MP 7,1 Will A Legacy Windows 11 Drive Boot in a MP7,1?

[sfalatko]

Took the plunge like several people here and ordered a new in box MP7,1 and will be moving my workflow mostly from my cMP5,1 to the 7,1.

I have a legacy Windows 11 install on a separate SSD and am wondering if I can just move that over the 7,1 or if it needs to be a UEFI install.

Any one have any ideas or experience?

Thanks,
sfalatko

 

[Dayo]

While Apple does not specify the UEFI class a Mac model is, Macs with T2 chips like the MP71 are effectively UEFI Class 3+ devices with the T2 chip being a sort of TPM. Such devices can/will not run legacy BIOS boot.

 

[TrevorR90]

I tried this years ago on my 7,1 with windows 10. Didn't work. Ended up just doing a reinstall. T2 chip is the limitation here.

 

[Jhonjhon236]

Must be convert to UEFI. Put “mbr2gpt /convert /allowfullOS” into an admin cmd prompt. That will convert it to UEFI and therefore should allow it to boot on the 7,1. Min you, this isnt officially reversible so once you go to EFI there is no going back woth third party tools.

 

[sfalatko]

Thanks all - I had an idea it wouldn't work. Before I remove it from the 5,1 I'll update to UEFI and see how it goes in the 7,1. Nothing critical on the drive so if need be I'll reinstall as UEFI from the start - maybe even try Bootcamp.

 

[avro707]

Took the plunge like several people here and ordered a new in box MP7,1 and will be moving my workflow mostly from my cMP5,1 to the 7,1.

I have a legacy Windows 11 install on a separate SSD and am wondering if I can just move that over the 7,1 or if it needs to be a UEFI install.

Any one have any ideas or experience?

Thanks,
sfalatko

Congrats!

I never tried that, just did new install.

Please do an unboxing thread for your beautiful new machine.

 

[sfalatko]

Congrats!

I never tried that, just did new install.

Please do an unboxing thread for your beautiful new machine.

Thanks. I'm excited. I have been thinking long and hard about the 7,1 or a Mac Studio. The great price I found was enough to tip me to get the 7,1 - there will never be another Mac like it.

I've moved the drive before when I installed it into the 5,1 and am prepared to just reinstall.

I'm not setup to do an unboxing video but here's essentially what I would post if I was - My BRAND NEW 2019 Mac Pro Unboxing! - from Hrutkay Mods.

We both got our machines from the same seller and they are new in box though resold from Meta stock.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Windows 11 requires UEFI. It was optional in Windows 10; it's not in Windows 11. Not to say that you can't still finagle a Windows 11 installation that boots and runs in Legacy BIOS mode. But it's not supported and asking for trouble.

 

[startergo]

Windows 11 requires UEFI. It was optional in Windows 10; it's not in Windows 11. Not to say that you can't still finagle a Windows 11 installation that boots and runs in Legacy BIOS mode. But it's not supported and asking for trouble.

Yea, like installing Windows 11 on any Mac. This is unsupported by Apple and you need a hack to install it.

 

[profdraper]

I've been running win11 for a couple of years now, no issues, works perfectly as it should. The original install was done with a Github 'Media Creation Tool' installer that took care of all, see https://studioncreations.com/blog/install-windows-11-on-any-intel-macbook-pro-macbook-air-or-imac/

Otherwise, seeing as the OP has a nicely setup Win11 on an existing SSD, I'd suggest buying & using Winclone standard, $50; still my go-to & backs up win images nicely. https://twocanoes.com/products/mac/winclone/

The process would be something like:
make an exfat partition large enough on your mac for your win image;
make an image of your win 11 SSD then clone this to the mac partition.
If for some reason you can't make the image from your NTFS win volume, for another $50, Paragon NTFS for Mac does a great job of all things NTFS on a mac & including Disk Utility being able to fully deal with NTFS. https://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/#buy

The $100 could seem a bit rich for this, but then again, those two tools pretty much take care of everything when working with Win on a mac pro.