Win7 and large drives

[sparks]

Is there a way to use larger than 2TB drives as the boot drive?

I've read all manner of shit online that says yes, but none of it works.

Converted new 4TB SSD to gpt, switched boot mode from BIOS to UEFI. Windows installation DVD hangs.

Fuck.

[Rob Lister]

Does your motherboard support UEFI? Not all do (did). My currently windows 7 desktop that I use as a network server does not.

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/check-if-uefi-or-bios

That's probably a dumb question but that's the best I can come up with.

Sometimes putting your computer in the freezer for 24 hours prior to setup helps also.

[sparks]

I don't know for sure, but since it is an option on the advanced boot menu under 'system' I'm assuming it is. Thanks for the linky, I'll check it out and let you know.

As for freezing the computer, it's been freezing enough all by itself as soon as the installation DVD hits the 'Starting Windows' splash screen!

Thanks Rob.

[sparks]

Doc_X in 3...2...1...

"You did NOT see graphite! Now go get a Mac."

[Abdul Alhazred]

You have 2TB?

Guess you save a lot of HD streamimg pr0n.

[sparks]

Of course! But most of what consumed my old 1TB drive was music files, a significant portion of which are HD files. Big fuckers, but they sure sound good. Particularly those that were recorded and mastered in HD. There are some notable remasters. Sgt. Peppers being one of them. CD release sounds anemic compared to the HD release. All of the Steely Dan/Donald Fagan stuff too. Way cleaner.

But I digress: Old drive was as noted, 1TB and it was damned near full. When it died, I stupidly ordered a 4TB SSD not thinking that there would be a problem with doing a clean install of Win7 Ultimate x64. But alas, there is. Maximum drive size under legacy BIOS is 2TB. One must jump through flaming hoops and have a UEFI capable motherboard.

OK, so far so good I said. Until I jumped through all those hoops (there's one about converting the drive from MBR to GPT) and then the fucking Win7 installation program hangs at startup. Missing a step here, but I'll be damned If I can find it on the interwebz.

Fuck.

[Witness]

Hmmm… Tentative suggestions:

• Partition the drive and give Windows 7 ~ 100 – 200 GB. (On my desktop W10 + some stupid programs who absolutely want to be in the "Programs" folder take up 54 GB.)
• Ditch W7, your problem proves it's time.
• Install W10, then:
  • either uninstall it and let W7 take its place, hoping it has cleaned up the UEFI mess;
  • or install W7 side by side (you'll soon notice which OS you really prefer).

Anyway, good luck!

[sparks]

The file I need is bootx64.efi. This is the piece of shit missing from Win7 install DVDs. And if you copy that to just the right spot in an installation ISO on a USB drive, all should be fine.

Try searching for that fucking file. The shit that turns up in a search is truly mind boggling.

Thanks anyway. I believe I've had enough for one day.

[asthmatic camel]

Can't you just save yourself a load of headaches and upgrade to Win10?

[Rob Lister]

Can't you just save yourself a load of headaches and upgrade to Win10?

I kind of get why someone wouldn't want to upgrade. My home server is Win7 and I don't want to upgrade it because it's set up exactly the way I want, it was extremely stable, and upgrading will almost certainly break something. I personally think upgrading would be more of a headache than not.

I remember years ago looking into getting a >2tb drive for that server but for the life I me I can't remember why. Is there a valid reason?

[sparks]

Can't you just save yourself a load of headaches and upgrade to Win10?

Yep. But I loathe Win10.

[sparks]

Double post.

[sparks]

ooo

Can't you just save yourself a load of headaches and upgrade to Win10?

I kind of get why someone wouldn't want to upgrade. My home server is Win7 and I don't want to upgrade it because it's set up exactly the way I want, it was extremely stable, and upgrading will almost certainly break something. I personally think upgrading would be more of a headache than not.

I remember years ago looking into getting a >2tb drive for that server but for the life I me I can't remember why. Is there a valid reason?

Depends on your definition of 'valid'. 2TB SSD IS 300 bucks. 4TB is just under 600. (WD Red).

If you're going to do something, do it right.

[Rob Lister]

Can't you just partition it as two drives?

[sparks]

Nope. BIOS won't deal with a boot disk larger than 2TB. Partitions cannot add up to more than that, all additional space remains unallocated.

[Pyrrho]

The file I need is bootx64.efi. This is the piece of shit missing from Win7 install DVDs. And if you copy that to just the right spot in an installation ISO on a USB drive, all should be fine.

Try searching for that fucking file. The shit that turns up in a search is truly mind boggling.

Thanks anyway. I believe I've had enough for one day.

I have that on my system in several places. Which one you want.

[sparks]

I'm surprised to see 4 files with the same name but different sizes. No idea if any of them will solve the issue.
Send all four if it's not too much trouble. I'll try them all if necessary.

[Witness]

So that thingy is just a file – I thought it was a tool to make a boot sector.

I have one too on my laptop (83 kB), but that's just because I installed Ubuntu into W10.

Where did you get the hint that it was missing? There is no such file in the W7 ISO I downloaded ~ 5 years ago, and Microsoft's instructions seem to imply that the only problems could come from outdated drivers for the storage controllers.

Does your machine have outdated drivers, sparks?

[sparks]

It's possible, but two tidbits of info online indicate the file is necessary to load an ISO, and isn't included in the DVD or ISO from MS.

Bastards.

They rig their shit to install only under BIOS, which limits drive space. Whereas UEFI does not. I believe W10 doesn't have this issue, but as mentioned earlier, I don't care for 10 because of all the bloatware and sharing of my goat porn collection...

[Witness]

What bloatware? These are the apps on my laptop:



Seems tolerable.