Wipe NVMe disk, change GPT to MBR?

[Edward Mendelson]

I bought an X270 with an M.2 NVMe hard disk, and tried to partition it so that I could use the original Windows 10 system in one partition and install 32-bit Windows 7 or 10 in the other. It turns out, of course, that I can't install 32-bit Windows on a GPT disk.

So, is there any serious reason NOT to use something like Paragon Partition Manager to wipe the disk, convert it to MBR, and reinstall Windows?

I'll be grateful for any advice.

[Edward Mendelson]

This isn't exactly an answer to my own question, but I tried changing settings in the BIOS, booting from Legacy first, etc., but Paragon Hard Disk Manager (booted from a USB key) didn't offer the option to convert from GPT to MBR, so I decided it's simply safer to keep 64-bit Windows and use vDos and DOSBox to run 16-bit applications.

But if anyone knows a working method of converting the disk to MBR, I'll be grateful, just in case it seems useful in the future.

[RealBlackStuff]

Check these:
https://neosmart.net/wiki/convert-gpt-to-mbr/
http://www.extend-partition.com/help/co ... -disk.html
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/lib ... 11%29.aspx

[Edward Mendelson]

Oddly enough, the AOEMI utility doesn't even see the hard disk when I boot from it. So I think I may leave this alone. I don't particularly want to wipe the disk with DISKPART if it's impossible to convert it to MBR. So far, I haven't seen anyone report actually converting the kind of disk I in this X270... Will continue to look into this and will report with any news.

[Kasm279]

Even if you could convert the drive from GPT to MBR, you'll have to redo the Windows 10 installation as it's set up for EFI booting, which only works with GPT.

[Edward Mendelson]

Even if you could convert the drive from GPT to MBR, you'll have to redo the Windows 10 installation as it's set up for EFI booting, which only works with GPT.

Yes, I know. My original question was about methods of wiping the disk - and after a disk is wiped, there won't be any Windows installation on it, of course.

And I finally decided to stop trying this, as the risks weren't worth the results. Meanwhile, thanks to everyone for suggestions and information.

[Kasm279]

Even if you could convert the drive from GPT to MBR, you'll have to redo the Windows 10 installation as it's set up for EFI booting, which only works with GPT.

Yes, I know. My original question was about methods of wiping the disk - and after a disk is wiped, there won't be any Windows installation on it, of course.

And I finally decided to stop trying this, as the risks weren't worth the results. Meanwhile, thanks to everyone for suggestions and information.

Ah, I see. I did a little research and it seems that using NVMe storage requires booting in UEFI mode, and thus GPT. It seems like there may be hacks around it. http://mrlithium.blogspot.com/2015/12/h ... -bios.html

[Edward Mendelson]

Ah, I see. I did a little research and it seems that using NVMe storage requires booting in UEFI mode, and thus GPT. It seems like there may be hacks around it. http://mrlithium.blogspot.com/2015/12/h ... -bios.html

I saw those hacks, and decided not to try anything of the sort on a machine that I bought so that I could actually use it. I probably should have skipped the option to get NVMe storage if I had been really intent on having a 32-bit system, but I can manage with vDos and DOSBox to run the old DOS applications that I still use.