Rescue USB boot disk for a UEFI GPT OS Disk


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M Engles
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I have a UEFI motherboard that has 2 OS on a SSD, a Win 7 and a Win 10 The boot is BIOS MBR. At the moment the Win 10 needs to have Win 7 as it uses some initial boot files, so I cannot remove the Win 7, without reformatting the OS disk
I have bought a new SSD and want to have just Win 10 as a UEFI GPT disk.
I intend to make a totally new latest Win 10 install to get all the necessary boot partitions, but want to once installed, overwrite it with my backup
Will a Macrium rescue UEFI MBR be able to restore to this disk, my present Win10 backup?
I have made a rescue disk in UEFI, but the present system will not boot from it in UEFI mode.




jphughan
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I'm not sure what you mean by a "Macrium Rescue UEFI MBR".  Reflect's Rescue Media Builder currently only builds to USB devices initialized as MBR, not GPT.  But if you enable the mutli-boot option in the wizard, it will configure that MBR flash drive to support being booted in both Legacy BIOS and UEFI modes -- as long as you select WinPE/RE 4.0 or newer as your Base WIM, since WinPE/RE 3.1 does not natively support UEFI booting.  (It is possible to create Rescue Media on a device initialized as GPT, in which case it would ONLY support UEFI booting, but that would be a manual process, since Rescue Media Builder currently won't do that for you.)  If your motherboard supports BIOS and UEFI booting and you have multi-boot Rescue Media, then you'll typically see two boot options for the same flash drive, one indicating UEFI and the other not.  If you want to confirm which way your Rescue Media was booted, check the title bar along the top edge.  If it says "[UEFI]" at the end, it's UEFI mode.  Otherwise, it was booted in Legacy BIOS mode.  But that doesn't affect Reflect's ability to work with MBR vs. GPT disks.  The only thing it DOES change is the Fix Boot Problems wizard.  So if you need to run that, you'll want to make sure you boot your Rescue Media in the same mode as the OS you're trying to fix is meant to be booted.

If you plan to start with a clean install of Windows 10 on a new SSD, then I would recommend that you only restore your Windows partition, and not any others, from your "outgoing" MBR disk over the newly created Windows partition on your new GPT disk, leaving the other partitions intact.

If that isn't everything you need, then please provide more detail about how you made your "rescue disk in UEFI" and what exactly you're trying to do to boot it in UEFI mode on the system where you're having trouble.  Some motherboards that support both BIOS and UEFI booting can be configured to only support one mode or another at any given time.  And some motherboards can be configured to support both simultaneously so that you can switching between booting BIOS vs. UEFI environments without having to reconfigure your motherboard.

Edited 28 June 2021 11:30 PM by jphughan
jphughan
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One additional item: If you want to set up a Windows 10 environment in UEFI mode, then you'll have to boot your Windows 10 installation media in UEFI mode.  The way that Windows Setup configures the disk where you'll be installing Windows depends on how the Windows Setup media itself was booted.  The easiest way to force booting in UEFI mode is to enable UEFI Secure Boot, which blocks support for Legacy BIOS booting.

M Engles
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jphughan - 28 June 2021 11:26 PM
I'm not sure what you mean by a "Macrium Rescue UEFI MBR".  Reflect's Rescue Media Builder currently only builds to USB devices initialized as MBR, not GPT.  But if you enable the mutli-boot option in the wizard, it will configure that MBR flash drive to support being booted in both Legacy BIOS and UEFI modes -- as long as you select WinPE/RE 4.0 or newer as your Base WIM, since WinPE/RE 3.1 does not natively support UEFI booting.  (It is possible to create Rescue Media on a device initialized as GPT, in which case it would ONLY support UEFI booting, but that would be a manual process, since Rescue Media Builder currently won't do that for you.)  If your motherboard supports BIOS and UEFI booting and you have multi-boot Rescue Media, then you'll typically see two boot options for the same flash drive, one indicating UEFI and the other not.  If you want to confirm which way your Rescue Media was booted, check the title bar along the top edge.  If it says "[UEFI]" at the end, it's UEFI mode.  Otherwise, it was booted in Legacy BIOS mode.  But that doesn't affect Reflect's ability to work with MBR vs. GPT disks.  The only thing it DOES change is the Fix Boot Problems wizard.  So if you need to run that, you'll want to make sure you boot your Rescue Media in the same mode as the OS you're trying to fix is meant to be booted.

If you plan to start with a clean install of Windows 10 on a new SSD, then I would recommend that you only restore your Windows partition, and not any others, from your "outgoing" MBR disk over the newly created Windows partition on your new GPT disk, leaving the other partitions intact.

If that isn't everything you need, then please provide more detail about how you made your "rescue disk in UEFI" and what exactly you're trying to do to boot it in UEFI mode on the system where you're having trouble.  Some motherboards that support both BIOS and UEFI booting can be configured to only support one mode or another at any given time.  And some motherboards can be configured to support both simultaneously so that you can switching between booting BIOS vs. UEFI environments without having to reconfigure your motherboard.
Thanks for your reply
My present system is BIOS MBR, but the motherboard can be made to boot UEFI. It boots fine with a Windows install using the latest Windows ISO with a USB UEFI disk made in Rufus. A Macrium rescue using RE 3. 1 (the only one available in Macrium 7) does not to boot in UEFI.
It seems from your reply that RE 4 is needed. I also have  Rescue boot CD using PE3.1, which boots fine in UEFI.
As I said earlier the idea is to use a new 1TB SSD to install the latest Win10 and then use  Macrium to overwrite the new install with my already working and configured WIn 10. The other possibility is to keep the new Win 10 on C:, as experimental OS but to also redeploy the Win 10 on (old) D: to a new D: on the new SSD. In essence two Win 10s in partitions C: and D: This new SSD will be UEFI and GPT. This is a precursor to upgrading the internals of the computer with a new motherboard and ram, but keeping all the rest, as well as working OSes.
Does this make sense and is it practical? I could have just reformatted the old SSD, but was loath to for safety reasons as things can go wrong when they can go wrong. I can still use the old SSD as a backup drive.

I am hoping that using UEFI and GPT might make the computer boot almost as fast as my HP laptop, which is very quick, but does have a NVME drive.
Perhaps it will not make any difference at all. What is your opinion on UEFI and GPT, as far as boot times are concerned
All the best

Froggie
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If the System is built correctly, you will notice no difference in BOOT times.
M Engles
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Froggie - 29 June 2021 11:03 AM
If the System is built correctly, you will notice no difference in BOOT times.

Thanks.
I imagine that changing to UEFI and GPT has some advantages over BIOS and MBR?

Froggie
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The advantages are not in speed, they are mostly in flexibility/security in BOOTing and disk formatting that allows for support of very large disks and an additional amount of PRIMARY partitions (BiOS is limited to 4).

Intel processors built after this year or next won't even support the old Legacy-MBR (BiOS) Systems, and the next version of Windows (Windows 11 in Public BETA as I type) must run on SECURE BOOT Systems which are only supported under UEFI firmware.

The most flexible way forward, especially with Windows-based Systems, is the UEFI-Gpt configuration.  Some, like me, are holding back until the very last minute Smile

Edited 29 June 2021 11:48 AM by Froggie
M Engles
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Froggie - 29 June 2021 11:41 AM
The advantages are not in speed, they are mostly in flexibility/security in BOOTing and disk formatting that allows for support of very large disks and an additional amount of PRIMARY partitions (BiOS is limited to 4).

Intel processors built after this year or next won't even support the old Legacy-MBR (BiOS) Systems, and the next version of Windows (Windows 11 in Public BETA as I type) must run on SECURE BOOT Systems which are only supported under UEFI firmware.

The most flexible way forward, especially with Windows-based Systems, is the UEFI-Gpt configuration.  Some, like me, are holding back until the very last minute Smile
Thanks for your reply.
For most people very large disks and more than 4 primary partitions is pretty esoteric. I like the idea of secure boot. What does it entail?
Also I have read that Win11 will only run on processors that have a 'TPM' chip embedded. My motherboard is now 12 years old, has served me well, but soon I will update the PC

Froggie
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When you do the update you should be good for the future of Windows.  TPM v2.0 is the requirement.  It can be provided via a chip on the mainboard (and firmware updated if necessary) and also by the processor, if equipped.  If you do your update via an OEM at the time (HP, DELL, etc.), you should be good to go as far as the future of Windows.

Secure BOOT provides a much tighter, security-wise, interface between the OS and your machine's hardware level control System.  This from Intel...

Secure Boot is one feature of the latest Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) 2.3. 1 specification (Errata C). The feature defines an entirely new interface between operating system and firmware/BIOS. When enabled and fully configured, Secure Boot helps a computer resist attacks and infection from malware.

Edited 29 June 2021 1:09 PM by Froggie
M Engles
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Froggie - 29 June 2021 1:08 PM
When you do the update you should be good for the future of Windows.  TPM v2.0 is the requirement.  It can be provided via a chip on the mainboard (and firmware updated if necessary) and also by the processor, if equipped.  If you do your update via an OEM at the time (HP, DELL, etc.), you should be good to go as far as the future of Windows.

Secure BOOT provides a much tighter, security-wise, interface between the OS and your machine's hardware level control System.  This from Intel...

Secure Boot is one feature of the latest Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) 2.3. 1 specification (Errata C). The feature defines an entirely new interface between operating system and firmware/BIOS. When enabled and fully configured, Secure Boot helps a computer resist attacks and infection from malware.
I shall update the machine myself as it is usually better value. I first built my PC in 2003, with Win 98 and dual boot XP. Updated MB and CPU  in 2011 with dual boot XP and Win 7. Now it is Win 7 and dual boot Win 10. In booting terms a bit of a mess as the Win 10 is dependent on the Win 7 being present. That is why I have decided to move to UEFI GPT and just Win 10.Very soon I will also update the motherboard and CPU and I imagine they will come with TPM in some form, so Secure Boot should also be available. An evolution rather than a revolution. I really do not need to do anything, but I hope to soon get a high MP DSLR, so will I think need more processing power.
All the best

GO

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