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How to format my DELL Inspiron 3542
I am on Windows 8.1 and want to clean install windows 10. I'm not able to format because when I reach the option to format and select the partition I can see a message that says"Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has MBR partition table. On EFI systems windows can only be installed to GPT Disks". I formatted my pendrive with Rufus with both GPT and MBT partition and both did not work. Please help.
Saltgrass
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July 11th, 2018 10:00
If your system came with Win 8.1 then it was probably installed in a UEFI manner. If it had been originally or modified at some point and had been changed to a MBR configuration then you may see such a message.
If you have a valid install media device, and you boot it in the UEFI mode, you may need to remove all partitions to let the install configure the drive as it needs.
If you have a system with a data partition you want to keep, if the drive is already GPT then you would need to remove the 4 partitions which are critical to a Win 10 UEFI install. (Recovery-OS-EFI-MSR)
I suppose you do not want to upgrade your system and you purchased a Win 10 license?
DanishAjK
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July 11th, 2018 12:00
I have windows 8.1 key and I read in an article that should work with windows 10 too. I just want to refresh my PC with a fresh start. My PC came with 8.1 when I purchased it! I was hoping if there was a way not to delete any partitions as I have a lot of data that needs to be transfered if I have to delete the partitions !
Saltgrass
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July 11th, 2018 13:00
As far as I know, the free giveaway of Win 10 ended a couple of years ago. If it was still available, I suppose you could upgrade directly or use the Win 8.1 key to allow the upgrade.. Maybe someone else will have more up to date info.
If I am misunderstanding and you already have Win 10 installed, you could reinstall over the current install or wipe the prior install and install in its place.
So we can verify, does your current install show an EFI system partition when you check Disk Management?