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[GUIDES] Windows COMPLETE "How To": Clean/Upgrade Install, Drivers

Gps3dx
Level 12
ALL IS WIP - I NEED TO MOVE ALOT OF STUFF AROUND !!!
How to install windows 8/8.1/10 on any UEFI & AHCI supported laptop
( E.I G751, G771, G551 GL552 etc) the PROPER way

I.E: on a GPT formatted disk, booted with UEFI

*** G752 owner ?? ***
*** Do you wish to use RAID and/or NVME ? ***

* Read also these specific installation guide Here and Here *


The "why should I bother" ?

you've got ROG Laptop, best in the market, fitted with UEFI, "the newest form of BIOS". ( READ MORE HERE )
No reason to work with OS that is installed on a MBR formatted drive that's running on a BIOS emulated machine (like some preinstalled windows), if you wish the fastest laptop, OS & applications !

OS on a GPT formatted disk, booted with UEFI, is BETTER THEN MBR & BIOS !
Why ?

  • Way Faster OS boot (I.E POST), with NO blinking underscore !
  • Better (auto) chances to recover info from bad/damaged sector/block !
    (Partition table is redundantly stored, checked using CRC)
  • No 2TiB limit on HDD size
  • and MORE: READ MORE HERE & HERE


The "which OS should I choose" ?

In my opinion win 10 is faster in desktop/office work ( gaming: depends ) but the down side is the privacy headache.
There are multiple scripts you MUST run, if you care about your own privacy! (see few post below,WIP!)
Win8.1 is a bit slower in desktop/office use, but does NOT have such privacy "spying" as win 10.
Any way you choose, you MUST install it on a GPT formatted drive, and MUST boot the OS installation disk/usb through a "special" boot method ( I.E UEFI boot ).
HERE's A Benchmark review

The "What's required" ?

There are multiple apps to format&create the required partitions, including the one during windows installation process.
The latter, creating more partitions then what most of consumers really needs !
Windows installer format a GPT based drive like that:


  • "Windows" is the OS partition - a MUST HAVE partition of course
  • MSR is "MS reserve partition" - a MUST HAVE partition that is there in-order to: READ HERE.
    for win8.1 MSR MIN size recommended by MS to be 128MB, in win10 is recommended to be 16MB. As common users does NOT utilize any of the features that require the MSR partition, it's advisable to use the MIN recommended size by MS.
  • "System" partition is the where the "EFI" supported windows-boot-files sit, therefore - a MUST HAVE partition of course.
  • "Windows RE tools" - is important IN MOST CASES if you use windows built-in drive encryption. READ MORE HERE.
    As I KNOW by experience that win7,8.1,10 CAN WORK WITHOUT "Windows RE tools" partition -> "Windows RE tools" partition is NOT necessary !!


The "How to Guide" ?
1st Part: How to create & boot a windows installation disk/usb,
THE RIGHT WAY?

I.E through UEFI boot !



  • NOTE: IT'S IMPERATIVE that you boot the installation disk AS UEFI COMPATIBLE DEVICE !
    (otherwise you cannot install windows on a GPT formatted drive )
    There are MANY guides to show how to create the installation DISK/USB in the right manner:
    ONE OPTION, another OPTION, another OPTION, "official way" for win10 ONLY.
  • It's also imperative that, although you've created the installation disk/usb in the right way, you MUST ALSO BOOT IT IN THE RIGHT WAY: (I.E UEFI boot !)

    • Make sure in the BIOS that "LAUCH CSM" is DISABLED !!
    • Make sure you BOOT THE INSTALLATION DISK/USB AS UEFI!
      Please look at the following photo. To boot the INSTALLATION DISK as "UEFI" meaning picking the 2nd option from the top (NOT the 3rd) !!
      51752


    • If you didn't see & picked "uefi: xxxxxxx" (xxx = name of your disk/usb) at the boot selection screen -> read and DO "1st part" again !



2nd Step: How to format a drive with GPT layout for windows 8/8.1/10 ?
IT IS A PRE-REQUISITE TO INSTALL WINDOWS !

PLEASE NOTE:

  • THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURE WILL ERASE EVERYTHING (ALL PARTITIONS) ON THE SPECIFIC DRIVE YOU CHOOSE !



  • LESS RECOMMENDED: instead of formatting and losing data, you can CONVERT your MBR disk to be a GPT disk: Guide HERE.

* The "easy"/quick method:

  • READ Part 1 above, do ONLY that -> then continue to Step B just below.
    After that, you should see the "Windows setup" screen, which allows you to pick your language.
  • Follow this EXCELLENT guide with screenshots till STEP 10.
  • Continue to read "3rd part" to install windows.

* The advanced/manual method is through set of commands of "DISKPART" utility. (SOURCE: MS official page)
The BIG ADVANTAGE with this method, that "Windows RE Tool" partition won't be created, thus you profit from the free-space ( ~300 MB ) and one less partition to be shown when you look at the partition map/list.

  • 1st, boot into windows recovery environment, and open CMD -> write "diskpart" -> enter -> wait for it to load.
    ( "How to" guide HERE )
  • VERY IMPORTANT: inside "diskpart", write: "list disk" to see all your disks.
    Note the disk number of the disk you wish to format.
    Write "select disk #" where # = disk number you wish to format.
  • ONLY THEN perform the following commands: (lines start with "rem" are notes... NOT commands!)

    clean
    rem == Note: ALERT AGAIN ! THIS COMMAND WILL WIPE YOUR DRIVE CLEAN !
    convert gpt
    rem == Note: convert your MBR based drive to GPT based drive
    create partition efi size=100
    rem == Note: "size=100" meaning the partition size will be 100MBytes
    format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
    assign letter="S"

    rem == Note: replace the following "#" with a number as follows: #=128 for win8.1 | #=16 for win10
    create partition msr size=#

    rem == Note: For the following command(in white):
    rem == Note: this way all the rest of the disk space will be "C"/windows OS partition.
    rem == Note: if you wish to have another partitions ( E.I for file storage/archive) add a "size=#"
    rem == Note: after the word "primary", where "#" is a number, the size in Mbytes of your
    rem == Note: Windows OS partition, I.E the rest of the free space will be the other partition you
    rem == Note: choose to have.
    rem == Note: To be more precise, that next line of command might be:
    rem == Note: create partition primary size=#

    create partition primary
    format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
    assign letter="W"
    exit
    rem == Note: to quite diskpart utility, input another exit will close the CMD window and you'll be return to the previous screen, which you must reboot afterward in order to accomplish the next step


    • NOTE: if you create additional partition after the "windows" partition, you can format it now, or after the OS installation, through the "disk management" utility -> it really doesn't matter to the OS installation procedure, but it's best to leave it to later, just to prevent you from massing the disk structure, if you don't know what you're doing.


  • finally, continue to read "3rd part" below to install windows.
Asus G751JT
Samsung EVO 850 120GB + 1TB HDD 7200RPM
Cleaned installed Win 10 HOME
My Guides:

  • [POST=538713]ROG LAPTOPS: COMPLETE DRIVER LIST ![/POST]
  • [POST=538713]How to install windows 8/8.1/10 on any UEFI supported laptop the PROPER way[/POST]
  • [POST=538711]HOW TO (EASILY!) UPGRADE FROM WIN7 SP1/8.1 WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE UPGRADE PROCESS ITSELF ![/POST]
  • [POST=605307]HOW TO REMAP FN+KEY AND SPECIAL BUTTONS: "STEAM", "ROG" & "SHADOWPLAY"[/POST]
  • [POST=539663]Win 10 x64: SETUP USB @SUPERSPEED, NO HANG-UPS! | ACCELERATES USB 3.0/2.0 TRANSFER RATE SPEED TWICE![/POST]
1,844 Views
167 REPLIES 167

I think I give up! I tried all these steps now but it still installs Windows 10 Home edition instead of asking me for the edition nor for the key.

It'd be amazing if Asus could provide a BIOS without the slic table bullcrap, so people would be free to choose what os and what version they want.

//EDIT: I seem to have resolved the issue now! I created a PID.txt and put that in the "sources" folder on the USB stick. The files has the following content:

[PID]
Value=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX (xxxx...is your new serial key)

Gps3dx
Level 12
alexgontijo wrote:
I purchased a used G751JY-T7159H ...

But in the deal the old owner wanted to delete all his data, and deleted all the partitions too. So I lost the 15 GB hidden backup partition and had to install from zero. I'm using the latest BIOS 211, and I couldn't boot from USB to install Windows 10 in a UEFI. It doesn't show on the options, only the SSD, but without system, it boots straight to the BIOS.

So I had to change do legacy and install in the old BIOS way (I could choose all the options (USB, Bluray, etc) which are unavailable in UEFI mode). But the boot time takes 5 times more... I want the UEFI back!...

Hi there Alex,
I think you issue is that you didn't created in the right way the installation USB.
UEFI installation of windows is ONLY POSSIBLE if the USB created in the right manner to allow UEFI boot.
Please read the guide in the first few posts in this forum - pay attention to the way you format the USB flash disk + make sure under /efi/boot on the USB you've got bootx64.efi.
you can try to use unetbootin or even MS own tool ( open through IE or edge, chrome might not work )

also important for UEFI installation is that you format your SSD/HDD with GPT layout, and boot the installtion-USB as "UEFI:" when you select in using the boot-selection-menu ( by pressing ESC during POST )
Asus G751JT
Samsung EVO 850 120GB + 1TB HDD 7200RPM
Cleaned installed Win 10 HOME
My Guides:

  • [POST=538713]ROG LAPTOPS: COMPLETE DRIVER LIST ![/POST]
  • [POST=538713]How to install windows 8/8.1/10 on any UEFI supported laptop the PROPER way[/POST]
  • [POST=538711]HOW TO (EASILY!) UPGRADE FROM WIN7 SP1/8.1 WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE UPGRADE PROCESS ITSELF ![/POST]
  • [POST=605307]HOW TO REMAP FN+KEY AND SPECIAL BUTTONS: "STEAM", "ROG" & "SHADOWPLAY"[/POST]
  • [POST=539663]Win 10 x64: SETUP USB @SUPERSPEED, NO HANG-UPS! | ACCELERATES USB 3.0/2.0 TRANSFER RATE SPEED TWICE![/POST]

Hello GPS3DX,

You were absolutely right!! I had tried before but I don't know why it wasn't working (with the Windows Official Tool).

Now the Rufus app formatted the USB boot to UEFI and I could boot it the right way. It was risky, because my BIOS was still in the "old" CMS Enable, but I kept pressing ESC, selected to boot the USB on the UEFI way, and during the Windows installation it changed my BIOS automatically to the UEFI (it disabled the CMS by its own!)! Incredible!!

Now I have to install my softwares but I can confirm it is in UEFI again!!! Uhuuuu!

Thank you very much!!!

Best regards,

Alex

alexgontijo wrote:
Hello GPS3DX,

You were absolutely right!! I had tried before but I don't know why it wasn't working (with the Windows Official Tool).

Now the Rufus app formatted the USB boot to UEFI and I could boot it the right way. It was risky, because my BIOS was still in the "old" CMS Enable, but I kept pressing ESC, selected to boot the USB on the UEFI way, and during the Windows installation it changed my BIOS automatically to the UEFI (it disabled the CMS by its own!)! Incredible!!

Now I have to install my softwares but I can confirm it is in UEFI again!!! Uhuuuu!

Thank you very much!!!

Best regards,

Alex
oh ! wonderful news.... glad I could help.
P.S "UEFI:...." boot options exist even though CSM mode is ENABLED as the bios of latest ROG laptops are built with UEFI in its core, while the "legacy BIOS" is just an EMULATION/function that the UEFI supports.
Asus G751JT
Samsung EVO 850 120GB + 1TB HDD 7200RPM
Cleaned installed Win 10 HOME
My Guides:

  • [POST=538713]ROG LAPTOPS: COMPLETE DRIVER LIST ![/POST]
  • [POST=538713]How to install windows 8/8.1/10 on any UEFI supported laptop the PROPER way[/POST]
  • [POST=538711]HOW TO (EASILY!) UPGRADE FROM WIN7 SP1/8.1 WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE UPGRADE PROCESS ITSELF ![/POST]
  • [POST=605307]HOW TO REMAP FN+KEY AND SPECIAL BUTTONS: "STEAM", "ROG" & "SHADOWPLAY"[/POST]
  • [POST=539663]Win 10 x64: SETUP USB @SUPERSPEED, NO HANG-UPS! | ACCELERATES USB 3.0/2.0 TRANSFER RATE SPEED TWICE![/POST]

Gps3dx
Level 12
The following was MOVED from OP, as it's partially deprecated and will end soon.
Q: can I upgrade my win7(sp1)/win8/win8.1 to win10 even after 29.7.2016 ?
A: Apparently, you can, although it isn't officially published, according to many sources.
Note that MS might close/finish the FREE upgrade program at any time in the near future.

GUIDE: HOW TO (EASILY!) UPGRADE FROM WIN7 SP1/8.1 WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE UPGRADE PROCESS ITSELF !
*** my own remarks/notes in green color ***

IMPORTANT WARNING:


  • if you perform this guide you will NOT be able to revert back to the previous windows ( 7/8 ) you're upgrading from.
    First reason: Your old windows "product key" will be upgraded to be windows 10 compatible product key ( so there will NOT be any backward compatibility for that key anymore after performing this guide )
    Second reason: that guide utilize a CLEAN install, in which the previous windows partition is WIPED TOTALLY !


    if you're afraid/concern - perform the regular "upgrade" that MS officially offers from HERE or from windows-updates ( like KB3035583 ) that will give you 1 month to revert to your previous windows version.


Preconditions:


  • You have win7 SP1/8.1 activated successfully.
    This actually doesn't apply to VL Volume_licenses no KMS (loader yes, pre-installations yes, OEM_DM for w8.1 yes, OEM system builder yes, retail yes), since they are officially not upgradeable.
  • Download your original w10 ISO which is suitable for the upgrade path. I.E. W7(SP1) Ultimate upgrades to w10 pro.


Follow these steps closely:


  • Validate your w7 SP1 (W8.1) online, best using IE.
    I.E right-click "computer"/"my computer"->properties-> a window popup.
    look at the bottom, under "windows activation": VALIDATE/MAKE SURE that it reads "Windows is activated" !

  • Generate a genuine ticket of your installation by:
    I.E save all the product-key related info (like your windows genuineness) in order to be able to bypass the official "need" of the upgrade process.
    WITHOUT IT - you need, first to perform the upgrade ( WITHOUT PERFORMING CLEAN INSTALL ), and only after you've check that you see "windows is activated"(read the above note) you may perform "clean install" of win10... or format your drive and install windows 10 from scratch.


    • Copy gatherosstate.exe from your downloaded Windows 10 10240 ISO to your installation which should be upgraded.
      "10240" is the RTM release of win10, the 1st "release to manufacture" version of windows.
      My *guess*, it doesn't matter if you got some late release ( after RTM of course )...but take that with a pinch of salt :rolleyes:
      After all, the "free-upgrade" is available until the July 29th, 2016... so it won't matter or a long time (MS source: Is the upgrade really free?) :mad:

    • Run it on your activated and validated Windows. It'll output GenuineTicket.xml. Save this on a USB thumb drive or something.



  • Then do a fresh install with your suitable win10 ISO, skip to enter key at setup procedure.
    For "How to" guide for that, read 1st post in this thread.
  • Once it's installed make sure your internet connection is DISABLED.
    I.E do not enable the internet connection!
    ONLY after you do that, Reboot w10.
  • Copy GenuineTicket.xml to
    C:\programdata\microsoft\windows\clipsvc\genuineticket\

    of your win10 installation and reboot again.
    I.E to the partition you've just install your fresh new win10.
  • Connect online, it should activate.


    • "How do I check it ??", Read my remarks under paragraph "1" .
    • I've tested it myself - it works! 😮





Source&Credit: Yen, Daz, Blinky from "My Digital Life Forums"
Asus G751JT
Samsung EVO 850 120GB + 1TB HDD 7200RPM
Cleaned installed Win 10 HOME
My Guides:

  • [POST=538713]ROG LAPTOPS: COMPLETE DRIVER LIST ![/POST]
  • [POST=538713]How to install windows 8/8.1/10 on any UEFI supported laptop the PROPER way[/POST]
  • [POST=538711]HOW TO (EASILY!) UPGRADE FROM WIN7 SP1/8.1 WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE UPGRADE PROCESS ITSELF ![/POST]
  • [POST=605307]HOW TO REMAP FN+KEY AND SPECIAL BUTTONS: "STEAM", "ROG" & "SHADOWPLAY"[/POST]
  • [POST=539663]Win 10 x64: SETUP USB @SUPERSPEED, NO HANG-UPS! | ACCELERATES USB 3.0/2.0 TRANSFER RATE SPEED TWICE![/POST]

Jenice_Valenti
Level 7
Thanks for this thread! I really find it useful. 🙂

Jenice Valenti wrote:
Thanks for this thread! I really find it useful. 🙂

My pleasure.
Asus G751JT
Samsung EVO 850 120GB + 1TB HDD 7200RPM
Cleaned installed Win 10 HOME
My Guides:

  • [POST=538713]ROG LAPTOPS: COMPLETE DRIVER LIST ![/POST]
  • [POST=538713]How to install windows 8/8.1/10 on any UEFI supported laptop the PROPER way[/POST]
  • [POST=538711]HOW TO (EASILY!) UPGRADE FROM WIN7 SP1/8.1 WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE UPGRADE PROCESS ITSELF ![/POST]
  • [POST=605307]HOW TO REMAP FN+KEY AND SPECIAL BUTTONS: "STEAM", "ROG" & "SHADOWPLAY"[/POST]
  • [POST=539663]Win 10 x64: SETUP USB @SUPERSPEED, NO HANG-UPS! | ACCELERATES USB 3.0/2.0 TRANSFER RATE SPEED TWICE![/POST]

wpeters
Level 7
*Problem has since been resolved. Details can be found here: https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?88957-G752VL-wont-finish-Windows-10-upgrade-after-reboot&p...

Thank you for the reply, The EasyUEFI application does have basic instructions but I don't see how they apply. For instance once the error occurs how do I run the program without booting the OS back into Windows, if I boot back into Windows then I'm back to square one, perhaps I'm missing something. Yes, I have PM'ed the member, hopefully I can get some clarification.

Hi thank you for the awesome tutorial,

I followed the whole process on the tutorial many times but I still have trouble only when I try to install as RAID , it can find the 128GB SSD but it shows only 128mb avalaible, it works well only on AHCI mode, The laptop is new just bout it recently G752VS and it came ready as Raid mode but i cant put it back to RAID since i changed it to AHCI, Wich one is the best option and fastest? should i leave it on AHCI?
thanks a lot in advance
this how it looks once i reach the install



[/ATTACH]H=CONFIG]62361[/ATTACH]

tarek993 wrote:
Hi thank you for the awesome tutorial,

I followed the whole process on the tutorial many times but I still have trouble only when I try to install as RAID , it can find the 128GB SSD but it shows only 128mb avalaible, it works well only on AHCI mode, The laptop is new just bout it recently G752VS and it came ready as Raid mode but i cant put it back to RAID since i changed it to AHCI, Wich one is the best option and fastest? should i leave it on AHCI?
thanks a lot in advance
this how it looks once i reach the install



[/ATTACH]H=CONFIG]62361[/ATTACH]


I also had this problem years ago, you have to check driver version and BIOS version...your drives are AHCI or NVME? also try to start installation without 1TB attached and check via Diskpart if both are under GPT mode.