Reformatting the drive using a different partition style

To wipe and convert the drive by using Windows Setup

1. Turn off the PC, and put in the Windows installation DVD or USB key.
2. Boot the PC to the DVD or USB key in UEFI mode. For more info,
see Boot to UEFI Mode or Legacy BIOS mode.
3. When choosing an installation type, select Custom.
4. On the Where do you want to install Windows? screen, select each of
the partitions on the drive, and select Delete. The drive will show a
single area of unallocated space.
5. Select the unallocated space and click Next. Windows detects that the
PC was booted into UEFI mode, and reformats the drive using the GPT
drive format, and begins the installation.
To manually wipe a drive and convert it to GPT:
1. Turn off the PC, and put in the Windows installation DVD or USB key.
2. Boot the PC to the DVD or USB key in UEFI mode. For more info,
see Boot to UEFI Mode or Legacy BIOS mode.
3. From inside Windows Setup, press Shift+F10 to open a command
prompt window.
4. Open the diskpart tool:
 5. diskpart
6. Identify the drive to reformat:
7. list disk
8. Select the drive, and reformat it:
9. select disk <disk number>
10. clean
11. convert gpt
12. exit
13. Close the command prompt window.
14. Continue the Windows Setup installation.
When choosing an installation type, select Custom. The drive will appear
as a single area of unallocated space.
Select the unallocated space and click Next. Windows begins the
installation.
Make sure Windows Setup boots to the correct firmware mode
To automate this process, you'll need to run Windows Setup through Windows
PE, and use a script to detect which mode you’re in before installing Windows.
For more info, see WinPE: Boot in UEFI or legacy BIOS mode.

Part 1. How to Fix external hard drive not initialized with I/O device error?

Here in this part, you have two methods to try and repair I/O device error on
external hard drive:

Method 1. Use Disk Management to fix not initialized error on external hard
drive

1. 1. Connect not initialized external hard drive, HDD or other storage device with
PC;
2. 2. Press Win + R keys, type: diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter;
3. Or right-click on This PC > Manage to open Disk Management tool;
4. 3. Find the not initialized, unknown external hard drive with I/O device error >
Right-click on it and select Initialize Disk;
5. 4. Then set the disk to initialize and set disk as MBR or GPT.
After this, you may reboot PC and keep all changes. Then your external hard
drive can be recognized and read by Windows 10 again.
If saved data on external hard disk were lost, don’t worry and you may directly
jump to Part 2 to restore lost data.

Method 2. Run CMD to repair I/O device error on not initialized external hard
drive

Since CMD command would erase all data on not initialized hard drive, so
please follow Part 2 to restore lost data after repairing and fixing external hard
drive not initialized error with CMD:

1. Press Win+R > Type: diskpart and hit Enter;

2. Type: list disk and hit Enter;
3. Type: select disk F and hit Enter; (Replace F with the drive letter of not
initialized external hard drive.)
4. Type: clean and hit Enter;
5. Type: convert gpt or convert mbr and hit Enter;
6. Type: create partition primary and hit Enter;
7. Type: format quick fs=ntfs and hit Enter;
8. Type: assign and hit Enter;
9. Type: exit and hit Enter.

-open command prompt and type diskpart

-run the command list disk

-find a drive that matches your drive size and type select disk 3 (or whichever
drive is your portable drive)

-type detail disk This should give you details to confirm you are working with
the correct drive. Mine says WD My Passport 0748 USB Device

-type clean This will erase all the data on the drive including the partition
table.

-go back into disk management and try to initialize and create a partition.
 Windows Cannot Be Installed to a Disk? Here Are Solutions

 Contents:

 Error 1: Windows Cannot Be Installed to This Disk. The Selected Disk Is of

the GPT Partition Style.
 Error 2: Windows Cannot Be Installed to This disk. The Selected Disk Has an
MBR Partition Table.
 Error 3: Windows Cannot Be Installed on Dynamic Disk.
 Error 4: Windows Cannot Be Installed to This Disk. This Computer's
Hardware May not Support Booting to This Disk.
 Error 5: Windows Cannot Be Installed to This Disk. The Disk May Fail Soon.
 Error 6: Windows Cannot Be Installed to This Hard Disk Space, Windows
Must Be Installed to a Partition Formatted in NTFS.
 Summary
 Related Articles
 User Comments

When installing Windows OS (whether it is clean install, reinstall or dual boot),

you may receive various kinds of errors saying Windows cannot be installed
to this disk. In this post, we will introduce 6 types of Windows installation
errors as well as top corresponding solutions.

Error 1: Windows Cannot Be Installed to This Disk. The Selected Disk Is of the
GPT Partition Style.

When installing Windows on a GPT disk, you may receive Windows cannot be
installed on GPT disk error:

"Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT
partition style."
What caused this error?

Reasons

This is mainly because the motherboard supports Legacy BIOS only rather
than both Legacy and UEFI or CSM boot. Under legacy BIOS mode, you can
only install Windows to a MBR disk since traditional BIOS cannot recognize
GPT partition, but data read/write on GPT disk is available as long as Windows
supports it.

Solutions

To fix this error, firstly you need to enter BIOS Setup to see what the boot
mode it is set to. Start/restart computer and continuously press a key to enter
BIOS before Windows logo appears. Different computers may require different
keys, so you had better search "how to enter BIOS plus computer
trademark or motherboard name" on the internet to find the exact key.

In BIOS, if you find no signal showing you are using UEFI motherboard like the
following picture shows, maybe you are using a traditional motherboard which
supports legacy BIOS boot only. Under this situation, the only solution is to
convert GPT disk to MBR disk.
 Here are the deals:.

1. Convert GPT Disk to MBR If the Motherboard Supports Legacy BIOS

Only

NOTE:We will explain 3 ways to convert GPT disk to MBR disk. The 2nd & 3rd
ways will cause data loss since Windows requires to delete all partitions.

 Use Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition is a free yet outstanding partitioning

tool for Windows NON-SERVER users, which helps to convert GPT disk to MBR
disk without losing data when an existing Windows is available. However, you
should know that Partition Wizard can only change non-system GPT disk to
MBR disk without bringing any data loss.

For Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10 users

Tip: if no Windows can be used, you may need the help of MiniTool Partition
Wizard Bootable CD, a built-in tool that comes with all MiniTool Partition Wizard
Paid Editions.

Step 1: Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard. Then right-click on the target disk to
be converted and choose "Convert GPT Disk to MBR Disk".

Step 2: You will see the GPT attribute is turn to MBR. However, this is only
pending operations for us to preview. Please press "Apply" to confirm the
change. After the conversion, you will find that all data are still there.
 Use Diskpart

It is possible to make the conversion during the installation process. Please do

the followings:

Step 1: Once the error pops up, click "OK" to close the error and try pressing
on "Shift + F10" to call out CMD. If the utility does not emerge, please go back
to the install Windows interface:
Step 2: Then press "Shift + F10" again to launch CMD. Next clean the disk by
typing the following commands:
"diskpart -> list disk -> select disk 1 (1 signifies the number of GPT disk) -
> clean -> convert MBR."

Step 3: When diskpart shows it has successfully converted the selected disk to
MBR format, you can exit from this program and continue to install Windows.
 Use Disk Management Utility

If another Windows OS is available on the same computer, then Disk

Management utility is helpful. Try these operations:

Step 1: Start the working Windows and enter the built-in Disk Management
tool by right clicking "Computer" icon on desktop, choosing "Manage", and
selecting "Disk Management":

Step 2: Delete all partitions or volumes on the GPT disk one by one via the
right-click function "Delete Volume".

Step 3: When the entire disk becomes an unallocated space, right click the GPT
disk and choose "Convert to MBR Disk". After these steps, the original GPT
disk will be converted to MBR disk, and then you can go on installing Windows
on this disk.
TIP:when deleting volumes you may meet the situation where some special
volumes like system volume, recovery volume, and OEM volume cannot be
deleted. For reasons and corresponding solutions, please see Cannot Delete
Volumes in Windows.

2. Change Boot Mode If the Motherboard Supports Both Legacy and UEFI
Boot

Currently, most motherboards support both Legacy boot and UEFI boot, and
users can choose the most appropriate one manually. If you select Legacy
only, it will be impossible to install Windows on GPT disk. At this time, you
can enter BIOS and set the boot mode to CSM boot or choose Both:
Once the change has been made, please press on F10 to save changes, and
then you can install Windows on a GPT disk.

Error 2: Windows Cannot Be Installed to This disk. The Selected Disk Has an
MBR Partition Table.

When installing Windows 7, Windows 8 or other newly released Windows OS,

you may receive another error saying Windows cannot be installed on MBR
disk:
"Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk has an MBR
partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only installed on GPT disks".

Why Windows cannot be installed on MBR disk under EFI systems?

Reasons

To answer this question, you need to know something about UEFI + GPT boot.
Under EFI systems, theoretically both MBR disk and GPT disk can be used to
boot operating systems, but Microsoft rules Windows can only be installed on
GPT disk. To fix this error, the best way is to convert the MBR disk to GPT
disk.

Solutions

1. Convert MBR Disk to GPT Disk to Fix the Error

Steps are nearly the same as those to convert GPT disk to MBR disk, and the
only difference is that you need to convert disk to GPT rather than MBR. For
converting without data loss, please see Convert MBR Disk to GPT Disk for
more details.

That's not all…In the former part, we have said most UEFI motherboards
support both Legacy boot and UEFI boot but we can change it manually. If the
error is caused by setting boot mode to be UEFI only, changing the mode to
Both or CSM boot may fix the error, which has been introduced in Error 1.

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Error 3: Windows Cannot Be Installed on Dynamic Disk.

When installing Windows on a dynamic disk, you may receive this message:

"Windows cannot be installed to this hard disk space. The partition contains one
or more dynamic volumes that are not supported for installation".

Reasons
 Why Windows cannot be installed on dynamic disk? Let’s see how Microsoft
says.

"You can perform a fresh Windows installation on a dynamic volume only if that
volume was converted from a basic volume and retained an entry in the partition
table. Simple volumes converted from basic disks do not have an entry in the
partition table unless they were system or boot volumes prior to conversion."
--from Microsoft Resource

That is to say users can only install Windows to dynamic volume which was a
boot partition or system partition before converting to dynamic disk. Under this
situation, if you want to go on installing Windows, a good solution is to convert
dynamic disk to basic disk.

Solutions

1. Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic Disk to Solve the Problem

NOTE:There are 3 ways to convert dynamic disk to basic: by using MiniTool

Partition Wizard, Disk Management utility, and diskpart. Note that the latter 2
require deleting all existing dynamic volumes, which means data loss.

 Use MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard is a Windows based partitioning tool that can help
revert a dynamic disk to basic without any data loss.

Here are detailed steps:

Step 1: Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard. Right click on the dynamic disk you
want to convert and choose "Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic Disk".
Step 2: You can have a preview that this dynamic disk will become basic disk
without data loss. At this time press "Apply" to finish this conversion.
 NOTE:The free edition does not support operating dynamic disk, so please
purchase professional or more advanced editions for dynamic disk support.

In addition, if Windows cannot boot normally, Partition Wizard Pro built-in tool
- MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable CD is available for it can boot computer
without Windows OS.

 Use Disk Management Utility

Go to Disk Management and then delete all volumes one by one, which has
been introduced in Error 1. After these steps, the dynamic disk will become
basic automatically.

However, if there is no Windows OS available but you have a Windows

installation CD or DVD, make use of Diskpart.
 Employ Diskpart

Step 1: Boot computer via the installation disc and open CMD by pressing on
"Shift + F10".

Step 2: Type corresponding commands to delete all dynamic volumes one by

one:
"diskpart -> list disk -> select disk N (N is the number of the dynamic disk)
-> detail disk -> select volume=0 -> delete volume -> select volume=1 ->
delete volume…"

Step 3: After all volumes on the dynamic disk are deleted, type "convert basic".
Once Diskpart shows it has successfully converted the selected dynamic disk
to basic, you can type "exit" to quit from Diskpart.
Nevertheless, if you do not want to delete any volume since important data are
saved, there is a lossless solution below.

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 Error 4: Windows Cannot Be Installed to This Disk. This Computer's Hardware
May not Support Booting to This Disk.

Another error message you may receive during Windows installation is:

"Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not
support booting to this disk. Ensure the disk's controller is enabled in the
computer's BIOS menu."

Reasons

Generally speaking, there are 2 possible reasons:

 Hard disk protection is enabled.

 SATA Controller mode was set incorrectly (with incorrect drive mode, the very
disk cannot be used normally).

Solutions

1. Remove Hard Disk Protection

For the first situation, please read the specification or contact sales person to
confirm whether there is hard disk protection if the computer is not configured
by ourselves. If there is, remove the protection by following instructions.

2. Change SATA Controller Mode

For the second situation, if we changed SATA Controller mode in BIOS before,
try setting BIOS to factory settings. Different BIOS gives different options to set
itself to factory settings, like Restore Defaults, Load BIOS Defaults, and Load
Optimal Defaults, so you should choose the correct one according to practical
situations.

However, when this solution does not work, you must change hard disk mode
manually in BIOS. If the current state is IDE, change it to AHCI. If the current
mode is AHCI, change it to IDE, etc. Actually, if Compatibility or Compatible is
given, you must choose this mode.
Moreover, when you are installing Data Center or Enterprise Server edition of
Windows Server 2008/R2 or later to a raw disk via CD or DVD, you may get
the same error. This is because the default SAN policy during setup on new
installations of Data Center or Enterprise SKUs is Offline Shared, which
applies Offline and Read Only attributes to any presented disks that are on a
shared bus and not considered as System or Boot disks. RAW disks cannot be
detected as System or Boot, leading to offline and read only attributes. As a
result, you cannot install Windows to this kind of disks. To solve the problem,
configure the default SAN policy to OnlineAll. For detailed steps, please see the
corresponding Setup Reports Error of Microsoft.

Error 5: Windows Cannot Be Installed to This Disk. The Disk May Fail Soon.

Sometime you may receive the following error message when installing
Windows:

"Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The disk may fail soon. If other hard
disks are available, install Windows to another location."

Reasons
When this error appears, it indicates there may be something wrong with the
hard disk.

Solutions

1. Backup and Repair/Replace the Hard drive

At this time, you must stop Windows installation, and then backup important
data immediately in case of real disk failure. If there are not so many data that
is required to backup, just copy and paste them to a safe place. However, if you
want to backup all or a large number of data on the disk, using a third
party disk clone software to back up the entire hard disk can save you a lot of
time.

TIP:If there is no Windows to use, you may need a bootable disk clone tool, and
free MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable CD might be a good choice.

When the backup is made, check the health state of the disk by running
diagnosis and repair tools which can be downloaded either from the hard disk
manufacturer’s website or from professional downloading center. If Windows
won’t boot, please download the ISO file and burn it to CD or DVD on another
computer, and then make a disk diagnosis via the bootable disc.

If errors are detected from your hard disk but cannot be repaired, replace the
dying hard disk with a new one. However, if it is under warranty, send it back
to manufacturers because they will repair the disk or give you a new one.

Error 6: Windows Cannot Be Installed to This Hard Disk Space, Windows Must
Be Installed to a Partition Formatted in NTFS.

When installing Windows on old disk, you may receive Windows cannot be
installed to this hard disk space error:

"Windows cannot be installed to the hard disk space. Windows must be installed
to a partition formatted in NTFS."
What caused this error?

Reasons
This is mainly caused by incompatible file system of the partition to be
installed with Windows. Microsoft rules that Windows must be installed to a
partition formatted in NTFS since Windows Vista.

Solutions

1. Format the Partition with NTFS File System

Use MiniTool Partition Wizard

Remember Windows won't allow you to format the current boot partition no
matter you turn to Disk Management or CMD. And if you have no operating
system to use, formatting needs more effort. Thus, to make things easier, we
strongly recommend using MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable CD to cope with
different situations with one solution. Please do the followings:

Step 1: On the tool bar of each Partition Wizard paid editions, launch Bootable
Media Builder to create a bootable CD/DVD disc or USB flash drive. Then set
computer to boot from the bootable media and finally enter MiniTool Partition
Wizard Bootable.

Tip: if you do not have a bootable media builder, you can upgrade to MiniTool
Partition Wizard advanced editions.

Step 2: Click on the partition to be formatted and select "Format Partition"

from the operations menu.
Step 3: In the pop-up window, choose NTFS at file system and then click "OK"
to continue.
Step 4: Back to the main interface and hit "Apply" to execute this change.

Use Windows Installation Disk

Also you can choose to format the partition during the installation. When you
see "where do you want to install Windows", click on the target partition at first
and then hit Drive Options (Advanced)to format it.

2. Clean the Whole Drive

Another solution for Windows should be installed to a partition formatted in

NTFS is to clean the whole drive. You can also use MiniTool Partition Wizard
Bootable CD to do this job (use Delete All Partitions), then Windows will make
its partition automatically during installation.
 Summary

When you receive one of the 6 errors during Windows installation, I hope our
solutions are useful for you. If they are proved to be useful, please share it to
help more people. Should you have any doubts or problems, please feel free to
leave us your comments in the following area or sent to support@minitool.com,
we will try our best to help you get out of trouble.

Related Articles:

 Why Windows Won’t Boot after Uninstalling Ubuntu and How to Solve It?
 How to Create Partitions
after Windows XP Has
Been Installed?
 Cannot Set Primary
Partition to Logical?
Partition Manager Is
Useful.
 What Is the Best Disk
Partition for SSD and How
to Get It.
 Hide Your Disk Partition
in Windows 7 to Protect
Private Data.
Read More...
It can be expensive and time consuming implementing network management
systems which claim to do everything. This adds up to headaches for network
managers and can result in wasted money. In my view, you have to get the basics
right before you consider buying one of the many types of network management
systems that currently exist. This list outlines the top 10 things that you need
to do to manage your network effectively.

1. Create an inventory of your most important systems.

There are many ways to generate this, from walking around and documenting
what you have to installing software which can scan your network. If you want
to manually check your network, start at your core switch and document what
is connected. Include things like servers, routers, firewalls, distribution switches
and any device which is used to keep your network and users working.

2. Develop a change control process

Once you have documented the most important systems on your network, look
at implementing a change control process which makes sense for your network.
For every system on your critical infrastructure list you should have a log of all
changes and who implemented them.

3. Be aware of compliance standards. Understand what you need to monitor

and for how long.

Before you look at trailing or installing network management tools, check if you
need to comply with any compliance standards. This can result in separate
systems for compliance and separate systems for troubleshooting the network.

4. Have a map with status icons

When you pick a system for managing your network, make sure it can create
maps with status icons. Add an icon for all devices on your critical infrastructure
list. Display this map in the same area where your support or helpdesk is located.
 Most systems that include this mapping functionality, allow multiple logons so
that you can view the maps in different locations.

5. Look at dependencies

Within a network, certain systems are dependent on others. If you are monitoring
a remote location, and the router fails at that site, you will be alerted that the
router is gone down and any other device at that location that you are
monitoring. Some network monitoring tools allow you to set dependencies so that
if a router goes down, you don't end up with a series of alarms. You get one to
say the site is gone off line which is all you really need to know.

6. Setup alerting

Alerting should be based on the working hours of the IT staff. Most medium and
upwards sized businesses have a support desk during the day and an on call
system for out of hours. Alerts about issues with your critical infrastructure
should always go to these personnel. It can also be useful to send the alerts to
specific server and application teams during business hours.

7. Decide on standards and security for getting network information

An alert to say that a system on your network is down or really busy is crucial,
but it can help if this alert is backed up with additional information as to what
may be wrong. This information can be gathered using one of the standard
network management protocols.

8. For all important systems and applications, look at getting supplemental

data.

Too many times I have heard people say, we got an alert that there was a problem
on the network but we did not have the data to investigate what caused it. At a
minimum, here are some suggestions:

 Look at the logs on the devices and servers. Make sure that they have enough
space to store events over wide time periods. If this is not possible, make sure
you back them up on a regular basis.
 Capture the network traffic going to and from devices on your critical
infrastructure list. Make sure you can track who is connecting to these systems
and what data they are downloading and uploading
 Ideally you should be logging application specific information like what files are
being accessed on your file shares, what database queries are being run and
what pages are being accessed on you websites.

9. Don't forget about your network perimeter. Watch what is coming in and
out
Too much trust is sometimes places on what firewalls and Internet filters do.
While I agree that they are vital parts of any network, you should watch what is
coming in and out of your network. You can achieve this by watching the traffic
flows and implementing an intrusion detection system (IDS).

10. Have a process or system for tracking users and devices

Finally, when you have monitoring and alerting in place for all devices on your
critical infrastructure list, you should looks at ways of identifying where
everything is plugged in on your network. There are many guides out there for
tracking down network hosts. You can do it manually by logging onto your
switches and looking at MAC address tables. Recently have I come across a
number of applications which can do this for you automatically and you can
simply search for a MAC address, IP address or username.