Windows Can't Be Installed On This Drive

Windows Can't Be Installed On This Drive
How do you fix Windows can't be installed on this drive? There is a number of things you can try to fix windows 11 can't be installed. Either the the selected disk is GPT partition or the selected disk is MBR partition. This is a very common error which occurs during Windows installation of Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8/8.1 or Windows 7 during the Windows Setup, it will report the error "Windows cannot be installed to this disk".

1. Check Your BIOS
2. Convert an MBR Disk to GPT
3. Convert an GPT to MBR
4. Try to Disable EFI Boot Sources
5. Boot into UEFI mode
6. Boot into Legacy mode

Once at Windows Setup, press "Shift + F10" to open Command Prompt.

Enter the following commands:

diskpart
list disk
select disk
clean
convert gpt
exit
close command prompt

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[Britec]

What videos do you want to see? Drop us a LIKE 👍

[shsechas]

Just stopping by to once again tell you how much us viewers appreciate your channel. You explain everything so well. Have a great and safe 4th.

[marycakeu]

I've finally found the 100% Perfect answer for my problem after watching countless tutorials that didn't even talked about this part. Thank you sooo much!💯

[GRGUY]

Very common problem. Easy fix, but many may not know. Good video for those that need this. On a laptop it's FN+F8 for command prompt and same procedure afterward.

[steve]

It all depends on how you boot to Windows Setup. If you UEFI-boot then Windows INSISTS on installing to a GPT drive (or a clean drive). If you legacy boot, then Windows INSISTS on installing to a MBR partitioned drive (or a clean drive). Even if you delete all partitions from a drive, it is still either GPT or MBR, so you must CLEAN it (which clears first few sectors which determine which type it is). So it is really important to know which mode you have booted in. If your boot drive is over 2TB you will need to use GPT and thus you will need to UEFI-boot. However, in this particular case, it was a BIOS issue...

[codiethompson]

This was exactly what I needed! Hours of reading official Microsoft forums cannot compare to how good this 8min video was!

[BeastK]

Hey sir ! Thank you for all these videos, they are very helpful after every windows install I always refer few videos of your channel to optimise it.

I would like to ask you is there any way by which I can make an ISO of windows with pre-installed software ?

[roballen]

OMG!! Thank you so much for this Post!! I am sitting here in the sticks in Thailand and just ran into this issue and have never seen it before in my 40 plus years of working with Microsoft products and all of the previous versions of Windows. I knew I liked you and your Channel as soon as I saw your Videos!! You are a lifesaver for sure!! Rob Allen in Ban Huai Sai Tai, Phetchaburi Province, Thailand 🌴🐒🌴🐘🐒🐘 Warm Regards and a Tip o'the Hat to You, Sir!! 😄😄😄😎👍👍👍⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[USArmyVet]

Omg such an easy fix. I tried for hours to make my ssd able to work on my legacy Dell BIOS. Don’t know why I didn’t come here first. It was as simple as cleaning the disk. Thanks again for your help. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[todduyeda]

This was very helpful. I replaced a HDD on a very old HP TouchSmart 600 all in one PC. (This AIO is really cool and I've yet to find a better one, except the MS Surface Studio, but that is over $4000). I did this previously with a Samsung SSD and Windows 10 installed easily. After a power outage, something happened to my PC (still not sure what) which crippled it but didn't kill it completely. I switched to a different brand SSD (Silicon Power) and the Windows 10 install balked. The new SSD came as GPT with 4 partitions (not sure why). I followed your instructions. Now it's MBR and a single partition. Windows 10 installed no problem. Thank you.

[walter_lesaulnier]

Diskpart is also great for getting rid of locked boot partitions so you can repurpose the drive. I use it a lot when distro hopping or to do a completely clean Windows reinstall.

[tvenergyproductions]

You are wonderful! I thought I would have to go through the procedure of taking the SSD out of the laptop until I saw this great video. Many thanks.

[viper]

Thank you!! Doing a fresh install of win11, I deleted my original partition and was unable to install because of this error. I had no idea shift F10 could bring up the command prompt while booting off a flash drive. Life saver!

[jerrycurtis]

In a recent video you mentioned a computer being very busy even when no one is using it. My son has that "problem" with his Dell Win10. As soon as anyone touches the keyboard, the disk activity stops. I started task manager and looked at that when the activity began, and it was some Microsoft program running. I'll have to check it again and try your recommendation. Thanks for your frequent, informative videos.

[heinrichbosch]

Life saver!
I was about to completely give up and go to a technician.

[inertiagaming]

Seriously was shaking thinking i had bricked my PC. Loading windows now, youre an absolute real one dude!

[johngoard]

Great video Brian as this is a problem I used to have a lot in the past and your explanation and fix is one I wish I had back then, and one that can now be fixed by those so affected.👍

[kennethhicks]

Had this issue when doing 21h2 upgrade as drives where not uefi (data updates over years and never got around to changing on said pc).
Ditto the steps I took that resolved it (used 3rd party tools for disk part tho).
Great info and thanks for keeping older tech viable.
And can I ask a potentially sensitive question? ... is it inappropriate to wish Happy 4th of July to ya'll? If so, have a great day and my apologies.

[mybuddy]

Really good explanation. Previously my main drive was partitioned into 3 and one of them is the windows file drive.
When i tried to migrate to new hard drive or clean install from windows creation media, this locked windows drive kept preventing me from installing new Windows.
Just now i changed the drive to from GPT to MBR, finally i was able to delete the locked partition and migrate to the new drive clean. Thanks very much sir.

[jerseyjoe]

Thank you, Brian.
Very informative!
👍