Need help dual booting Windows7 on Dell Vostro 3560 with UEFI

[amitjha]

Hi friends,
I have to install Windows 7 alongside Windows 8 on a Dell Vostro 3560 laptop.
The problem is that it comes with the new UEFI boot time firmware. Now I tried following a guide on eightforums to do so but with no success. link to the post
The problem came in creating the uefi and gpt compatible bootable USB using rufus utility. In the guide it said to use any win 7 iso, but in rufus it gives an error saying the win7 image(.iso) isn't gpt compatible. link to bootable USB creation guide

So friends if you can help me in anyway I would be very grateful. Let me know if you guys need more info on my system config or win7 iso etc.

Thanks.

 

[gameranand]

Yeah thats a bummer. Seems like the iso image you are using is MBR compatible, also if your Drives are in MBR then your data would be lost if you convert it to GPT drive.

 

[amitjha]

Yeah thats a bummer. Seems like the iso image you are using is MBR compatible, also if your Drives are in MBR then your data would be lost if you convert it to GPT drive.

The drives are GPT as far as I know. And is their a way to convert the image to GPT compatible?

 

[kisame]

You have to boot Windows 7 in UEFI mode to install it on GPT partition.
To do that do the following:

1.Extract win 7 iso on a pendrive.
2.Make a folders like this. H:\efi\boot (where H is your pendrive)
3.Now, you need a file named bootmgfw.efi from preinstalled windows 7 located in C:\windows\boot\efi. (See if file from windows 8 works or not)
4.Copy it in H:\efi\boot and rename it to "bootx64.efi".
5.Boot it using UEFI.

I used this method on my laptop and it works.

 

[whitestar_999]

also pen drive needs to be in fat32 format not ntfs.

 

[amitjha]

You have to boot Windows 7 in UEFI mode to install it on GPT partition.
To do that do the following:

1.Extract win 7 iso on a pendrive.
2.Make a folders like this. H:\efi\boot (where H is your pendrive)
3.Now, you need a file named bootmgfw.efi from preinstalled windows 7 located in C:\windows\boot\efi. (See if file from windows 8 works or not)
4.Copy it in H:\efi\boot and rename it to "bootx64.efi".
5.Boot it using UEFI.

I used this method on my laptop and it works.

hey thanks for your reply man. I checked on a laptop with Win7 installed and there's no C:\windows\boot\efi folder and hence no bootmgfw.efi file. Will this file be there on laptop with UEFI and Win 7 preinstalled? And will this method make the pen drive bootable, coz AFAIK you had to modify the MBR to make a device bootable?

Do you also have a dell or some other brand? And what settings did you changed in the UEFI options, you know like disabling secure boot etc.

thanks again.

 

[rijinpk1]

see this whether it solves your problem Create Windows 8 USB Bootable Pendrive For UEFI Boot : Blogsolute

 

[kisame]

hey thanks for your reply man. I checked on a laptop with Win7 installed and there's no C:\windows\boot\efi folder and hence no bootmgfw.efi file. Will this file be there on laptop with UEFI and Win 7 preinstalled? And will this method make the pen drive bootable, coz AFAIK you had to modify the MBR to make a device bootable?

Do you also have a dell or some other brand? And what settings did you changed in the UEFI options, you know like disabling secure boot etc.

thanks again.

No need to change MBR since UEFI doesn't use it.So, just extracting contents will do.File \Efi\boot\bootx64.efi is important because system uses that file to boot from a device.
As for booting in UEFI mode, check your boot menu at startup.You will see two options to boot from Pendrive.Out of the two, one is for UEFI.
My laptop is from ASUS.No secure boot.
As for the file, yeah it can be found on Win 7 installed in UEFI mode.Also, try to use the file from a Win 8 iso(efi\boot\bootx64.efi).Its worth a try.

 

[amitjha]

No need to change MBR since UEFI doesn't use it.So, just extracting contents will do.File \Efi\boot\bootx64.efi is important because system uses that file to boot from a device.
As for booting in UEFI mode, check your boot menu at startup.You will see two options to boot from Pendrive.Out of the two, one is for UEFI.
My laptop is from ASUS.No secure boot.
As for the file, yeah it can be found on Win 7 installed in UEFI mode.Also, try to use the file from a Win 8 iso(efi\boot\bootx64.efi).Its worth a try.

Thanks, will try it and update here.