Lenovo ThinkStation Windows 7 Installation [en, ar, bg, cs, da, de, el, es, fi, fr, he, hr, hu, it, ja, ko, nb, nl, pl, pt, pt, ro, ru, sh, sk, sl, sr, sv, th, tr, uk, zc, zh]

ThinkStation Windows 7 Installation

Version 1 . 0

1. Introduction

The introduction to new and improved hard drives with greater capacity leads to some changes in the way we can boot
these drives. Some of the critical hard drive technologies that are essential to driving this change are hard drives greater
than 2TB in capacity as well as PCIe based storage devices.

This document will instruct users on how to successfully set up their system to be able to install a GPT/UEFI or an
MBR/Legacy operating system.

2. Windows 7 Installation Using Intel sSATA Controller

The first step to installing the Windows 7 operating system is to decide if a traditional MBR partition is suitable,
or if a GPT partition would be required based on the system configuration. Bootable MBR partitions are limited
to a maximum size of 2TB, while bootable GPT partitions are capable of supporting much larger sizes (the limit
varies based on the operating system used). Some BIOS changes might be necessary in order to boot the
desired partition type. Legacy BIOS is capable of booting MBR or GPT partitions as long as they are no larger
than 2TB. UEFI BIOS is capable of booting only GPT partitions, but is generally not affected by any size limits.

The steps below detail how users should set up their BIOS based on the desired boot partition type (MBR or
GPT).

Changing BIOS settings to enable bootable MBR or GPT partitions

1. As the system is booting through BIOS POST screens, press F1 to enter BIOS F1 Setup Menu:

2. Once the BIOS Setup Screen opens, tab over using the arrow keys to the ‘Startup’ menu tab at the top of the

screen. From this tab, use the up and down arrow keys to select ‘CSM Configuration’ option and press
‘Enter’.

3. Once the CSM Configuration screen is displayed, change the ‘Storage’ device option to the desired setting.

Highlight the ‘Storage’ option and press Enter

a. For UEFI/GPT Installations  select UEFI and press Enter
b. For Legacy/MBR Installations  select Legacy and press Enter

4. Once the desired option is selected, press ‘F10’ to save and exit BIOS. The system will reboot.

Windows 7 Retail Installation Using Intel sSATA Controller

 Note: Drive capacity greater than 2TB must be installed in UEFI/GPT mode. Legacy/MBR installation limits

drive capacity to 2TB or less.

1. As the system is booting through the Lenovo BIOS POST screens, press the F12 key for the BIOS startup

menu option. Once the startup menu appears, choose one of the two options below

a. Select the “UEFI” option for the device containing the installation media to install the OS to a GPT

partition.

b. Select the “Legacy” option for the device containing the installation media to install the OS to a MBR

partition.

2. The system should then boot the Windows 10 image installation media.

Note: You may have to enter a keystroke on the keyboard to initialize media when prompted.

3. The system should then boot the Windows 7 image installation media.

4. Select the ‘Language’, ‘Time and currency format’, and ‘Keyboard or input method’ from the drop-down

menu options. Then, select ‘Next’.

5. Select ‘Install now’ option.