Member Avatar for icantmath1

Ok, so my computer was running completely fine (with the exception of random freezes) for the past month or so. So I ran driver cleaner and all that and reinstalled a new graphics driver. While the computer was shut down, I installed a PCI wifi adapter card and removed an old dead hard drive. After booting, windows would not load, despite the correct boot settings still intact in BIOS. I keep getting this message, despite the fact that seconds before everything worked fine - 'reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key'.

So I thought I would just reformat a drive and reinstall windows, which is the HD I previously installed the exact same copy of windows 7 on. Only now, every HD and every partition I can't install windows to. I get the message 'the selected disk has an MBR partition table, on EFI systems Windows can only be installed on GPT disks.

The only thing I can think of is I pulled some of the SATA cables a bit too hard when removing the HD? Don't know wth. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Specs:

MSI P67A-GD65 LGA 1155 Intel P67 MOBO
i7-2600k Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz CPU
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
EVGA GeForce GTX 580
WD WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
Seagate 1TB 7200 RPM
Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SATA SSD
OCZ Vertex II SSD in RAID 0 with Intel SSD (OS on this RAID)

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As reported by , the machine booted fine until a PCI Wi‑Fi card was added and a dead HDD removed; afterwards POST returns "reboot and select proper boot device…" and the Windows installer complains that an MBR disk cannot be used on an EFI system. That combination of errors very often means two separate issues are showing at once: (A) the firmware/installer was launched in UEFI mode while the target drive is MBR, and (B) the original boot volume (an Intel RAID 0 in this case) may no longer be presented to the firmware because of changed cables/RAID metadata or boot order.

Practical, ordered steps to resolve (non‑destructive first):

  • Verify firmware boot mode and the installer boot entry. Many UEFI boards show two boot entries for the same USB/DVD (one prefixed with "UEFI"). Boot the non‑UEFI (legacy/CSM) entry if the disk is MBR, or enable Legacy/CSM in the UEFI settings. That will allow installation to an MBR disk without repartitioning.

  • If the goal is a UEFI install, convert the target disk to GPT from the Windows installer command prompt (Shift+F10). Example diskpart sequence (this erases the disk):

    diskpart
list disk
select disk N
clean
convert gpt
exit

  • If the existing OS was on an Intel RAID volume, check the SATA/Storage mode in firmware (RAID vs AHCI) and confirm the array is intact. Windows setup may need the Intel RST/RAID driver loaded for the array to be visible; if the array has lost a member the OS will not boot and the installer may not target the correct volume.

Notes on earlier replies: and correctly pointed toward partition/boot repairs, but the MBR-vs-GPT error is usually an installer-mode mismatch rather than a corrupt MBR. Repairing a boot record can help only if the RAID/boot device is still present. Before running destructive commands (clean/convert) or breaking a RAID, back up any important data and verify the correct disk/array is selected.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

some tips there that might help

Member Avatar for smferoz

Hi,

When you are trying to Install OS you are getting MBR Partition you can format disk through command prompt and can make Partitions and install OS .Make floppy as primary bootable disk and reboot your system in command prompt once the bios sequence has been changed the prompt will be as below type FDISK :

A:/FDISK and delete MBR (Master Boot Record)partitions and again create new partitions and proceed with OS Installation.

Member Avatar for nuwan4u

Go to Microsoft Recovery Console, use the command fixmbr

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