Installing Windows on Hetzner servers is not as straightforward as you might think.  The tutorial they publish does not work on their newest dedicated servers.

In just a few minutes, Piotr will show you how to install it and also some excellent tips for securing Windows with a minimum of hassle.

The Windows installation tutorial from Hetzner doesn’t work on very new dedicated servers.  These new dedicated servers from hetner are configured in a way that prevents Windows installation.  But don’t worry!  There is a way around that.

But first, why there is a problem in the first place?  If you know a little bit more about computers you may know what BIOS is.  BIOS is your computer’s firmware that allows communication between all components and sets up correct parameters so we don’t have massive problems with compability.  Around 10 years ago, a lot of computers started to replace Legacy BIOS with UEFI and this is really big.  We got way faster boot times, more features, but also with this change from BIOS to UEFI we changed partition tables in our drives from MBR to GPT.

This old MBR isn’t part of UEFI but it can be supported with additional module called CSM and basically every UEFI firmware and desktop or server motherboard has CSM in UEFI.  The new header servers have a lot of settings that are locked including CSM which is permanently disabled and that’s why we have a problem with Windows.

Windows installs on a MBR style partition but Hetzner disabled CSM and you cannot boot from MBR style partition.  You can install Windows but you cannot boot installed Windows.  This is a very stupid thing because it could be fixed in a single click but because Hetzner decided to lock settings in UEFI you cannot fix it.  We can do one trick to bypass this limitation.

Click on the video to learn how!

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raindog308

Dread Lord of LowEnd Content at LowEndBox

I'm raindog308, techno polymath and long-time LowEndTalk community Administrator. My technical interests include all things Unix, perl, python, golang, shell scripting, vintage operating systems such as MVS, and relational database systems such as Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL.

I also enjoy using LEBs! I have an empire of little guys for VPNs, larger guys for apps, and big guys for databases and storage. When I'm not in front a screen I'm into German Shepherd dogs, quality knives, target shooting, theology, tabletop roleplaying games, and forest hiking.

I enjoy writing technical articles here on LowEndBox to help people get more out of their systems. You can find me on LowEndTalk @raindog308

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