There are many reasons why Windows can’t be installed on a disk, and it isn’t always easy to work out which one applies to you.
When the system will not boot, the files are often still on the drive. Before reinstalling Windows, see how hard drive recovery works, starting with a free diagnosis.
Fortunately, there are several fixes you can try so that Windows installs successfully.
That’s exactly what we cover in this article: the different forms the “Windows cannot be installed on this disk” error can take and how to fix each of them.
Symptoms of the “Windows cannot be installed on this disk” error
The symptoms depend on the message that comes with the error – which is useful, because it points to the cause of the problem.
The most common messages are:
- “Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style”;
- “Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table”;
- “Windows must be installed to a partition formatted as NTFS” or “the partition is of an unrecognized type”;
- “The partition contains one or more dynamic volumes that are not supported for installation”;
- “This computer’s hardware may not support booting to this disk”;
- “Windows cannot be installed on this disk. This disk may fail soon. If other hard disks are available, install Windows to another location”.
Below, we look at what each of these messages means.
Why Windows can’t be installed on the disk or partition
Knowing what causes the error makes it much easier to work out how to fix it.
Let’s look at the main causes:
File system
If you get the message “Windows must be installed to a partition formatted as NTFS”, the partition you selected is formatted with a file system Windows can’t be installed on, such as FAT32 or exFAT.
Since Windows Vista, Microsoft has required Windows to be installed on an NTFS partition.
To solve this problem, you can format the partition as NTFS or wipe the entire drive – both options erase the data on it, so back it up first.
BIOS mode
The “Windows cannot be installed on this disk” error can also appear when the disk’s partition style doesn’t match the boot mode of the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) firmware.
There are two types of firmware boot mode: UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) and Legacy BIOS.
As the names suggest, UEFI is the modern standard, while Legacy BIOS is the older one.
Each mode only works with one partition style: UEFI boots from GPT disks and Legacy BIOS from MBR disks.
When the two don’t match, you get the message “Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style” (or “has an MBR partition table”).
Windows cannot be installed on a dynamic disk
The message “The partition contains one or more dynamic volumes that are not supported for installation” usually appears when you try to install Windows on a dynamic disk.
This is because simple volumes converted from basic disks (other than volumes that were already system or boot volumes before the conversion) have no entry in the partition table, so the installation stops with this error.
To solve this problem, you can convert the dynamic disk to a basic disk. Bear in mind that Windows Disk Management only allows this after deleting all the volumes on the disk, so back up your data first.
The disk may fail soon
In some cases, you may see the message “Windows cannot be installed on this disk. This disk may fail soon. If other hard disks are available, install Windows to another location”.
This usually means the disk’s self-monitoring system (S.M.A.R.T.) has detected a problem with your hard disk. In this case, you’ll need to install Windows on a new disk.
When there’s a risk of the disk failing, it’s best to stop the Windows installation straight away and back up all your important data while the disk still works.
This computer’s hardware may not support booting to this disk
The message “this computer’s hardware may not support booting to this disk” can be caused by disk protection being enabled or by the SATA controller mode being set incorrectly.
How to fix the “Windows cannot be installed on this disk” error
Here are the steps you can take to try to fix the “Windows cannot be installed on this disk” error. Several of them erase the disk, so back up any data you need before you start.
Change the BIOS boot mode
If the installation error comes with the message “the selected disk is of the GPT partition style”, the Windows installer was started in Legacy BIOS mode, which can’t install on a GPT disk.
This happens when the motherboard is set to Legacy BIOS (or CSM) – a compatibility mode for older systems.
To solve the problem without touching the disk, you need to start the installer in UEFI mode.
As the computer starts up, press the key that opens the BIOS settings – usually F2, F10 or Del, depending on the manufacturer.
Go to the “Boot” section, set the boot mode to “UEFI” (disabling “Legacy” or “CSM”) and start the computer from the USB installer again, choosing the entry that begins with “UEFI”. If the error says the disk has an MBR partition table, do the opposite: start the installer in Legacy mode, or convert the disk to GPT as explained below.
Format the disk as NTFS
If the message is “Windows must be installed to a partition formatted as NTFS” or “the partition is of an unrecognized type”, you need to format the disk as NTFS instead of exFAT or FAT32.
Remember that this process erases the disk and everything stored on it. If you use this method, back up your files first.
Follow these steps to format the disk as NTFS from the Windows installer:
- Press “Shift” + “F10” to open the Command Prompt and type diskpart;
- Type the command list disk (remember to press “Enter” after each of these commands);
- Type select disk 0, replacing 0 with the number of the disk you want to use – check the size carefully so you don’t select the wrong disk;
- Type the command clean (this deletes the partition table and makes all the data on the disk inaccessible);
- Then type create part pri;
- Next, type select part 1;
- Finally, type format fs=ntfs quick.
Change the disk partition style
If your PC’s motherboard is a very old model with no UEFI support, you won’t be able to fix the “Windows cannot be installed on this disk” error by changing the boot mode.
In this case, you need to convert the disk to MBR using the Command Prompt.
In the Windows installer, press “Shift” + “F10” to open the Command Prompt, type diskpart and then enter the commands below (pressing “Enter” after each one and waiting for it to finish). The clean command erases the disk, so only do this after backing up your data:
list diskselect disk 0(replacing 0 with the number of the disk you want to change)cleanconvert gptorconvert mbr
In this last step, convert to GPT or MBR depending on the error message:
- Convert to MBR (
convert mbr) if Windows shows the error “Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style” and the computer can’t boot in UEFI mode; - Convert to GPT (
convert gpt) if Windows shows the error “Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table”.
Remove disk protection
If you can’t configure the computer to use the disk, check the disk’s specifications or contact the manufacturer to find out whether the drive has some kind of partition protection.
If there is partition protection on the hard disk, follow the manufacturer’s instructions to disable it.
Change the SATA controller mode
If the SATA controller mode has been changed in the BIOS, try restoring the BIOS to its factory settings.
The option for restoring factory settings has different names depending on the manufacturer, such as Restore Defaults, Load BIOS Defaults or Load Optimized Defaults.
If that doesn’t work, you may need to change the disk mode manually in the BIOS – for example, from IDE to AHCI or the other way round.
In some cases, you may also need to select a compatibility mode to fix the “Windows cannot be installed on this disk” error.
Clean the disk before installing
If you can’t run any other tools on the PC, you can prepare the disk in the Windows installer itself.
When you get to the disk selection screen, use the “Drive options (advanced)” menu to delete or format the partition before installing – the installer always uses NTFS. This erases the data on that partition.
You can then continue with the installation as normal.
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Conclusion
The “Windows cannot be installed on this disk” error can have several causes, including an incompatible file system, partition style or BIOS boot mode, as well as hardware or software faults.
Depending on the cause, there are several possible fixes: changing the BIOS boot mode, formatting the disk as NTFS, changing the disk’s partition style, removing disk protection, changing the SATA controller mode or cleaning the disk before installing.
Several of these fixes erase data, so you can lose files if you haven’t backed them up.
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