Will Windows 8 install on MBR?
Solution 1
Question shows poor research so not +1ing it, but it's innocent enough so not -1ing either...
First part: You need to use GPT and UEFI together. EFI System Partition is only supported on GPT disk. You can also just format your disk as GPT (this is supported even for extremely old hardware) and not use UEFI; the PC BIOS should be able to boot from a GPT disk. I was doing this way back in the "Core 2 Duo" days.
Windows 8 will install on a MBR / PC BIOS system. See Will my computer be able to run Windows 8 without UEFI?
Second part: The earliest Intel CPUs (more accurately, motherboards) supporting UEFI were the Sandy Bridge as you said. So the Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs are the current production CPU generations supporting UEFI.
Solution 2
It's not elegant, but if you install Windows 7 (which will format as MBR by default) and then use the Windows 8 disc to upgrade, then MBR will be preserved. I had to do this in order for Truecrypt to be able to encrypt the system drive on Windows 8.
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Abhishek Sha
Engineering Student in the field of Information Technology, with a knack for anything related to the technology, computing, programming, gaming and gadgets. So yes, I am a geek and I often get asked to fix computers. I am a self learner and I like to learn by hacking. Not a great coder, but anything I code is done with passion for that technology and not just because I have to or I can do. I love the concept of creating rich experiences and making life a whole lot easier by instructing the machine to your whims and fancies. Application Developer for the Windows 8 and Windows Phone platforms and a Microsoft Student Partner. I own an Droid and hence most of life would already be wasted flashing new ROMs and restoring backups iPhone 5. Avid Twitter-er too and all around a nice person. Oh, and an extremely proud owner of the PlayStation 3 and the Google Nexus 7. Also I love these genre of games - RTS, Action, FPS and Simulation. You can follow me on: Twitter Facebook Google+ OR PM: [email protected] (Actually, you'd better follow me on Twitter!)
Updated on September 18, 2022Comments
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Abhishek Sha almost 2 years
Will Windows 8 install on a disk which has an MBR partition scheme? In addition, can there be anything like MBR and UEFI? (Isn't it GPT + UEFI?)
Do the first Generation of Intel Core (i3,i5,i7) support UEFI or does the support start from Sandy Bridge upwards?
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kinokijuf over 9 yearsThe earliest Intel CPUs (more accurately, motherboards) supporting UEFI were the Sandy Bridge as you said. Untrue. The HP 6730b, for instance, is a Core 2 laptop supporting UEFI.
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allquixotic over 9 yearsThere are edge-case exceptions to every rule of thumb.
