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Good afternoon my fellow ubuntu users!

I'm with a bit of a problem. And I need help. You guys can opt to read the entire story or just read what I want.

Entire story:

My dad's old laptop has it's disk as MBR, his operational system is Windows 8.1, and in one update, his system is not able to boot anymore. I tried a lot of things but nothing actually worked to restore the system.

So my last shot is to wipe the entire system and install it again, but the main issue is that he has tons of important documents in one of the disk's partitions. Tried to boot his system into Ubuntu to make a backup of said documents but sadly it simple refuses to open on Ubuntu (the hardware is really old).

Since it's impossible to do a backup, my only choice is to try to format only the partition he doesn't need. But the installer can't do that for the fact his disk is MBR and not GPT. I tried to convert MBR to GPT without losing any data using mbr2gpt but the disk is not compatible to do that.

The last thing I want to try is to (maybe, if possible) convert my USB stick to MBR(?) and try to format only the partition he doesn't need and then successfully reinstall Windows in his old laptop.

If you guys can offer any other solution to this, it would be very useful.

What I want:

I wish to convert a USB stick from GPT to MBR in Ubuntu so I can install Windows in a old laptop with it's disk also in MBR.

Specifications: CPU: Intel Core i5 GPU: Internal Graphics/Family Graphics Dell Inspiron 5437 Windows 8.1 x64 (Standard Version) .iso Provided by Microsoft

My resources are very minimal to execute this. I have 2 usb sticks, one with Ubuntu and the other with the Windows Install. I can't boot the current Windows System without losing data.

I'm using Ubuntu 18.04.3 Bionic Beaver.

Thank you very much for anyone reading this and trying to help.

dai9bakudan
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  • Please tell us more about the computer and CPU and GPU: Brand name and model and the amount of RAM. What Windows iso file or DVD disk version is it (also Windows 8.1)? This will help us help you. -- As a starter you can use gparted in Ubuntu in order to create a new partition table on the USB stick, but it will overwrite the current content. Select the pulldown menu 'Device' and then 'Create Partition Table...'. Warning: Don't do it, if you have no Windows iso file or DVD disk. – sudodus Sep 22 '19 at 19:40
  • CPU: Intel Core i5, GPU: Internal Graphics/Family Graphics 4000, Dell Inspiron 5437, Windows 8.1 x64 Provided by Microsoft. – dai9bakudan Sep 22 '19 at 19:50
  • 'reinstall Windows in his old laptop' -- is this the laptop with Intel Core i5? – sudodus Sep 22 '19 at 19:53
  • Have you got a Windows iso file or DVD disk? In that case, what version is it (also Windows 8.1)? – sudodus Sep 22 '19 at 19:57
  • Ubuntu 18.04.3 should work in the computer with Intel i5 and Intel internal graphics. – sudodus Sep 22 '19 at 19:58
  • I've downloaded it from Microsoft's website and mounted it on the usb stick. I have the .iso with me. It is the standard version. – dai9bakudan Sep 22 '19 at 19:59
  • Good, if you have a Windows iso file, and Ubuntu works, you dare use gparted to create a new partition table. After that I suggest that you use woeusb according to this link – sudodus Sep 22 '19 at 20:01
  • Thank you so much for the information, it definitely helps since I'm just a beginner with Ubuntu. I'll try to use those. Is it possible to use gparted only on the usb stick? (it's okay if not) – dai9bakudan Sep 22 '19 at 20:07
  • When installing Win10 you can sometimes choose to keep old files and programs. I find the Windows installer tool from MS reliable. – C.S.Cameron Sep 23 '19 at 02:20
  • Yes, it is possible to use gparted only on the usb stick. – sudodus Sep 23 '19 at 05:14

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