annoyed and confused by this at the moment...

 

I will greatly appreciate any help. Let me know if I should provide more info.

 

//Jonas

[chen57]

Hello,

maybe this can help you...

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/disk-management/change-an-mbr-disk-into-a-gpt-disk

 

but personnaly i would just reinstall.

[Jonas Bjorklund Svensson]

4 minutes ago, chen57 said:

Hello,

maybe this can help you...

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/disk-management/change-an-mbr-disk-into-a-gpt-disk

Hi,

 

Thanks for the tip.

 

I did find that solution in my own search, and my drive does have both a volume and a partition. It's my main boot drive (C:) and I also have all of my main programs on it, as well as some games that didn't fit on my old SATA SSD. I have also configured the drive with overprovisioning, so 5 % of the total volume (50 GB, as it is a 1 TB drive) is unallocated and reserved for that.

 

From what I understand, this doesn't allow me to convert the drive to GPT, but correct me if I'm wrong!

 

//Jonas

[GoodBytes]

Go in your UEFI, and restore your settings the way they were.

That is, disable UEFI mode, which will enable BIOS emulation mode. Now, you can boot to MBR drives.

 

If you can't convert your drive, then you have to choice to wipe and clean install from scratch. It is important that you configure your system BIOS/UEFI before install any OS as converting things can be problematic.

[Jonas Bjorklund Svensson]

1 hour ago, GoodBytes said:

Go in your UEFI, and restore your settings the way they were.

That is, disable UEFI mode, which will enable BIOS emulation mode. Now, you can boot to MBR drives.

 

If you can't convert your drive, then you have to choice to wipe and clean install from scratch. It is important that you configure your system BIOS/UEFI before install any OS as converting things can be problematic.

Hi, and thanks for the tip!

 

Are there any downsides to running in BIOS emulation mode?

 

I'm really not sure I ever saw the option of choosing between BIOS and UEFI when installing Windows, though I have seen something about it inside the UEFI. I have installed a lot of computers by now and never run into this problem or anything related, but maybe that was just luck... Where would that choice appear and how would I make sure that I did the right thing if I opt for reinstalling everything?

 

//Jonas

[GoodBytes]

2 hours ago, Jonas Bjorklund Svensson said:

Hi, and thanks for the tip!

 

Are there any downsides to running in BIOS emulation mode?

Of course. From your perspective, your system takes longer to boot.

However, as it was configured like so initially, in order to get your system up and running, there should be no change, as it was acting like this since the beginning.

 

2 hours ago, Jonas Bjorklund Svensson said:

I'm really not sure I ever saw the option of choosing between BIOS and UEFI when installing Windows,

It is not when you install Windows. It is when you configure your motherboard and when you pick your boot device.

Depending on the year and manufacture, manufactures tend to default to the safest settings that will reduce support calls from them, and that is assuming you'll install legacy OS.  Unless your system is really new, you should ensure that:

• SATA Controller mode is set to AHCI mode (assuming you are using a SATA drive). On your way, make sure your main drive is on SATA-1 connector (or SATA-0 if you have one called that), as this is the drive where Windows setup will put the boot loader it needs to start the Windows installed.
• CSM (Compatibility Support Module) is Disabled
• UEFI mode is enabled (this option might not exists and be based on the option above.. meaning if  CSM is enabled, UEFI will be disabled. If CSM is disabled then UEFI will be enabled)
• Delay Boot is set to to 0 sec
• Fast Boot is enabled (or the fastest option is picked, whichever your motherboard wants to call things)
• Secure Boot is enabled (this is for security purposes only)
• Any devices that you don't use are disabled (for example: second Ethernet port, extra SATA controllers not being used, firewire, etc). This is simply to reduce the number of needed drivers that needs to be loaded at startup by the OS of choice, and help speed up startup process.
• Of course, don't forget set date and time.
• Set X.M.P profile (or the equivalent from AMD which I forgot the name) to Profile 1 for your RAM.
• Oh if you have something like "Windows 8 mode" or something along those line, this is also is UEFI mode. enable/disable in reality. Just horrible naming from the motherboard manufcature.
• Lastly, when you boot from your USB flash drive to install your OS of choice, you pick your drive that start with "UEFI: "". Same for your drive boot order, if you have that option in the UEFI.

 

2 hours ago, Jonas Bjorklund Svensson said:

though I have seen something about it inside the UEFI. I have installed a lot of computers by now and never run into this problem or anything related, but maybe that was just luck... Where would that choice appear and how would I make sure that I did the right thing if I opt for reinstalling everything?

Some motherboard auto-guesses, and if it is not properly configured, it will change it's settings and try again

 

2 hours ago, Jonas Bjorklund Svensson said:

 

//Jonas

//GoodBytes

[Jonas Bjorklund Svensson]

11 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

• SATA Controller mode is set to AHCI mode (assuming you are using a SATA drive). On your way, make sure your main drive is on SATA-1 connector (or SATA-0 if you have one called that), as this is the drive where Windows setup will put the boot loader it needs to start the Windows installed.
• CSM (Compatibility Support Module) is Disabled
• UEFI mode is enabled (this option might not exists and be based on the option above.. meaning if  CSM is enabled, UEFI will be disabled. If CSM is disabled then UEFI will be enabled)

Hi again, and thanks for the input!

 

My old boot drive was a regular SATA SSD, but the new one is an NVMe drive. Controller mode is set to AHCI and the SATA drive is indeed on one of those ports. 

 

It seems to me like one of the following two points is what might have gone wrong, it's not unlikely that I missed checking that CSM setting. I'm pretty sure I have set everything to be in UEFI mode, though, but I'll check that when I get the chance. Also the last point on your list, I thought I chose the UEFI drive when prompted, I at least remember seeing that option. Could be that I screwed up there, though... I have an Asus Z170I Pro Gaming motherboard, by the way, if that makes any difference whatsoever. "Relatively" modern with respect to feature set, I suppose, although I'm inclined to upgrade soon-ish.

 

//Jonas

[GoodBytes]

4 hours ago, Jonas Bjorklund Svensson said:

Hi again, and thanks for the input!

 

My old boot drive was a regular SATA SSD, but the new one is an NVMe drive. Controller mode is set to AHCI and the SATA drive is indeed on one of those ports. 

 

It seems to me like one of the following two points is what might have gone wrong, it's not unlikely that I missed checking that CSM setting. I'm pretty sure I have set everything to be in UEFI mode, though, but I'll check that when I get the chance. Also the last point on your list, I thought I chose the UEFI drive when prompted, I at least remember seeing that option. Could be that I screwed up there, though... I have an Asus Z170I Pro Gaming motherboard, by the way, if that makes any difference whatsoever. "Relatively" modern with respect to feature set, I suppose, although I'm inclined to upgrade soon-ish.

 

//Jonas

Another possibility that just came to mind, is that the motherboard reports to the OS setup (in your case Windows) that the first drive is your SATA drive, and not your NVMe drive (which I assume is where you want to install Windows). So Windows setup wants to install the boot partition to the SATA drive which was formatted as MBR and not GPT. Something to try is to unplug your SATA cable of your HDD, and try again.

[homeap5]

21 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

is important that you configure your system BIOS/UEFI before install any OS as converting things can be problematic.

Not anymore. Microsoft has MBR2GPT tool now (in system32 folder) that makes conversion in few seconds (including shrinking partition if necessary). I tested it last week.

 

GPT to MBR is a little more complicated, but not really (any partition manager that can convert GPT to MBR and fix boot using Windows installer).

[GoodBytes]

Just now, homeap5 said:

Not anymore. Microsoft has MBR2GPT tool now (in system32 folder) that makes conversion in few seconds (including shrinking partition if necessary). I tested it last week.

 

GPTto MBR is a little more complicated, but not really (any partition manager that can convert GPT to MBR and fix boot using Windows installer).

He just said he can't. That is a situation that makes it more problematic than otherwise would occur if the system was properly configured. 

[homeap5]

29 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

He just said he can't. That is a situation that makes it more problematic than otherwise would occur if the system was properly configured. 

He said that all of his disks are MBR as he check. So if he unplug all but system and boot from installer, he'll be able to use mbr2gpt tool. It's possible (conversion) no matter how his bios is configured. If OP want to stay with MBR - he can also fix boot (which may be required before conversion since mbr2gpt needs proper working system).

[Jonas Bjorklund Svensson]

On 8/16/2019 at 2:01 PM, GoodBytes said:

Another possibility that just came to mind, is that the motherboard reports to the OS setup (in your case Windows) that the first drive is your SATA drive, and not your NVMe drive (which I assume is where you want to install Windows). So Windows setup wants to install the boot partition to the SATA drive which was formatted as MBR and not GPT. Something to try is to unplug your SATA cable of your HDD, and try again.

Like I said in the original post, I forgot to unplug the old boot SATA SSD before installing on the NVMe drive in the first round, which led to lots of problems which I thought I fixed, up until now, by reinstalling everything from scratch with the old drives unplugged. Is was the large v1903 update that gave this new error, it simply doesn't want to install and just says that the computer can't run Windows 10, which it obviously can since I am actively using it.

 

 

On 8/16/2019 at 3:43 PM, homeap5 said:

Not anymore. Microsoft has MBR2GPT tool now (in system32 folder) that makes conversion in few seconds (including shrinking partition if necessary). I tested it last week.

 

GPT to MBR is a little more complicated, but not really (any partition manager that can convert GPT to MBR and fix boot using Windows installer).

But as stated on whatever website it is I read about it, I wasn't allowed to have a volume or partition on the drive I wanted to convert, which seems pretty dumb to me since that is a blank drive anyway. But maybe I'm misunderstanding something?

 

 

On 8/16/2019 at 4:14 PM, homeap5 said:

He said that all of his disks are MBR as he check. So if he unplug all but system and boot from installer, he'll be able to use mbr2gpt tool. It's possible (conversion) no matter how his bios is configured. If OP want to stay with MBR - he can also fix boot (which may be required before conversion since mbr2gpt needs proper working system).

I do want to change to GPT, at least on the NVMe drive. It seems to me that Windows doesn't want to update otherwise, and if GPT is the more modern format, I think I should use that. 

[homeap5]

So unplug all drives except m.2, boot usb installer in legacy mode, choose fix boot, check if your computer starts, boot again installer, press shift+F10 and follow any guide "how to use mbr2gpt" that you find on internet. Change boot to uefi and that's all.

 

BUT - I don't understand what do you mean "blank drive anyway". You have system installed on that drive as you said in first post.

[Jonas Bjorklund Svensson]

21 hours ago, homeap5 said:

BUT - I don't understand what do you mean "blank drive anyway". You have system installed on that drive as you said in first post.

I was referring to the requirement that at least two guides mentioned, with the drive having to not have a volume or a partition on it if mbr2gpt was going to be able to run.

[homeap5]

Not true. MBR2GPT was created for converting working operating system from MBR to GPT.

I was made that type of conversion last week, it takes about 5-10 seconds and then you can boot in UEFI mode (after you change bios settings after conversion).

All you need is working legacy installation (that means your computer must start in legacy mode - if not, you can use repair option in windows installer usb in legacy mode).

 

Of course unplug all drives except your system drive.

 

And just try - normally it takes about 5-10 minutes (whole operation) and you waiting for it few days so far.

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/deployment/mbr-to-gpt

[Jonas Bjorklund Svensson]

6 minutes ago, homeap5 said:

Not true. MBR2GPT was created for converting working operating system from MBR to GPT.

I was made that type of conversion last week, it takes about 5-10 seconds and then you can boot in UEFI mode (after you change bios settings after conversion).

All you need is working legacy installation (that means your computer must start in legacy mode - if not, you can use repair option in windows installer usb in legacy mode).

 

Of course unplug all drives except your system drive.

 

And just try - normally it takes about 5-10 minutes (whole operation) and you waiting for it few days so far.

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/deployment/mbr-to-gpt

Ok, I will definitely go ahead and try this, then! Thanks so much  The computer otherwise works flawlessly, with this small update issue as an exception, so it shouldn't be a problem, then. As I have some pretty bad experience trying to solve different but similar issues in the past (where the built-in windows tools corrupted my whole OS...), I wanted to try and get some more input on the issue first, which I have now!

 

Thanks again!

 

//Jonas

[Jonas Bjorklund Svensson]

On 8/18/2019 at 3:30 PM, homeap5 said:

Not true. MBR2GPT was created for converting working operating system from MBR to GPT.

I was made that type of conversion last week, it takes about 5-10 seconds and then you can boot in UEFI mode (after you change bios settings after conversion).

All you need is working legacy installation (that means your computer must start in legacy mode - if not, you can use repair option in windows installer usb in legacy mode).

 

Of course unplug all drives except your system drive.

 

And just try - normally it takes about 5-10 minutes (whole operation) and you waiting for it few days so far.

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/deployment/mbr-to-gpt

I've been super busy and didn't get around to fixing the issue until this past weekend, but now it's done and it worked (almost) as expected! When I installed v1903, I got bluescreens for some reason, but after I went back into BIOS to see if I had missed some setting (which I don't think I had) and went out again, the issue had resolved itself or something. Sketchy. Anyhow, everything seems to be working now, so thanks again for the help!