HP Cloud Recovery Tool fails, Windows 11 install fails due to MBR partition

[CretaceousCrab]

Following a file corruption issue that rendered my Omen PC unusable, I attempted to restore the PC through the bios without success. Eventually I tried a factory reset using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool which also produced a failure message after half an hour or so, and got stuck in an endless loop of rebooting. 

Now I'm trying to reinstall windows from a windows 11 boot USB created using the microsoft  media creation tool, but once I reach the point of selecting an install location, I receive the following warning for both Disk 0 Partition1 and Disk 0;

"The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, the operating system can only be installed to GPT disks. Setup does not support configuration of or installation to disks connected through a USB or IEEE 1394 port."

From reading elsewhere, people have indicated that deleting the partition might resolve the issue - is that safe to do with an HP\Omen machine, and what might the consequences be?

I don't particularly care about saving my data, I just want to get windows fresh installed and the machine up and running again. Thank you for your time. 

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

The first part of the message 'The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, the operating system can only be installed to GPT disks,' is easy to fix.

I have no idea what the second part of the message means.

First of all, what kind of drive are you trying to install Windows on?

A SATA hard drive or a M.2 NVMe SSD?

I assume they are just connected in the usual way...a SATA drive directly to the SATA port on the motherboard or a NVMe drive directly plugged into the M.2 slot on the motherboard.

Anyhow, to get around the first part of that message, here is what you do:

You will lose all data on all partitions on the drive using this method:

Clean the disk using the Windows Diskpart utility:

1. Press Shift+F10 from inside Windows Setup screen to open a command prompt window.
2. Type diskpart and press the Enter key.
3. Type list disk to find your disk number.
4. Type select disk (e.g., select disk0) to choose the disk you want to format.
5. Finally, type clean to wipe the disk completely.
6. Exit diskpart and install Windows.

[CretaceousCrab]

It's an M.2 NVMe SSD mounted to the motherboard, if I'm not mistaken. I'll probably give that a go, my only concern was that my Omen came pre-partitioned by HP and I had some concern that was done for a reason, and I might be wiping something proprietary and important, but that should all be included in the BIOS I hope?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

I don't know what it comes with.

Most of those partitions are created by Windows.

I don't know if there was a HP recovery partition or a HP_Tools partition, but none of those are necessary for your PC to work.

I've never used any of those things and I have clean installed Windows on many HP and Dell PC's and fully wiped the drives.

Never had a problem.

You can't just clean one partition, so it is all or nothing.

[CretaceousCrab]

I'll give it a go later and post my results, thank you for the help. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Let me know if your PC has an Intel 11th > 13th generation core processor, because you will probably have to load the Intel storage controller drivers if you get a message during the installation the Windows cannot find any drives to install on.

[CretaceousCrab]

I suspect that's exactly what's going on, as the PC can no longer detect the USB at all, even with secure boot disabled. 

And yes, I do indeed have a 12th gen. i7-12700KF

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Enable secure boot again and then see if this works:

Load the Intel storage controller drivers that I zipped up and attached below.

The attached file is good for both W10 & W11.

Copy all of the files in both folders in the attached file to a USB flash drive.

Have the flash drive and your Windows installation media plugged into USB ports.

Boot from the Windows installation flash drive.

When you get to the screen where no drives can be found, click on the Load driver option, browse to the flash drive with the storage controller drivers on it.

If you check the box, it will only include the compatible driver.

Click Next, and Windows should install.

[CretaceousCrab]

Does this necessitate loading the drivers onto a separate 2nd flash drive from the one loaded with the windows installation media? 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You can put the drivers on the Windows installation media or on a separate USB flash drive.

It doesn't matter.