Windows 10 Can’t Install from USB Disk to UEFI

bootpartitioningssduefiwindows 10

I recently put an SSD in my computer.

Today, I tried to install Windows 10 to it using an installer disk, and it caused the operating system on my HDD (also Windows 10) to be unable to boot. (Also, the copy on the SSD never finished installing.)

I fired up the installer again and tried to install it to a partition on the SSD (I split it in half for dual boot), and I got these problems:

  • On the first attempt, I had UEFI and a FAT32 partition. In the Windows 10 installer, I got a popup at the drive selection screen saying that the drive must be NTFS.
  • I tried to format to NTFS, and I got a notification after the drive selection (during installation) saying that if UEFI is enabled, I must have a FAT32. So I tried FAT32, and got the same problem as above.

So here are my questions:

  • Is it possible to repair my HDD's copy?
  • How can I install Windows 10 to my GPT SSD with UEFI enabled?
  • Do I even need to enable UEFI or can I just use Legacy? I'd think so, but I don't know.

This is very important as it is my main PC and I am currently unable to use it, so I need an answer as soon as possible.

Thanks ahead of time, iso2013

Best Answer

A quick primer on EFI/UEFI:

  • EFI is a replacement for the aging BIOS firmware. See the UEFI Wikipedia page for some basic (albeit sometimes technical) information.
  • Most EFIs include a feature called the Compatibility Support Module (CSM), aka "legacy boot support" or something similar. The CSM enables an EFI to boot an OS that's designed to boot in BIOS mode. (Note that Windows 7 and later, and most modern Linux distributions, can boot in either BIOS mode or in EFI mode.) The drawback to the CSM is that activating it complicates the boot process and creates problems if it's used by people who don't understand it, as detailed in my Web page on the subject. Overall, I recommend you leave the CSM disabled; however....
  • As you've got an existing Windows installation, it's critical that you know its boot mode. See this page of mine for information on how to make this determination. In brief, check your partition table type. In Windows, GPT means EFI and MBR means BIOS. Note that this linkage is for the boot disk only; data disks can be of either type.
  • You should install all your OSes in the same mode (EFI vs. BIOS). Mixing boot modes is possible, but creates complications. Thus, and possibly counter to my second bullet point, you may need to install you new Windows 10 in BIOS mode -- but only if your old Windows 10 is also in BIOS mode.
  • To boot in EFI mode, boot loaders are stored on the EFI System Partition (ESP), which is a FAT32 partition, typically between 100 MB and 1 GB in size, on which boot loaders and related programs and files are stored. The ESP is separate from your regular OS boot partition and can (and usually does) use a different filesystem. The complaint you got asking for a FAT32 partition was referring to the ESP, not to the main Windows partition.
  • To boot a removable medium (optical disc or USB flash drive), it must hold a boot loader. Depending on its source and how you prepared the disk, it may hold BIOS, EFI, or both boot loaders. If it's got both, you can probably control which way it boots by using the firmware's built-in boot manager. This tool will probably show two entries for your external medium, one with the string "UEFI" and one without it. Selecting the "UEFI" entry will attempt to boot it in EFI mode, whereas selecting the one without that string will attempt to boot it in BIOS mode. Note the liberal use of caveats here. With the CSM enabled, it remains a gamble, and you could end up booting in the mode you don't want. This will result in enough hair-pulling that you'll end up buying a wig. If your desired mode is EFI mode, disabling the CSM can save you from that expense.

Normally, if you start from a completely blank disk, OS installers will create the appropriate partition table and partitions automatically. If you want to set up unusual partitions, it's critical that you understand these issues and know how to create suitable partitions (including the ESP, if you're booting in EFI mode) yourself. Note also that the partition table type (MBR vs. GPT) is important -- as noted earlier, MBR is tied to BIOS-mode booting and GPT to EFI-mode booting, at least for Windows.

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