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I have an HP laptop, and thought about going all Linux on it. The problem is that the UEFI on the laptop won't let me prioritize Linux, so it will always load the Windows boot loader if I don't hold F9 everytime it starts up. Even with Legacy boot mode ON, UEFI is still prioritized, and the Windows boot loader will boot first.

I feel that UEFI is a set back, and I want to know if I can create a new partition table with no UEFI, just legacy BIOS. Could this cause my laptop to not be able to power on? Could my laptop still boot? Would some of the hardware (i.e. keyboard, touchpad, webcam, USB ports) stop working? Could Ubuntu still recognize my computer details (i.e. computer name, internal hardware, memory and storage) Could I reinstall Windows on a new partition table without buying a new key if I needed it?

I don't think I'll go all Linux quite yet, though. I just want to know in case I do.

Thanks for any help! :-)

Jonathan Caldwell
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  • You can mount your EFI partition in Ubuntu, put the GRUB files under /Microsoft/Windows/BOOT/ and rename them to bootmgfw.efi and bootmgr.efi The mgfw one is the 64-bit file. Rename the Windows files to something else and run sudo update-grub to see if they're found. – TheWanderer Sep 10 '15 at 00:01
  • The boot order is almost always a BIOS setting and has little or nothing to do with EFI or your partition table. – Panther Sep 10 '15 at 00:12
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    Just about all HP with UEFI need a work around. Sony, HP & others: http://askubuntu.com/questions/486752/dual-boot-win-8-ubuntu-loads-only-win/486789#486789 – oldfred Sep 10 '15 at 03:58

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You are confusing the terminology a bit.

UEFI and BIOS are not partitioning schemes but refer to the style of firmware on your motherboard - specifically, UEFI is a replacement of BIOS, and brings new UEFI boot mode, but UEFI can still boot in the old BIOS boot mode too.

The distinction in partitioning schemes is DOS/MBR style partitions vs newer GPT style partitions. GPT is a newer scheme that is not limited to 4 primary/extended partitions.

To boot in UEFI mode, you need to be using the GPT partition scheme and have an EFI partition. However, if you use GPT partitions you do not need to boot in UEFI mode. How you boot is a function of how the operating system has installed its boot manager. Modern versions of Windows will automatically realise that you are using GPT and that the system is capable of UEFI boot and install a UEFI boot manager. Depending on the version, Ubuntu may do this too.

There is nothing stopping you from repartitioning using DOS/MBR partitions, and re-installing Windows and Ubuntu. It would force everything to boot in BIOS compatibility mode. Note that you would need to reinstall Windows from its original installation disc, as the boot type is determined at installation.

You don't, however, need to do this to get dual-booting working between Windows and Ubuntu. It's perfectly possible to dual-boot between Windows and Ubuntu, both using UEFI boot. Many other questions on this site deal with this. It can be difficult sorting out the problems, but there are no more problems than when we used to boot using MBR - in both cases Windows setup/repair liked to overwrite the existing boot manager with its own, making it necessary to re-install Grub's boot manager after running Windows setup. In this case you just do it with EFI rather than an MBR boot manager.

If you do want to get UEFI working please ask a new question and give more information about your system and setup, but if you don't - the short answer is that you are welcome to repartition using DOS/MBR.

thomasrutter
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I want to know if I can create a new partition table with no UEFI, just legacy BIOS.

The partition table (the hard disk, really) has nothing to do with UEFI/BIOS. You would have to flash the firmware of the laptop. That is ... something I have never attempted, but look up coreboot.

Could this cause my laptop to not be able to power on? Could my laptop still boot? Would some of the hardware (i.e. keyboard, touchpad, webcam, USB ports) stop working? Could Ubuntu still recognize my computer details (i.e. computer name, internal hardware, memory and storage)?

Creating a new partition table will affect none of these (except in that it will wipe any software you installed, so Ubuntu will have to be reinstalled before it can detect anything - also, drivers).

Could I reinstall Windows on a new partition table without buying a new key if I needed it?

Possibly. IIRC a Windows key can be reused if the hardware hasn't changed much, but you should really contact MS customer support.

muru
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  • Boot order is almost always a BIOS setting and has little or nothing to do with EFI or your partition table. – Panther Sep 10 '15 at 00:12
  • @bodhi.zazen wrong post? – muru Sep 10 '15 at 00:13
  • no, " it will always load the Windows boot loader if I don't hold F9 everytime" one problem as described is boot order which is a BIOS setting, under the security or EFI boot menu . F9 overides the default, or allows you to select an OS. – Panther Sep 10 '15 at 00:14