Trouble getting dual boot to work

[bar2d2]

I have a Clover El Capitan Mac OS X SSD installed and working, now trying to install Windows 7 on another SSD for dual boot, using a Windows 7 x64 SP 1 DVD. I format the Windows SSD "Mac OS X HFS Journaled" and "GUID Partition Map". Unplug Mac OS X SSD, plug in the DVD and boot using the UEFI option for the DVD. I choose custom installation, delete the two partitions that are there, resulting in one unallocated space, which I select and then click Next. After all the usual churning and re-boots, I end up with a working windows 7 install. I shut down, unplug the DVD, plug in the Mac OS X SSD and reboot. The clover screen shows two NTFS options, "Boot Windows from Legacy HD1" and "Boot Windows from Legacy HD2", in addition to the choice for OSX (which works fine). Selecting either Windows options results in a windows startup chime and a flashing cursor in the upper left corner of the screen which doesn't respond to the keyboard.

I've read through all the threads; lots of helpful info. However, I've tried the windows install a dozen times. Clearly I've not yet created a UEFI Windows install. Any suggestions?

 

[Going Bald]

I have a Clover El Capitan Mac OS X SSD installed and working, now trying to install Windows 7 on another SSD for dual boot, using a Windows 7 x64 SP 1 DVD. I format the Windows SSD "Mac OS X HFS Journaled" and "GUID Partition Map". Unplug Mac OS X SSD, plug in the DVD and boot using the UEFI option for the DVD. I choose custom installation, delete the two partitions that are there, resulting in one unallocated space, which I select and then click Next. After all the usual churning and re-boots, I end up with a working windows 7 install. I shut down, unplug the DVD, plug in the Mac OS X SSD and reboot. The clover screen shows two NTFS options, "Boot Windows from Legacy HD1" and "Boot Windows from Legacy HD2", in addition to the choice for OSX (which works fine). Selecting either Windows options results in a windows startup chime and a flashing cursor in the upper left corner of the screen which doesn't respond to the keyboard.

I've read through all the threads; lots of helpful info. However, I've tried the windows install a dozen times. Clearly I've not yet created a UEFI Windows install. Any suggestions?

1. make sure EFI booting is enabled in BIOS/UEFI
2. use the Function hot key that allows you to select a boot device and select UEFI: Your ODD with the Win7 disc

The above should get you an EFI installation.
Boot your Win7 install, click start, type msinfo32, hit enter and in the table look at the BIOS - it it Legacy or UEFI?

You can also go into the disk management tool and look at your disk structure - if you see a single System Reserved partition and a NTFS main partition it is installed Legacy.
If it shows a WinRe Tools, an EFI, a system Reserved and a NTFS partition it is installed EFI.

If all indications are an EFI install, your icons are just not showing on the first Clover screen - keep hitting the right arrow key until the other icons show up.

 

[bar2d2]

Thanks so much for getting back to me, GB.
I'm still working on this one.

msinfo32 window does not include an entry of either BIOS UEFI or BIOS Legacy, so no help there.
However I've looked at disk management, and I see System Reserved and NTFS, confirming that the win install is Legacy.

I've done the install many times now being very careful to select the UEFI version of the DVD when I boot from the install disk. However, I must be doing something wrong. Again, I start will the SSD erased and partitioned by OSX Disk Utility GPT / HFS Journaled. Then I unplug the OSX SSD and boot the win installer off DVD selecting UEFI in the BIOS. I delete the two mac partitions, everything coalesces into one unallocated disk space and I don't do any erasing. The install goes normally from there but I end up with a Legacy install.

It is an external DVD that plugs into a USB port. Any concerns there? Should I make an install flash drive? Seems to me both options go through usb, so there shouldn't be a difference.

BIOS info:

Mobo is Gigabyte Z97X-SLI, Version F7 BIOS (10/17/2014).
Boot Option 1 through 4 have these options:
Mac OS X
P1: Samsung SSD 850 EVO 120GB
UEFI OS (P5: Samsung SSD 840 PRO)
P5: Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series
Disabled
The 840 PRO is the OSX SSD and the 850 EVO is the windows disk.
Windows 8 features is set to Other OS
Boot Mode Selection is UEFI only
Storage Boot Option Control is UEFI First

Tim

UPDATE: Tried it again, same procedure, and it is now working as it should. I am sure I did it the same way as many times before, so why it didn't work before remains a mystery. Sometimes repetition turns things around. Thanks again for your help.

 

[bar2d2]

This same problem recurred, this time I managed to find a sure-fire procedure to get around it.

IF erasing the target drive GPT (GUID Partition Table) on the Mac side AND selecting the UEFI version of the install disk when you start the windows install is for some reason not resulting in an EFI Windows install (as was true for me over a dozen attempts), then try the following:

1. Boot the machine with the install drive / DVD plugged in and press F12 or whichever key gives you the boot option list.
2. Choose the UEFI option of the install drive
3. Select language screen.
4. Click Install Now.
5. License screen, accept / next.
6. Custom Install.
7. Coalesce all existing partitions into one, unallocated partition. This is done by deleting all existing partitions.
8. Press Shift F10 to get a command line.
9. Run the windows disk partition utility. At the prompt type: diskpart
10. list disk
11. select disk 0 (or whichever is the target install disk)
12. clean
13. convert gpt (this converts the single partition to GPT)
14. Go back to the installer window.
15. Click New.
16. Click Apply.
17. Click OK.
18. You should now have 3 partitions. If you have less than 3, something went wrong and you should start over.
19. Click Next.
20. The installer starts. Expanding Windows Files, ...
21. When the installer completes, you should have a UEFI Windows installation. To check this, go to Control Panel, System, Formatting and Partitioning link, and shortly after a view of your existing partitions will come up. The first one should contain the text "EFI".

 

[Going Bald]

This same problem recurred, this time I managed to find a sure-fire procedure to get around it.

IF erasing the target drive GPT (GUID Partition Table) on the Mac side AND selecting the UEFI version of the install disk when you start the windows install is for some reason not resulting in an EFI Windows install (as was true for me over a dozen attempts), then try the following:

1. Boot the machine with the install drive / DVD plugged in and press F12 or whichever key gives you the boot option list.
2. Choose the UEFI option of the install drive
3. Select language screen.
4. Click Install Now.
5. License screen, accept / next.
6. Custom Install.
7. Coalesce all existing partitions into one, unallocated partition. This is done by deleting all existing partitions.
8. Press Shift F10 to get a command line.
9. Run the windows disk partition utility. At the prompt type: diskpart
10. list disk
11. select disk 0 (or whichever is the target install disk)
12. clean
13. convert gpt (this converts the single partition to GPT)
14. Go back to the installer window.
15. Click New.
16. Click Apply.
17. Click OK.
18. You should now have 3 partitions. If you have less than 3, something went wrong and you should start over.
19. Click Next.
20. The installer starts. Expanding Windows Files, ...
21. When the installer completes, you should have a UEFI Windows installation. To check this, go to Control Panel, System, Formatting and Partitioning link, and shortly after a view of your existing partitions will come up. The first one should contain the text "EFI".

If you are going to be installing OS X to the end of the drive after installing Windows, do not delete the OS X EFI partition. Windows will use this partition instead of creating a new one for its boot files and the partition is large enough to make the OS X installer happy.