Windows 8 will not install on my SSD

tumber77

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I just bought the Sandisk Extreme SSD @ 240gb, and when I go to install my Windows 8 on it, it says that Windows 8 cannot install on this drive, and then says something about GPT mode, any suggestions?
 
Do you have another computer available you can connect the SSD to? If so, connect it as a slave (shut down the other PC first), boot into the other PC, then go to the Disk Management console (Right-click on Computer, click Manage, select Disk Management in the window that appears). Find the SSD in the list of disks and right click, choose "convert to MBR disk".

Then try to install Windows 8 again.
 

tumber77

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I have another SSD with the OS on it, could I boot it from the same computer with that ssd, and then convert it to MBR?
 

tumber77

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Its not letting me convert to MBR, it is grayed out.
 

drwho1

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BIOS 64 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.5, ACPI 2.0a, Multi-language BIOS,
ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3, F12 PrintScreen, F3 Shortcut Function and ASUS DRAM SPD (Serial Presence Detect) memory information

Source:http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z77V_DELUXE/#specifications

your board IS compatible with UEFI you must configure it properly.

found that you might need to download directly from them some software/utilities
source: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z77V_DELUXE/#download

Notice that there is 1 Firmware upgrade and 9* Bios upgrades (*you would only need the most recent)

some SATA drivers are on this list as well.

among other things in there.

hope this helps.

EDIT: Firmware
Intel Management Engine Firmware upgrade program
For better Windows® 8 compatibility, this tool will update the Intel® Management Engine(ME) firmware to 8.1.
Before using the tool, make sure the Intel Management Engine Interface Driver is installed and follow the simple instruction.
1.Download and extract the file to a folder
2.Double click the MEtool execution file to run the updating tool
3.Follow the tool instruction to complete updating
*During updating, DO NOT shut down or restart system to prevent an incomplete update.
 
I'm guessing that means it's already MBR. Could you provide the exact error message (go back and re-create it if you need to)?

First, a question: when you go to the boot menu on that board (should be F8 for an ASUS) do you see two entries for the DVD-ROM drive, one that says "EFI" and another not so marked? Try to boot from the one that's not EFI and see if Windows loads.
 

tumber77

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I have the latest bios, and some drives are labeled as UEFI when I enter the BIOS, I think I may need to do something to enable the controller in the BIOS, although I can use it for storage when my other SSD is plugged in, and booted to.
 

drwho1

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SATA
Version 3.0.41.1571
Description Intel Smart Connect Technology Software V3.0.41.1571 for Windows 7/8 32bit & 64bit.
File Size 20,58 (MBytes) 2012.11.08 update
 

tumber77

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The Message I am getting is :
"Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style.

Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu."
 
Well, if you're booting the DVD as a UEFI disk GPT partitioning is enabled. The non-UEFI selection will boot into a simpler BIOS mode which uses MBR (the older, previous standard tech).

IF the default selection is UEFI and you boot the DVD into that mode, you may need to do the opposite in the Disk Management console (convert to GPT). Sorry if this gets confusing but this is what happens when we're in the process of a tech transition.
 
Just read the newer reply with the error code. Windows seems to be having a fit dealing with the UEFI mode (nothing should be needed n the BIOS to enable it as far as I know).

Can you try booting the DVD into non-UEFI mode and install that way? It might be simpler than troubleshooting why Windows isn't getting along nicely with UEFI.
 

tumber77

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In my BIOS I can boot to two options, (from the DVD drive) one w/ and one w/o the UEFI ribbon, which should I boot to?
 
When you're in Disk Management, can you look at the properties of the new SSD? Can you see whether it's currently set to MBR or GPT? The error seems to imply it's set to GPT and the option to set to MBR is greyed out, so I want to make sure we know what it's on.

If it it GPT already, then you may have automatically been booting into non-UEFI Mode all along, which isn't compatible with GPT formatting. In that case, try booting the UEFI mode.
 

tumber77

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It didn't work, but when I booted with UEFI, it only showed the bottom part of the error message, instead of both "paragraphs".

EDIT: I read your last post and it is in fact in GPT mode.
 
That shouldn't be a problem at all. In a situation like this I'd suspect the HDD (SSD in this case) is faulty. It won't work in either UEFI or basic mode, and the SATA mode (AHCI) has been standard for Windows since Vista.

I'd check the DVD (try another if possible), the DVD-ROM, or (sorry to suggest it) the SSD.
 

tumber77

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I deleted the volume and reformatted, now it seems to like to be in MBR.