Solved Convert BIOS to UEFI

Hi
I have windows 8.1 installed on 120gb ssd. I also have a 1tb HDD too. So I was trying to install Hackintosh/Linux when I noticed that the System Reserved partition was on my HDD instead of the SSD. So, I used easybtc to migrate my boot files to my SSD. I deleted the system reserved partition. Now I want to convert my BIOS to UEFI. I have Z87 pro mobo.

I tried this tutorial: https://social.technet.microsoft.co...erting-windows-bios-installation-to-uefi.aspx

But it seems to be geared at the C drive, where I don't have room for that 350mb as disk utility wont let me shrink it.

Edit: would downloading a third party partitioner, shrinking C about 350mb, or whatever is the minimum, and then use that new space as described in the guide work?

If you have Windows 7 installed, & two HDD's, you can clone Legacy to UEFI.
Migrate BIOS x64 install to UEFI. Solved - Windows 7 Help Forums

The above is for Windows 7 x64, Paragon 14 has a app for Windows 8/8.1.

theog said:

If you have Windows 7 installed, & two HDD's, you can clone Legacy to UEFI.
Migrate BIOS x64 install to UEFI. Solved - Windows 7 Help Forums

The above is for Windows 7 x64, Paragon 14 has a app for Windows 8/8.1.

Click to expand...

Well I have 8.1 and, as i said, an SSD that has the OS and an HDD

It sounds like that program would move my OS to the HDD... Is that right?

I need it to stay on my SSD

as disk utility wont let me shrink it.

Click to expand...

Built in disk mgmt wil not let you shrink from the left. It never allows that.

You need a 3rd party partition program. Ther are several free versions around partition wizard (Home Edition ), aomei partition assistant (Standard Edition), etc.

Yeap I just used EaseUS, made ~1gb free, followed the guide for that space. It worked and now I am using UEFI instead of Legacy BIOS. Neato

Lillz said:

Yeap I just used EaseUS, made ~1gb free, followed the guide for that space. It worked and now I am using UEFI instead of Legacy BIOS. Neato

Click to expand...

How do you know you are usng UEFI? Any chance of a Disk Management picture being attached so we can check?

Hi there

While what you did is fine I think we should amend your post - the built in BIOS itself can't be altered unless you can "flash it" - which I would NOT recommend doing except in the most extreme situation - if it doesn't have UEFI support then you can't use UEFI. Most reasonably modern machines have it but can also operate in "Legacy mode" i.e they can boot non UEFI OS'es.

Linux distros recognize UEFI (at least recent ones do) and you don't need to mess around with easy BCD or whatever - the GRUB loader will take care of all that -- if you want to dual boot install WINDOWS FIRST then grub will give you a boot choice of Windows / your Linux system(s) at boot time.

Advantage of using the Grub loader is that it can actually be installed anywhere -- even on external USB devices so you can keep your Windows boot system totally untouched (normal boot goes straight into windows) - and when you want to boot Linux just boot from the USB -- note the Linux distro itself can also be on your internal SSD - you only neec to start GRUB from the usb.

To cleanse the windows boot area - boot from your windows install / recovery media and choose after repair system == recovery tools ==> command prompt.

Then simply type the following two commands

fixmbr
fixboot

job done -- nice untouched windows boot sectors and you've got an easy way of booting any Linux distro you want simply by running GRUB from the USB stick (even an old cheap 512 MB one will do --=Grub is only a small boot loader program !!).

Cheers
jimbo

Screenshots:

As you can see, it is UEFI

@Jimbo - Yeah I know all that; I have a z87 mobo and it does support and run a UEFI system, so it was silly of me to install windows 8.1 w/Legacy BIOS in the first place. I don't notice much of a difference in boot time (my computer boots in 5-6 seconds regardless). The main reason I did this was so I could play around with Hackintosh easier.

Yep, you are using UEFI. When you boot, do you pick the Windows Boot Manager on the SSD?

A couple of things might be discussed, the Hidden partition (97.79 GB) and the Drive Letter A: Is that related to some of the playing you are doing?

Yeah that 97gb is for Hackintosh, as well as that EFI (OSX uses UEFI as well). A: is just my storage drive for games and stuff. Yeah, right now it just boots into Windows without me doing anything. My next thing is to install Chameleon boot loader for OSX/Win8 dual boot

I just cloned an NTFS partition from an MBR drive (with many OS Partitions) to GPT Drive (with 1+ OS partitions) into Unallocated Space using Paragon HDM 15.

Boot Win 8.1 Partition cloned from MBR disk to empty space in GPT Disk with existing Preinstalled Win 8.1 Partition? Boot Entry & Windows fix? - Super User

I'm wondering what steps I need to take now to get this cloned Win 8.1 to boot?

theog said:

If you have Windows 7 installed, & two HDD's, you can clone Legacy to UEFI.
Migrate BIOS x64 install to UEFI. Solved - Windows 7 Help Forums

The above is for Windows 7 x64, Paragon 14 has a app for Windows 8/8.1.

Click to expand...

I did not see such an app on Paragon HDM 15. Especially not so for a Partition that's been cloned already.

Lillz said:

Yeap I just used EaseUS, made ~1gb free, followed the guide for that space. It worked and now I am using UEFI instead of Legacy BIOS. Neato

Click to expand...

Now, I am confused how this guide was leveraged and how I could leverage it for my scenario?

Found this one which talks about steps/ details involved in the conversion:
Windows_x64_bios_to_uefi . Wiki . tianocore_uefi_duet_builds / Tianocore Uefi Duet Installer . GitLab

3. Steps

3.1 Change SATA mode to AHCI in the UEFI firmware

3.1.1 In Windows, edit the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci registry key using regedit and enter number 0 (zero) (only zero, not any other number).

3.1.2 Edit the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\pciide registry key using regedit enter any number between 3 and 6.

3.2 Convert disk from MBR/msdos to GPT

3.2.1 Restart the system, boot into the firmware setup menu. Enable UEFI boot mode and change SATA mode to AHCI.

3.2.2 Boot into Windows Setup/PE DVD/USB. Open Windows Command Prompt using "Shift + F10".

3.2.3 Navigate to the directory where you copied the gdisk windows binary. Launch the gdisk*.exe and enter the disk number for the main disk (not the USB).

3.2.4 Change the type code of the ESP partition to EF00 in gdisk. The exact instructions to change the type code of a partition in gdisk are provided in its documentation and thus not provided here.

3.2.5 Exit gdisk with "w" option that converts the MBR partition table to GPT and writes the changes to the disk.

3.3 Setup the Windows UEFI boot files and BCD in the EFI System Partition

3.3.1 Setup the Windows UEFI boot files in the EFI SYSTEM PARTITION using bcdboot for Windows 7 or bcdboot for Windows 8/8.1 .

3.3.2 Restart the system. Windows should now boot in UEFI-GPT mode.

Click to expand...

Saltgrass said:

Yep, you are using UEFI. When you boot, do you pick the Windows Boot Manager on the SSD?

A couple of things might be discussed, the Hidden partition (97.79 GB) and the Drive Letter A: Is that related to some of the playing you are doing?

Click to expand...

You seem knowledgeable in this, can you guide/ help here? Thanks.