I installed with NTFS and legacy bios, how hard to change?

yu gnomi

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I built my computer from parts I ordered from Amazon, and installed Windows myself. I didn't fathom the differences between GPT and NTFS, and just picked NTFS format for my installation. I've since discovered that Secure Boot isn't possible without bios being in UEFI mode, which I believe requires your OS to be installed on a GPT drive (someone correct me if I'm wrong about that). I know that when I tried just changing it from Legacy to UEFI in bios and rebooting, I ended up in a shell program with no inkling of how to get my machine to boot. Fortunately I was able to discover how to get out of the shell and back into bios, to change it back.

So, how difficult would it be for me to get my system switched around so that I could enable Secure Boot?

If I make a disk image of my boot drive, which is currently NTFS partitioned, can I reformat it as GPT and then restore using that image?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i5-4590
    Motherboard
    MSI h97 PC Mate
    Memory
    Kingston Valu Ram 2 x 8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon r7 265
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 22" flat display
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 250 gb 840 evo SSD,
    WD Blue 1 TB HD,
    Fantom 2 TB ext HD
    PSU
    Corsair 600 W
    Case
    Antec 1
    Cooling
    stock CPU cooler, 4 x case fans, GPU fan and P/S fan
    Keyboard
    HP ps/2 keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech Trackman Marble
    Internet Speed
    50 mb/s
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton Security Suite
secureboot supports ntfs

to use secureboot you need X64 software, UEFI and GPT partitions
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
If memory serves me, both UEFI and GPT/NTFS have to "be" for Windows 8 to work. Yes, if not already, your harddrive has to be GPT, not MBR.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Pro 64bit [MS blue-disk set]
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2 Acers & 1 Antec[?]
    CPU
    i7 in 2 Acers, i5 in desktop
    Motherboard
    Desktop w/Gigabyte
    Memory
    Two w/16GB, 1 w/8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Laptops GameWorthy; Desktop maybe GameWorthy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    flatscreens; 2 are BluRay worthy
    Screen Resolution
    1368x768; 1600x900
    Hard Drives
    1TB internals; 2 ext usb WD 1TB HDs
    PSU
    what's PSU?
    Cooling
    Regular plus external fans
    Keyboard
    desktio w/PS2
    Mouse
    desktop w/PS2
    Internet Speed
    DSL middle level [160?]
    Browser
    from Netscape 0.9 to FF 36
    Antivirus
    well-balanced, well-configured mult-layered defense is best
    Other Info
    From MS-DOS 3.3, MS-DOS 6.22, from Windows 3.1 to WFW 3.11 to Windows 95-98SE, now to Windows 7 Pro.
    Security for now: Windows 7 Firewall, Emsisoft AM, MSE [scan-only], SpywareBlaster, Ruiware/BillP combine
UEFI = x64 = GPT partitions = Secureboot

x86 is MBR / Legacy only
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
I don't know what you mean by X64

when I look in System Information, it tells me Secure Boot is unsupported. How do I fix that?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i5-4590
    Motherboard
    MSI h97 PC Mate
    Memory
    Kingston Valu Ram 2 x 8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon r7 265
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 22" flat display
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 250 gb 840 evo SSD,
    WD Blue 1 TB HD,
    Fantom 2 TB ext HD
    PSU
    Corsair 600 W
    Case
    Antec 1
    Cooling
    stock CPU cooler, 4 x case fans, GPU fan and P/S fan
    Keyboard
    HP ps/2 keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech Trackman Marble
    Internet Speed
    50 mb/s
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton Security Suite
what version of windows you install? x86 (32Bit) or x64 (64Bit)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
64 bit
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i5-4590
    Motherboard
    MSI h97 PC Mate
    Memory
    Kingston Valu Ram 2 x 8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon r7 265
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 22" flat display
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 250 gb 840 evo SSD,
    WD Blue 1 TB HD,
    Fantom 2 TB ext HD
    PSU
    Corsair 600 W
    Case
    Antec 1
    Cooling
    stock CPU cooler, 4 x case fans, GPU fan and P/S fan
    Keyboard
    HP ps/2 keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech Trackman Marble
    Internet Speed
    50 mb/s
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton Security Suite
You need to go into bios setting and enable UEFI and disable Legacy support,
boot from setup media and setup should create 4 GPT partitions
If setup only creates 2 MBR partitions it booted via Legacy
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
If you already have your " C " setup to your liking - image just your C partition

Install windows again in UEFI mode and restore your C partition only
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
in other words, I would need to re-format my boot drive, correct? which would mean losing everything on it.

So, in that case could an image made of my NTFS drive be restored to my now GPT drive?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i5-4590
    Motherboard
    MSI h97 PC Mate
    Memory
    Kingston Valu Ram 2 x 8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon r7 265
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 22" flat display
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 250 gb 840 evo SSD,
    WD Blue 1 TB HD,
    Fantom 2 TB ext HD
    PSU
    Corsair 600 W
    Case
    Antec 1
    Cooling
    stock CPU cooler, 4 x case fans, GPU fan and P/S fan
    Keyboard
    HP ps/2 keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech Trackman Marble
    Internet Speed
    50 mb/s
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton Security Suite
NTFS is the format - Both MBR and GPT partitions use that format
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
in other words, I would need to re-format my boot drive, correct? which would mean losing everything on it

GPT is a partition structure, just a different one then MBR

So to answer your question, yes you would have re-partition and format your current drive to support GPT partitions and Secureboot
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
So, I can do this without formatting my drive then?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i5-4590
    Motherboard
    MSI h97 PC Mate
    Memory
    Kingston Valu Ram 2 x 8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon r7 265
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 22" flat display
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 250 gb 840 evo SSD,
    WD Blue 1 TB HD,
    Fantom 2 TB ext HD
    PSU
    Corsair 600 W
    Case
    Antec 1
    Cooling
    stock CPU cooler, 4 x case fans, GPU fan and P/S fan
    Keyboard
    HP ps/2 keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech Trackman Marble
    Internet Speed
    50 mb/s
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton Security Suite

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
But if you make a backup image of the C partition (not the current disk) you can restore it to C latter without effecting the disk partitions or layout
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Will there be any conflicts due to restoring my drive from the old image (MBR partition) to my GPT partitioned drive? (e.g. difficult/impossible to boot afterwards, some/all programs not working, etc.)

edit: I mean restoring just the c: partition, not the entire disk.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i5-4590
    Motherboard
    MSI h97 PC Mate
    Memory
    Kingston Valu Ram 2 x 8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon r7 265
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 22" flat display
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 250 gb 840 evo SSD,
    WD Blue 1 TB HD,
    Fantom 2 TB ext HD
    PSU
    Corsair 600 W
    Case
    Antec 1
    Cooling
    stock CPU cooler, 4 x case fans, GPU fan and P/S fan
    Keyboard
    HP ps/2 keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech Trackman Marble
    Internet Speed
    50 mb/s
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton Security Suite
you are not restoring the whole drive - you are just restoring the windows partition
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
fixed my last post, probably while you were posting
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i5-4590
    Motherboard
    MSI h97 PC Mate
    Memory
    Kingston Valu Ram 2 x 8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon r7 265
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 22" flat display
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 250 gb 840 evo SSD,
    WD Blue 1 TB HD,
    Fantom 2 TB ext HD
    PSU
    Corsair 600 W
    Case
    Antec 1
    Cooling
    stock CPU cooler, 4 x case fans, GPU fan and P/S fan
    Keyboard
    HP ps/2 keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech Trackman Marble
    Internet Speed
    50 mb/s
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton Security Suite
kyhi, I see our first respective posts in here were at the same time. Anyway, OP can use any number of free or fee partition backup/restore programs; as you said earlier, if he only image-backs the C-partition, he can restore OS onto the GPT'd C-drive later. I'm wondering if he also made a Ddrive partition for all his created and downloaded data, audio, visual, pics, etc. If so, that partition can be left alone, correct? He better image-back that Ddrive also, just in case the OS decides to format the whole disk.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Pro 64bit [MS blue-disk set]
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2 Acers & 1 Antec[?]
    CPU
    i7 in 2 Acers, i5 in desktop
    Motherboard
    Desktop w/Gigabyte
    Memory
    Two w/16GB, 1 w/8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Laptops GameWorthy; Desktop maybe GameWorthy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    flatscreens; 2 are BluRay worthy
    Screen Resolution
    1368x768; 1600x900
    Hard Drives
    1TB internals; 2 ext usb WD 1TB HDs
    PSU
    what's PSU?
    Cooling
    Regular plus external fans
    Keyboard
    desktio w/PS2
    Mouse
    desktop w/PS2
    Internet Speed
    DSL middle level [160?]
    Browser
    from Netscape 0.9 to FF 36
    Antivirus
    well-balanced, well-configured mult-layered defense is best
    Other Info
    From MS-DOS 3.3, MS-DOS 6.22, from Windows 3.1 to WFW 3.11 to Windows 95-98SE, now to Windows 7 Pro.
    Security for now: Windows 7 Firewall, Emsisoft AM, MSE [scan-only], SpywareBlaster, Ruiware/BillP combine
The only partitions on my boot drive are the ones windows made when it installed (i.e. it only has one drive letter).

Are there any other features that require GPT? this seems like a lot of work just for secure boot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i5-4590
    Motherboard
    MSI h97 PC Mate
    Memory
    Kingston Valu Ram 2 x 8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon r7 265
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic 22" flat display
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 250 gb 840 evo SSD,
    WD Blue 1 TB HD,
    Fantom 2 TB ext HD
    PSU
    Corsair 600 W
    Case
    Antec 1
    Cooling
    stock CPU cooler, 4 x case fans, GPU fan and P/S fan
    Keyboard
    HP ps/2 keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech Trackman Marble
    Internet Speed
    50 mb/s
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton Security Suite
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