On Mon, 2025-08-18 at 18:58 -0500, David Wright wrote: > > I didn't create the MBR. I had copied my 500 GB hdd to the NVME > > using > > "dd" because it contains Windoze 10, for which I have neither > > installation media nor product keys. Then I used gparted to expand > > /home, and create the EFI partition. I only use Windoze about once > > per > > year, but I didn't want to blow it (and my home directory) away by > > converting to GPT. > > Interesting. Does that mean that you switch to BIOS booting when you > run Windows? I've been led to believe that, while all four > combinations > of MBR/GPT format with BIOS/UEFI booting are workable, Windows does > not allow UEFI booting with MBR disks. (Strictly, I've read that > Windows won't install onto such a combination, but not that it can't > boot if it somehow finds itself in that situation.)
I haven't tried booting Windoze since I copied to the NVME. I recently read that (at least in Dell Latitude E5470) one can only boot from NVME using UEFI. I noticed that OS probe didn't find Windoze. I have a vagiue recollection that UEFI grub can't boot MBR Wiindoze, and vice veraa, so maybe my Windoze is now useless anyway. Maybe I need to buy a 1/2 TB thumb drive, back up my /home, buy a WIndoze 11 installation DVD and product key, and start over with the NVME empty, making it GPT instead of MBR.
