For some reason, my attempts to use GPT with Windows 7 ran aground and I ended up with a working Master Boot Record (MBR) and an empty GPT. While Windows 7 was quite happy with this, the Ubuntu installer detected the GPT and attempts to use it – which effectively prevents me from installing it unless I wipe the entire hard drive for Ubuntu.
In this little article I will clear the GPT from the disk so only the MBR remains. This is an advanced technique which WILL destroy your partition layout and thus your data when it fails. Make very very sure you understand each step and have backups.
Start by making a backup of your MBR, which is 512 bytes long at the start of the disk:
sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=disk_mbr.raw bs=512 count=1
I made a backup of the MBR and the GPT as well, just in case (GPT is 512 bytes for the header followed by 16kB of content, total with MBR is 17kB):
sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=disk_mbr_gpt.raw bs=1024 count=17
The GPT is present at the start and end of the disk. Lets start by erasing the GPT from the start:
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 seek=1 count=33
Now find the end of your disk, use fdisk /dev/sda and note the number of bytes on the disk. In my case it is: 240,057,409,536 bytes, since I want to use kilobytes with dd, lets convert it to kB: 234,431,064 kB. We need to erase the last 16.5 kB, but 16kB will suffice (as the header is in the last 512 bytes).
So subtracts 16 from the drive size to generate the GPT offset for the end of the disk and zero-fill it to the end: sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda seek=234431048 bs=1024 count=17
All done! Now fdisk will no longer complain the drive has a GPT table and the Ubuntu installer will only find the MBR and happily install using that.