Windows – Fix Windows 8 EFI Boot on 32-Bit images

64-bitbootuefiwindows 8

I've been trying to install Windows 8 on a UEFI-based computer using a USB flash drive. As far as I've have been able to gather, there have been some issues with this kind of installation, as the DVD images fail to boot in UEFI mode. Following this tutorial http://blog.thijssen.ch/2012/07/install-windows-8-in-uefi-mode.html, I've able to install from 64-bit only iso's, however I'd like to install from a AIO iso (only one available in my native language).

I've tried copying the bootx64.efi files from the /efi folder of a 64-bit image, but I get an error screen. Is there a way to fix/correct the iso image so that it can boot in UEFI mode?

Best Answer

32Bit Windows versions don't support UEFI. I think this causes your issues. You can export (DISM /Export-Image) the 64Bt Install.WIM from your AIO Install.wim and only use the correct one.

Related Solutions

Hiren’s Boot CD with UEFI support

Short answer: No; you cannot make Hiren's Boot CD EFI compatible.

Even when Hiren's uses Syslinux and it is true Syslinux 6.03 now supports UEFI (syslinux.efi) you will face at least 2 problems when upgrading your Hiren's CD to Syslinux 6.03:

syslinux.efi is not an UEFI signed application then forget about the SecureBoot scenario.
Syslinux.efi (as the rest of EFI boot managers) can only boot kernels that were built with certain EFI parameters turned "ON" i.e.
```
CONFIG_EFI=y
CONFIG_RELOCATABLE=y 
CONFIG_EFI_PARTITION=y
CONFIG_EFI_VARS=y 
CONFIG_FB_EFI=y
```

Hiren's kernel is not built with those flags "ON" and you (surely) do not have the exact sources/config for re-building the kernel while adding the above mentioned missing EFI related parameters.

Windows – Do (USB) drives need a master boot record to boot in UEFI mode

Yes. It’s also not about GPT or MBR partitioning schemes. It just needs to be FAT32 (could work with other filesystems too, depending on what the actual UEFI implementation supports) and have the bootx64.efi file at the right location.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Hiren’s Boot CD with UEFI support

Windows – Do (USB) drives need a master boot record to boot in UEFI mode

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