Manually install Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8 and 7 in UEFI mode (GPT)

3. Copy Windows installation files to desired hard drive or SSD

3.1. Use a GPT partition table on the desired destination disk

Use the keyboard shortcut "SHIFT + F10" to open the Windows PE command prompt (cmd.exe).
A black window like below will appear.

In the displayed command prompt, launch the "DiskPart" program.

Batch

diskpart

Next, view the list of physical disks present in your computer.

Batch

list disk

In our case, there is only one.
So its number is 0.

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Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  GPT
--------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
Disk 0    Online           80 GB    80 GB

Select it by typing the command below.

Batch

sel disk 0

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Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

Completely erase this disk by typing the command below.

Warning : this will permanently erase the data on the selected disk.

Batch

clean

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DiskPart successfully cleaned the disk.

Then, convert your disk to GPT.

Batch

convert gpt

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DiskPart successfully converted the selected disk to GPT format.

3.2. Create system partitions (EFI/MSR) required for UEFI mode boot

To get started, create the 100 MB EFI partition that Windows requires for UEFI booting.
Source: Boot to a virtual hard disk: Add a VHDX or VHD to the boot menu | Microsoft Learn.

Batch

create partition efi size=100

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DiskPart successfully created the specified partition.

Quickly format this partition to FAT32 and name it "System".

Warning : the file system and name chosen for this partition are important.

Batch

format quick fs=fat32 label="System"

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  100 percent completed

DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.

Assign the letter "S" to this EFI system partition.

Warning : the assigned letter is important. Do not change it.

Batch

assign letter=S

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DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

Then, when Windows is installed in UEFI mode, a MSR (Microsoft Reserved) partition is also necessary (see source cited above).
To create this second system partition, use the command below.

Batch

create partition msr size=128

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DiskPart successfully created the specified partition.

3.3. Create the partition where Windows is installed

Now that the system partitions required for booting Windows in UEFI mode are created, create a primary partition on the remaining unallocated space on your disk using the command below. This is the partition on which you will later install Windows.

Batch

create partition primary

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DiskPart successfully created the specified partition.

Format this NTFS partition and name it with the version you want to install.
For example: Windows 10.

Note: the name does not matter, this is just for reference.

Batch

format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows 10"

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  100 percent completed

DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.

Assign the letter "C" to this partition (for convenience).

Batch

assign letter="C"

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DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

List the available volumes on your computer to locate the CD/DVD drive letter where your Windows installation DVD is located.

Batch

list vol

As you can see, in our case, the CD/DVD drive has the letter "D".
Note: it is normal that the 128 MB "MSR" partition created earlier does not appear.
This is only visible by using the "list partition" command in DiskPart instead of "list vol".

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Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
Volume 0     D   CCCOMA_X64F  UDF    DVD-ROM     5046 MB  Healthy
Volume 1     C   Windows 10   NTFS   Partition     79 GB  Healthy
Volume 2     S   SYSTEM       FAT32  Partition    100 MB  Healthy    Hidden

Once you know the letter currently assigned to your CD/DVD drive, exit DiskPart to return to the command prompt (cmd.exe).

Batch

exit

As you can see, the prefix below reappears.

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X:\Sources>

3.4. Copy Windows installation files to desired destination disk

Depending on the Windows installation DVD you are using, the file needed here may be compressed (install.esd) or not (install.wim).
To find out the extension of the image file "install.xx", use the command below, replacing the letter "D" with the letter of your CD/DVD drive.

Batch

dir D:\sources\install.*

As you can see, in our case this file is called "install.wim".

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Volume in drive D is named CCCOMA_X64FRE_FR-FR_DV9
Volume Serial Number is XXXX-XXXX

Directory of D:\sources

11-05-20  07:45     4.494.699.121 install.wim
               1 File(s)   4,494,699,121 bytes
               0 Dir(s)                0 bytes free

List the editions present in this installation file using the command below.

Batch

dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:D:\sources\install.wim

As you can see, in our case, this installation DVD has the "Home" (index: 1) and "Professional" (index: 6) editions.

Important : select the edition corresponding to your serial number otherwise you will not be able to activate Windows.

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Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.19041.1

Details for image : D:\sources\install.wim

Index : 1
Nom : Windows 10 Home
Description : Windows 10 Home
Size : 14,249,378,371 bytes

...

Index : 6
Nom : Windows 10 Pro
Description : Windows 10 Pro
Size : 14,488,259,293 bytes

If you are trying to manually install Windows 8 or 7, you must have booted to the "Hiren's BootCD PE" live CD.
In this case, you can see that the "dism" command works without any problems because this live CD uses a Windows PE environment based on Windows 10.

Copy the installation files for the desired edition of Windows using the command below.

  • /Apply-Image : indicates that Dism should apply the desired installation image.
  • /ImageFile:D:\sources\install.wim : allows you to specify the path to the installation file (install.wim or install.esd) present on your Windows installation DVD
  • /Index:6 : allows you to specify which edition you want to install.
    In our case, the "Pro" edition (as you can see above).
  • /ApplyDir:C:\ : allows you to indicate that the desired installation image should be deployed on the "C" partition in our case.

Batch

dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:D:\sources\install.wim /Index:6 /ApplyDir:C:\

Please wait while the "install.wim" or "install.esd" image is applied to your "C" partition.

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Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version : 10.0.19041.1

Applying image
[======                     10.0%                          ]

Once the process is completed, the message "The operation completed successfully" will be displayed.

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Applying image
[==========================100.0%==========================]
The operation completed successfully.

Important : for your computer to boot into Windows 11, 10, or 8.1, you must create the boot files for UEFI mode on the 100 MB EFI system partition (which currently has the letter "S").

Batch

bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI

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Boot files successfully created.

Warning : for Windows 8, you have booted on the live CD "Hiren's BootCD PE" which uses a Windows PE environment based on Windows 10.
To create the correct boot files, you must therefore use the "bcdboot" program of your new Windows 8 installation and not the "bcdboot" program of the live CD.
To do this, use the command below.

Batch

C:\Windows\system32\bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI

Warning : although Windows 7 supports UEFI booting, the Windows 7 "bcdboot" program does not create the boot files needed for UEFI mode.
Indeed, the "/f UEFI" parameter does not exist for the "bcdboot" program on Windows 7 and using the Windows 7 "bcdboot" command with a GPT partition table (required for UEFI booting) will cause the error below.

Batch

C:\Windows\system32\bcdboot C:\Windows /s S:

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BFSVC: Failed to create a new system store. Status = [c000003a]

Important : to boot on Windows 7 in UEFI mode, you will therefore be forced to use the Windows 10 "bcdboot" program (i.e. the one from the Windows PE environment of the "Hiren's BootCD PE" live CD that you are currently using).
To do this, type the command below.

Batch

bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI

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Boot files successfully created.

Now that your partitions are properly configured, remove the Windows installation DVD from your CD/DVD drive.
Then, close the Windows installer by clicking on the cross located at the top right of the window, then confirm by clicking on "Yes".

If you used the "Hiren's BootCD PE" live CD, go to the start menu and click "Restart" to restart your computer.

To see also

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