can't install win7 on a laptop that was originally win8

[bjd724]

I don't know if I should post here or in the Win8 forum.

I have a HP 2000 notebook that originally had windows 8 installed. The hard drive is dead so I cannot get to the recovery partition. I don't have recovery disks and the product key label came off the back (really - the laptop was in the car during the summer and the label stuck to something else and it is now lost).
I have a full retail version of Windows 7 with a key but it won’t install on the new drive. I connected the new drive to a windows 7 laptop and made the new drive GPT but when i try to install 7 the installation comes up with "Windows cannot be installed to Disk 0 Partition 1 because the selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, windows can only be installed to GPT disks."

Is there any way I can install my full version of Windows 7 to this laptop?

 

[tman1]

Boot into the BIOS or UEFI, disable secure boot, enable legacy boot options, save and exit.

And Windows 7 will not install on a drive with any GPT partitions.

 

[bjd724]

I tried that also. it did not work.

 

[bjd724]

Here is an update on how I fixed this issue:

I was frustrated because everything I tried failed, especially since this was a brand new drive.
As a last resort, since it was a new drive and there was nothing I need to recover, I took a Neodymium magnet and scrambled the drive. Once the drive was scrambled the MBR was no longer detectable and Win7 loaded in without any problem.

This is not a resolution I would ever recommend to anyone but it solved my problem.