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How to fix Windows cannot be installed to this disk issue?

Windows 11

This problem is most common when you are trying to install Windows 11 on an old system. It is mainly because incompatibility issue of Windows 11 with the old hardware. The message represents “Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style.”

This problem comes from partition-style and motherboard firmware compatibility with the latest OS. To avoid this issue, we can convert the hard disk to a distinct partition style to make the Windows 11 compatible and easily install.

Solution 1: Convert the GPT partition

In this method, you have to convert the existing MBR partition to a GPT model.

Here are the steps to convert the GPT partition using Boot from CD/DVD.

Step 1: Changing the bootable medium

  1. Turn off the system and insert the Windows 11 installation bootable medium.
  2. Now turn on the computer.
  3. Here, press the boot key option to access the BIOS setup. (F2, Del, F12, F9, F1, and Esc)
  4. Now go to the Boot section.
  5. If you are using a USB device, select the “Removable devices from the list of boot options. If you are using DVD, then select the CD-ROM drive option.

Step 2: Convert the Partition

Here, once the system boots up, select the Next option to proceed to the next step.

  1. On the installation page, press the Shift+F10 keys together to open the terminal window.
  2. In the terminal window, type the following codes one by one and press the Enter key to open the Diskpart tool.
  3. Here, you have to select the disk you are trying to install.
  4. Now, clean all the residual files created by the unsuccessful installation by executing the following code.
    clean
  5. Now, convert the disk type to GPT by executing the following code.
    convert GPT
  6. After converting to GPT, exit the window by typing “exit” in the console
  7. In the next window, tap on “Install Now” to install Windows 11 on your system.

Solution 2: Change the boot mode

  1. Turn off your computer.
  2. Now, turn on the system and while booting up, press “Delete” key to open the Bios setup.
  3. When the BIOS screen opens, go to the “Boot” tab.
  4. Here, navigate to the “ Boot List Option” and then press enter.
  5. Now, choose “Legacy” option from the list and hit enter to select “UEFI” mode.
  6. Now, press “F10” to save settings on the BIOS and restart the computer.
  7. Now onwards, your computer will load in UEFI mode and you can easily install the Windows 11 on your computer.

These above two solutions will work to fix the Windows cannot be installed to this disk.