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How to fix those pesky "Windows can't be installed to this disk" errors
Installing Windows from scratch isn't necessarily a hard thing to do, but sometimes, things fail in ways we didn;t even know were possible. While it's rare, it's possible that you've tried installing Windows 10 or 11 on a PC only to see an error message saying "Windows cannot be installed to this disk".
This shouldn't happen on most modern PCs, but if you have a computer from the late 2000s or early 2010s, it's a possible and frustrating error. Thankfully, a fix should be easy enough.
Why Windows can't be installed on some disks
The primary reason for this error to appear during the installation process has to do with the partition style of your drive and the type of BIOS your PC has. Computers prior to the 2010s mostly used a legacy BIOS, and this type of BIOS only worked with disks formatted to use the MBR (Master Boot Record) partition style. If your disk is using the GPT partitioning scheme, it won't work.
More recent systems starting around the release of Windows 8 started using UEFI, a new kind of firmware (which we often call BIOS out of habit) that's designed for use with the new GPT (GUID Partition Table) scheme. Some UEFI releases do support booting from an MBR disk, but you may need to set it up in the UEFI/BIOS settings.
For Windows 11, UEFI is a requirement, so you'll also need a disk using the GPT partition scheme.
How to fix installation errors if the disk is using GPT
Change your BIOS/UEFI settings
If your disk is using the GPT partition and you get a "Windows cannot be installed to this disk" error, it means your PC has a legacy BIOS or is using a legacy BIOS mode, which doesn't support GPT. On some PCs, you can try to check the BIOS settings to see if there's a way to switch to the UEFI boot mode.
To access your BIOS settings, turn off the computer and boot it up, then rapidly press the BIOS key for your PC. This varies by brand, but the most common ones are F1, F2, F10, F12, or Delete.
The BIOS is where you can change some of the more advanced settings on your PC, and thankfully, it's much easier to access than it used to be.
Once you're in the BIOS, try to find an option called Boot mode or something to that effect, and see if you can change it from Legacy to UEFI. If you find this option, select it, and exit the BIOS while saving the changes. You should now be able to install Windows again.
Convert your disk to MBR
The other, more likely solution is to convert your disk to use the old MBR partition scheme. Doing this will delete all the data on the drive, but if you're installing Windows from scratch, there's a good chance you were planning to do it anyway. If not, make sure to back up your data beforehand. Note that we're talking about the entire physical drive here, not just a partition. Then, follow these steps:
- Boot your computer from the USB (or disc) installation media as usual.
- Once in the language selection screen, press Shift + F10 to open the Command Prompt.
- Type the following command and press Enter: diskpart
- Enter the following text and press Enter again: list disk You'll see a list of physical drives on your PC (most likely only one). The last column indicates whether the drive is GPT formatted.
- To convert it to MBR, first select the disk you want to convert (in our example, we're using Disk 0, which is the only one available) using the following command: select disk 0 Press Enter.
- Format the drive by entering the following command and pressing Enter: clean
- Enter the following command and press Enter to begin converting the disk to MBR: convert mbr
Wait for the process to complete and close Command Prompt, then follow the installation procedure as normal. You should be able to install Windows now, though this won't work for Windows 11 since UEFI is required.âââââââ
How to fix installation errors if the disk is using MBR
If you have an older disk using the MBR partition scheme, things should be much easier. If you have an MBR-partitioned disk, the easiest thing to do is to just erase the existing partitions. Again, if you're installing Windows from scratch, it's likely you were already planning to erase the disk anyway, but if not, make sure to back up your data first.
Once that's done, you can follow the installation process until you get to the disk selection step. Here, select every partition on the disk you want to install Windows to and click Delete. Then, select the unallocated space and click Next, and the disk will automatically be converted to GPT.
The installation will begin and function as normal.
Disable EFI boot sources
If you don't want to convert your disk or erase the data, you can check if your BIOS supports disabling EFI boot sources. For this, access the BIOS settings by starting up your computer and rapidly tapping the BIOS key (Usually F1, F2, F10, F12, or Delete). From there, look for a Boot section and see if there's an option called EFI boot sources or something to that effect, and then disable it. Exit the BIOS settings and save your changes, and you should then be able to install Windows as normal.
How to fix Windows installations for read-only disks
One other potential cause for Windows not being able to install on a specific drive is that said drive is set to read-only mode, meaning data can't be written to it. This can also be fixed easily with Command Prompt in the installation screen. Here's how:
- Press Shift + F10 to open Command Prompt.
- Type the following command and press Enter: diskpart
- Enter the following text and press Enter again: list disk
- You'll see a list of physical drives on your PC (most likely only one). Select the drive you want to install Windows on (in our case, it's disk 0): select disk 0
- To remove the read-only restrictions, enter the following command and press Enter: attributes disk clear readonly
- Close Command Prompt and click Refresh on the list of disks.
- You can now select the disk to install Windows on and click Next.
The installation should carry on as normal.
Fixing Windows installation issues is easy
Thankfully, fixing these Windows installation issues is a relatively simple process, as long as you're okay with losing the data on the disk. There's one other potential solution, which is changing the SATA controller mode in the BIOS, so if it's set to IDE, you'd want to change it to AHCI. Only some systems will have this option available, though, so it's most likely your problem is one of the above.