Download here: http://gg.gg/vwhri
Unlike the previous partition software from EaseUS, Paragon’s brain-child can convert from GPT to MBR and vice-versa, which is pretty cool for freeware, but if you’re looking to do more complicated stuff, like converting NTFS to FAT32, convert dynamic to basic, merge partitions or change cluster size, you’ll have to go for the Pro version. How To Convert MBR to GPT Without Data Loss, MiniTool Partition Wizard.With time, the amount of data are inceresaing over the time and consequently the stora. In summary, MiniTool Partition Wizard can not only convert MBR to GPT without data loss in Windows 7/8/10 but also convert GPT to MBR without losing data. If you have the need to do the conversion between MBR and GPT or other partition issues, don’t hesitate to use MiniTool Partition Wizard.Minitool Partition Wizard Gpt To Mbr Without Data Loss ControlSummary :
MBR vs. GPT, which one is better, and what is the difference between GPT and MBR? In this post, we will explain these 2 aspects in detail. And we will tell you how to initialize them to MBR or GPT without data loss with a piece of professional partition manager - MiniTool Partition Wizard. Quick Navigation :Note: this post is much related to Windows rather than Mac OS X, Linux, or any other OS.
When adding a brand new HDD or SSD to computer, you are always asked to initialize the disk along with 2 options:
*MBR (Master Boot Record)
*GPT (GUID Partition Table)
Nevertheless, many people have no idea of this issue so that they have to be hesitating when making a choice between MBR and GPT, and they eagerly hope someone could tell them master boot record vs. GUID Partition Table, which one is better or which one they should choose.
Are you troubled by such an issue? If yes, this post is what you are looking for, which clearly introduces the exact difference between MBR and GPT as well as shows how to choose the most proper one for your own HDD and how to set MBR or GPT for your SSD.MBR vs. GPT: What’s Their Difference
MBR stands for Master Boot Record while GPT represents GUID Partition Table, and they are 2 partitioning schemes for HDD, SSD and removable devices.
To know what partitioning scheme your hard disk is employing, just download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard, which is a free partitioning software to help users explore disk/partition properties, initialize disk (to MBR or GPT), enlarge a partition, change partitioning scheme between MBR and GPT, convert file system between FAT32 and NTFS, and so on.
Then, launch the freeware to get the main window:
From the screenshot you can see I have 2 disks: one MBR and one GPT.
Since MBR and GPT are partitioning schemes, they are doing the same thing: manage how partitions are created and organized on a hard disk, but they differ from each other in many aspects.
Let’s see the following paragraphs to learn some information about MBR vs. GPT.
Firstly, MBR and GPT Were Introduced in Different Time
MBR was introduced with IBM PC DOS 2.0 in March 1983 and it is used till now. However, GPT was developed in the late 1990s as part of what eventually became UEFI, and it becomes popular just in recent years.
Secondly, MBR and GPT Have Different Structures
MBR consists of 3 parts, including master boot code, a partition table for the disk, and disk signature. A partition table can hold maximum number of 4 entries for primary partitions in Windows.
However, a GUID Partition Table is composed of a Protective MBR which is used in a way that prevents MBR-based disk utilities from misrecognizing and possibly overwriting GPT disks, a primary GUID partition table header which records its own size and location and the size and location of the secondary GPT header, a primary GUID Partition Entry Array, a backup GUID Partition Entry Array, and a backup GUID Partition Table Header. A GUID partition table could contain up to 128 partition entries in Windows.
This chart comes from https://www.schoonepc.nl/instal/partition.html
From the above, you can know a major difference between MBR and GPT, which are the primary partition number on the HDD or SSD. So, if you choose to set MBR or GPT for SSD.
Thirdly, Supports on Disk Capacity and Partition Amounts Are Different
Support on Partition Amounts
Since an MBR partition table can hold 4 primary partition entries at most, you are only allowed to create the maximum number of 4 primary partitions on an MBR disk. If you want to create more partitions, you have to create an extended partition where lots of logical partitions could reside. However, a logical partition can’t be set active.
Top Recommendation: Fix - Disk Already Contains Maximum Number of Partitions Error
On the contrary, a GPT disk theoretically allows an almost unlimited number of partitions, but Windows implementation restricts it to 128 partitions. Each partition on GPT can function like a primary partition on MBR disk.
Support on Disk or Partition Capacity
You can only use 2TB or 16TB of a hard disk’s capacity no matter how large the disk is, if you initialize it to MBR. If the disk is using the traditional 512B sector, you can only use 2TB. If it is using 4Kn (4K native) sector, you can use 16TB.
However, a GPT disk can be up to 2^64 logical blocks in length, and logical blocks could be 512 bytes or 4K in size. Therefore, a GUID partition table disk can grow to a very large size compared with MBR partition table disks. Actually, there is no need to talk about disk or partition capacity limit of GPT since there will be no hard disk exceeding the limit in a very long time.
Fourthly, MBR Differs from GPT in Compatibility
All current Windows operating systems can use GPT partitioned disks for data, such as Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2016, but only their 64 bit versions support booting from GPT disk when UEFI boot mode is supported and enabled.
In addition, the 32 bit version of Windows XP can only see the Protective MBR, and even the 64 bit version can use GPT disk for data only.
At Last, They Have Different Boot Mode
If motherboard of your computer supports Legacy boot only, you can only boot Windows from MBR disk. To install Windows on GPT disk under this mode, you’ll receive the error message ’Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style’.
Or Windows won’t start if it is already installed on GPT disk under Legacy boot mode.
However, if motherboard of your computer supports UEFI boot only, you can only start Windows from GPT disk. To install Windows on MBR disk, you’ll receive the error message ’Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disk’.
Similarly, Windows will be unbootable if it is already installed on MBR disk in UEFI boot mode.
But luckily, current motherboards support both Legacy boot and UEFI boot, so you only need to enable the CSM (Compatibility Support Module) in BIOS when you want to boot Windows from both MBR disk and GPT disk, or enable UEFI when you want to boot from GPT disk, or enable Legacy BIOS while you plan to boot from MBR disk.
In addition, even if your motherboard supports one boot mode only, you can still find solutions from the article Windows Cannot Be Installed to a Disk? Here Are Solutions.
Then, let’s talk about which partitioning scheme is better, MBR or GPT.MBR vs. GPT: Which One Is Better or Which One to Choose
Auto clicker for mac safe. Please read all contents in this part and then choose the most proper partitioning scheme for your SSD, HDD, or even removable device.
GPT is better if you are planning to create more than 4 partitions.
We have said an MBR disk can hold 4 primary partitions at most while a GPT disk supports up to 128 primary partitions in Windows, so you can choose GPT if you want more partitions.Minitool Partition Wizard Gpt To Mbr Without Data Loss FreeNote: A dynamic disk also supports up to 128 partitions, so you can choose either Dynamic Disk or GPT disk if you demands for more partitions only.
But note on dynamic disk Windows can only be installed to a volume that was converted from a basic partition and retained an entry in the partition table. Simple volumes converted from basic partitions do not have an entry in the partition table unless they were system or boot volumes prior to conversion. This information is required to perform fresh installations of on dynamic volumes.
GPT is better than MBR if your hard disk is larger than 2TB.
Since you can only use 2TB of space from a 512B sector hard disk if you initialize it to MBR, you’d better format your disk to GPT if it is larger than 2TB. But if the disk is employing 4K native sector, you can use 16TB space.Tip: even if your MBR disk is saving data, you still have a chance to convert it to GPT without data loss. Detailed steps will be introduced in the last part of this post.
GPT is better if you seek for security.
GPT disks use primary and backup partition tables for redundancy and CRC32 fields for improved partition data structure integrity, so you can choose this partitioning scheme if you value data security.
Choose GPT rather than MBR for your system disk if UEFI boot is supported.
Compared with booting from MBR disk, it’s faster and more stable to boot Windows from GPT disk so that your computer performance could be improved, which is largely due to the design of UEFI. Please remember to enter your computer’s BIOS and enable UEFI boot if it isn’t.
Choose MBR for system disk if your motherboard doesn’t support UEFI boot.
Under Legacy boot mode, you can only initialize your system disk to MBR if you want Windows bootable.
Choose MBR as system disk if you have a 32 bit Windows to install.
Only 64 bit version of Windows can boot from GPT disk.
Choose MBR for system disk if you are still using the very old Windows OS.
If you are running Windows XP or older systems, MBR is the only choice for system disk even if it is a 64 bit system. If not, Windows will be unbootable or cannot be installed.
Well, knowing the differences between MBR and GPT, how can you initialize GPT or MBR for SSD or HDD, or convert a disk that already saves data between MBR and GPT without losing data? These are what we will talk in the following part.MBR vs. GPT: How to Initialize or Convert Disk Without Data Loss
How to Initialize Disk to MBR or GPT
It’s very easy to initialize a MBR or GPT for SSD or HDD, which could be done in both Windows Disk Management and MiniTool Partition Wizard.
In Disk Management:
Press on Win and R key to open Run and type diskmgmt.msc to launch Disk Management. Then, you’ll be asked to initialize the newly added hard disk, where you can choose either MBR or GPT.
In MiniTool Partition Wizard:
Launch the program to get its main window:
MiniTool Partition Wizard initializes the newly added disk to MBR by default, but you can select the disk and choose ’Initialize to GPT Disk’ or ’Convert MBR Disk to GPT Disk’ feature from the left action panel to convert the disk to GPT if you want GPT.
At last, click Apply’ button to perform the change.
But what if the disk has been saving lots of data?
How to Convert Disk to MBR or GPT without Data Loss
In Disk Management:
In this case, if you also turn to Disk Management, you’ll need to backup important files, and then delete all existing partitions. If not, the option ’Convert to GPT Disk’ or ’Convert to MBR Disk’ will be grayed out:Note: if you want GPT disk just for creating more partitions, converting MBR disk to dynamic disk is better than converting to GPT, because the former doesn’t require deleting partitions. But if you want to break the 2TB limit or pursue other features of GPT, convert it to GPT.
In MiniTool Partition Wizard:
Alternatively, you can use MiniTool Partition Wizard to do the conversion, which can keep your data and partition intact.
Firstly, launch the program to get its main window:
Then, select the MBR or GPT disk that you want to convert, and choose ’Convert MBR Disk to GPT Disk’ or ’Convert GPT Disk to MBR Disk’ from the left action panel.
At last, click Apply’ button to execute the change.Note: MiniTool Partition Wizard is also capable of converting system disk from MBR to GPT with keeping Windows bootable, but converting system disk to GPT should be on the basis that UEFI boot is supported and enabled in your BIOS.Bottom Line
Now, all information about MBR vs. GPT is told to you and you would know which partitioning scheme is better to choose. It’s time to initialize GPT or MBR for SSD or HDD or convert old HDD/SSD between MBR and GPT based on the actual needs.
Should you have any questions, feel free to leave us messages in Comments part or send us an email to [email protected].MBR VS GPT FAQ
MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (Guide Partition Table) are two different styles that help the system to manage your disk partitions. MBR is a disk partition standard began operating in 1983 and is still functional today. MBR disk has good compatibility and it is compatible in most operating systems.
The MBR format disk has some limitations. It is only capable of handling disks of up to 2TB and supports only 4 primary partitions. However, on GPT disk, you can have more than four primary partitions on each disk, which can be up to 128 partitions.MBR and GPT are two different ways to store the partition information on a hard drive. MBR and GPT disks have some differences and limitations. For MBR disk, it can only work with the disk up to 2TB and supports up to four primary partitions. However, the capacity of GPT disk can be larger and up to 128 partitions can be created. Windows can only boot from GPT on UEFI-based computers running a 64-bit version of Windows 10, 8, 7 Vista and corresponding Server editions.In general, the legacy BIOS only supports MBR, but the UEFI supports MBR and GPT. So, when selecting the MBR or GPT disk, you can take the OS support into consideration. All operating systems can be installed on the MBR disk. However, all Windows versions can use GPT partitioned disk to store data, but booting is only supported for 64-bit editions on UEFI-based systems.Minitool Partition Wizard Gpt To Mbr Without Data Loss CodeIf your disk is more than 2TB and you want to manage more than 4 primary partitions on a hard disk, you can choose to format the disk to GPT. When selecting MBR or GPT, you also need to check whether your computer uses BIOS or UEFI. BIOS only supports the MBR, but the UEFI supports the MBR and GPT.Summary :
As GPT disk becomes more and more popular, many people want to use GPT disk instead of MBR. So many users wonder: is there a way to convert MBR disk to GPT disk without any data loss? In fact, users can easily convert MBR disk to GPT as long as they use a professional partition magic. This article will show you how to convert MBR to GPT with a free partition magic.Quick Navigation :
MBR and GPT are two different partition styles (click here to see their differences). And GPT disk is becoming more and more popular now due to its superior features, and many people convert their MBR disk to GPT disk.
You may wonder: what are the advantages of GPT disk? How to convert MBR to GPT Windows 10? Will convert MBR to GPT erase all the disk partitions? If you want to know the answers to these questions, read the following contents.The Advantages of GPT Disk
Compared with an MBR disk, a GPT disk has the following advantages.
1. You can create more than 4 primary partitions on a GPT disk.
On a GPT disk, you can create up to 128 primary partitions while on an MBR disk (See: How to Create More Than 4 Partitions on MBR Disk in Windows 10), you are only allowed to create four primary partitions at most or 3 primary partitions and one extended partition (many logical partitions can be created).
2. GPT disk supports up to 18EB in capacity.
GPT disk supports up to 18EB in capacity but MBR disk only supports up to 2TB. If your disk is larger than 2TB, you will find the rest disk space becomesUnallocatedin Disk Management as Windows only recognizes 2TB for an MBR disk.
3. GPT disk has higher security than MBR disk.
Once the partition table is corrupted, MBR disk is unusable. While for GPT disk, it has primary GUID partition table header at the beginning of the hard disk and backup GUID partition table header at the end of the disk. Once errors are detected on primary GPT, it is allowed to recover the whole partition table from the backup GUID partition table header.
Above all, if you want to break those limits on MBR disk or if you have very important files on your disk and are afraid of data loss, you’d better convert MBR to GPT.Ways to Convert MBR to GPT Windows 10
In general, there are 3 ways to convert MBR to GPT:
1. Convert MBR to GPT Windows 10 with Disk Management.
Open Disk Management, right-click the disk that you want to convert, and delete all volumes on the disk. Then, select the disk and right-click it to chooseConvert to GPT diskfeature.
2. Convert MBR to GPT via Diskpart.
First of all, users need to pay attention to the number of disk which will be converted to GPT. Then, take these operations: open command prompt, type the following commands in Command Prompt, and press Enter after each command.Minitool Partition Wizard Gpt To Mbr Without Data Loss Calculator
diskpart
list disk
select disk * (* represents the number of the target disk)
clean
convert gpt
3. Convert MBR to GPT without data loss with third-party Partitioning Tool.
Although the first two methods can change MBR to GPT Windows 10, it will require you to delete all existing partitions on the disk, which will cause data loss. Since no one wants to delete any partition on the disk, in this case, it is recommended to use a free third-party partition manager to convert MBR to GPT.
Here, we take the free partition manager MiniTool Partition Wizard for example. Let’s see how to convert MBR to GPT without losing data by using MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition.How to Convert MBR to GPT Without Data Loss with MiniTool Partition WizardNote: If you want to convert the system disk to GPT, you need to get MiniTool Partition Wizard Professional Edition. If you want to boot from the GPT disk successfully, UEFI mode should be supported and enabled. Besides, you’d better use MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable Edition to convert the system disk and make a backup of the system disk beforehand.
Here I take a non-system disk as an example to show you how to convert MBR to GPT without data loss.
Step 1. Download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition by clicking the following button, install it on your computer and launch it to get the main interface.
Step 2. Select the target disk and chooseConvert MBR Disk to GPT Diskfrom the left pane.
Step 3. This interface is the preview of conversion result. ClickApplyto allow the change.Bottom Line
You see, to change MBR to GPT
https://diarynote-jp.indered.space
Unlike the previous partition software from EaseUS, Paragon’s brain-child can convert from GPT to MBR and vice-versa, which is pretty cool for freeware, but if you’re looking to do more complicated stuff, like converting NTFS to FAT32, convert dynamic to basic, merge partitions or change cluster size, you’ll have to go for the Pro version. How To Convert MBR to GPT Without Data Loss, MiniTool Partition Wizard.With time, the amount of data are inceresaing over the time and consequently the stora. In summary, MiniTool Partition Wizard can not only convert MBR to GPT without data loss in Windows 7/8/10 but also convert GPT to MBR without losing data. If you have the need to do the conversion between MBR and GPT or other partition issues, don’t hesitate to use MiniTool Partition Wizard.Minitool Partition Wizard Gpt To Mbr Without Data Loss ControlSummary :
MBR vs. GPT, which one is better, and what is the difference between GPT and MBR? In this post, we will explain these 2 aspects in detail. And we will tell you how to initialize them to MBR or GPT without data loss with a piece of professional partition manager - MiniTool Partition Wizard. Quick Navigation :Note: this post is much related to Windows rather than Mac OS X, Linux, or any other OS.
When adding a brand new HDD or SSD to computer, you are always asked to initialize the disk along with 2 options:
*MBR (Master Boot Record)
*GPT (GUID Partition Table)
Nevertheless, many people have no idea of this issue so that they have to be hesitating when making a choice between MBR and GPT, and they eagerly hope someone could tell them master boot record vs. GUID Partition Table, which one is better or which one they should choose.
Are you troubled by such an issue? If yes, this post is what you are looking for, which clearly introduces the exact difference between MBR and GPT as well as shows how to choose the most proper one for your own HDD and how to set MBR or GPT for your SSD.MBR vs. GPT: What’s Their Difference
MBR stands for Master Boot Record while GPT represents GUID Partition Table, and they are 2 partitioning schemes for HDD, SSD and removable devices.
To know what partitioning scheme your hard disk is employing, just download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard, which is a free partitioning software to help users explore disk/partition properties, initialize disk (to MBR or GPT), enlarge a partition, change partitioning scheme between MBR and GPT, convert file system between FAT32 and NTFS, and so on.
Then, launch the freeware to get the main window:
From the screenshot you can see I have 2 disks: one MBR and one GPT.
Since MBR and GPT are partitioning schemes, they are doing the same thing: manage how partitions are created and organized on a hard disk, but they differ from each other in many aspects.
Let’s see the following paragraphs to learn some information about MBR vs. GPT.
Firstly, MBR and GPT Were Introduced in Different Time
MBR was introduced with IBM PC DOS 2.0 in March 1983 and it is used till now. However, GPT was developed in the late 1990s as part of what eventually became UEFI, and it becomes popular just in recent years.
Secondly, MBR and GPT Have Different Structures
MBR consists of 3 parts, including master boot code, a partition table for the disk, and disk signature. A partition table can hold maximum number of 4 entries for primary partitions in Windows.
However, a GUID Partition Table is composed of a Protective MBR which is used in a way that prevents MBR-based disk utilities from misrecognizing and possibly overwriting GPT disks, a primary GUID partition table header which records its own size and location and the size and location of the secondary GPT header, a primary GUID Partition Entry Array, a backup GUID Partition Entry Array, and a backup GUID Partition Table Header. A GUID partition table could contain up to 128 partition entries in Windows.
This chart comes from https://www.schoonepc.nl/instal/partition.html
From the above, you can know a major difference between MBR and GPT, which are the primary partition number on the HDD or SSD. So, if you choose to set MBR or GPT for SSD.
Thirdly, Supports on Disk Capacity and Partition Amounts Are Different
Support on Partition Amounts
Since an MBR partition table can hold 4 primary partition entries at most, you are only allowed to create the maximum number of 4 primary partitions on an MBR disk. If you want to create more partitions, you have to create an extended partition where lots of logical partitions could reside. However, a logical partition can’t be set active.
Top Recommendation: Fix - Disk Already Contains Maximum Number of Partitions Error
On the contrary, a GPT disk theoretically allows an almost unlimited number of partitions, but Windows implementation restricts it to 128 partitions. Each partition on GPT can function like a primary partition on MBR disk.
Support on Disk or Partition Capacity
You can only use 2TB or 16TB of a hard disk’s capacity no matter how large the disk is, if you initialize it to MBR. If the disk is using the traditional 512B sector, you can only use 2TB. If it is using 4Kn (4K native) sector, you can use 16TB.
However, a GPT disk can be up to 2^64 logical blocks in length, and logical blocks could be 512 bytes or 4K in size. Therefore, a GUID partition table disk can grow to a very large size compared with MBR partition table disks. Actually, there is no need to talk about disk or partition capacity limit of GPT since there will be no hard disk exceeding the limit in a very long time.
Fourthly, MBR Differs from GPT in Compatibility
All current Windows operating systems can use GPT partitioned disks for data, such as Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2016, but only their 64 bit versions support booting from GPT disk when UEFI boot mode is supported and enabled.
In addition, the 32 bit version of Windows XP can only see the Protective MBR, and even the 64 bit version can use GPT disk for data only.
At Last, They Have Different Boot Mode
If motherboard of your computer supports Legacy boot only, you can only boot Windows from MBR disk. To install Windows on GPT disk under this mode, you’ll receive the error message ’Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style’.
Or Windows won’t start if it is already installed on GPT disk under Legacy boot mode.
However, if motherboard of your computer supports UEFI boot only, you can only start Windows from GPT disk. To install Windows on MBR disk, you’ll receive the error message ’Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disk’.
Similarly, Windows will be unbootable if it is already installed on MBR disk in UEFI boot mode.
But luckily, current motherboards support both Legacy boot and UEFI boot, so you only need to enable the CSM (Compatibility Support Module) in BIOS when you want to boot Windows from both MBR disk and GPT disk, or enable UEFI when you want to boot from GPT disk, or enable Legacy BIOS while you plan to boot from MBR disk.
In addition, even if your motherboard supports one boot mode only, you can still find solutions from the article Windows Cannot Be Installed to a Disk? Here Are Solutions.
Then, let’s talk about which partitioning scheme is better, MBR or GPT.MBR vs. GPT: Which One Is Better or Which One to Choose
Auto clicker for mac safe. Please read all contents in this part and then choose the most proper partitioning scheme for your SSD, HDD, or even removable device.
GPT is better if you are planning to create more than 4 partitions.
We have said an MBR disk can hold 4 primary partitions at most while a GPT disk supports up to 128 primary partitions in Windows, so you can choose GPT if you want more partitions.Minitool Partition Wizard Gpt To Mbr Without Data Loss FreeNote: A dynamic disk also supports up to 128 partitions, so you can choose either Dynamic Disk or GPT disk if you demands for more partitions only.
But note on dynamic disk Windows can only be installed to a volume that was converted from a basic partition and retained an entry in the partition table. Simple volumes converted from basic partitions do not have an entry in the partition table unless they were system or boot volumes prior to conversion. This information is required to perform fresh installations of on dynamic volumes.
GPT is better than MBR if your hard disk is larger than 2TB.
Since you can only use 2TB of space from a 512B sector hard disk if you initialize it to MBR, you’d better format your disk to GPT if it is larger than 2TB. But if the disk is employing 4K native sector, you can use 16TB space.Tip: even if your MBR disk is saving data, you still have a chance to convert it to GPT without data loss. Detailed steps will be introduced in the last part of this post.
GPT is better if you seek for security.
GPT disks use primary and backup partition tables for redundancy and CRC32 fields for improved partition data structure integrity, so you can choose this partitioning scheme if you value data security.
Choose GPT rather than MBR for your system disk if UEFI boot is supported.
Compared with booting from MBR disk, it’s faster and more stable to boot Windows from GPT disk so that your computer performance could be improved, which is largely due to the design of UEFI. Please remember to enter your computer’s BIOS and enable UEFI boot if it isn’t.
Choose MBR for system disk if your motherboard doesn’t support UEFI boot.
Under Legacy boot mode, you can only initialize your system disk to MBR if you want Windows bootable.
Choose MBR as system disk if you have a 32 bit Windows to install.
Only 64 bit version of Windows can boot from GPT disk.
Choose MBR for system disk if you are still using the very old Windows OS.
If you are running Windows XP or older systems, MBR is the only choice for system disk even if it is a 64 bit system. If not, Windows will be unbootable or cannot be installed.
Well, knowing the differences between MBR and GPT, how can you initialize GPT or MBR for SSD or HDD, or convert a disk that already saves data between MBR and GPT without losing data? These are what we will talk in the following part.MBR vs. GPT: How to Initialize or Convert Disk Without Data Loss
How to Initialize Disk to MBR or GPT
It’s very easy to initialize a MBR or GPT for SSD or HDD, which could be done in both Windows Disk Management and MiniTool Partition Wizard.
In Disk Management:
Press on Win and R key to open Run and type diskmgmt.msc to launch Disk Management. Then, you’ll be asked to initialize the newly added hard disk, where you can choose either MBR or GPT.
In MiniTool Partition Wizard:
Launch the program to get its main window:
MiniTool Partition Wizard initializes the newly added disk to MBR by default, but you can select the disk and choose ’Initialize to GPT Disk’ or ’Convert MBR Disk to GPT Disk’ feature from the left action panel to convert the disk to GPT if you want GPT.
At last, click Apply’ button to perform the change.
But what if the disk has been saving lots of data?
How to Convert Disk to MBR or GPT without Data Loss
In Disk Management:
In this case, if you also turn to Disk Management, you’ll need to backup important files, and then delete all existing partitions. If not, the option ’Convert to GPT Disk’ or ’Convert to MBR Disk’ will be grayed out:Note: if you want GPT disk just for creating more partitions, converting MBR disk to dynamic disk is better than converting to GPT, because the former doesn’t require deleting partitions. But if you want to break the 2TB limit or pursue other features of GPT, convert it to GPT.
In MiniTool Partition Wizard:
Alternatively, you can use MiniTool Partition Wizard to do the conversion, which can keep your data and partition intact.
Firstly, launch the program to get its main window:
Then, select the MBR or GPT disk that you want to convert, and choose ’Convert MBR Disk to GPT Disk’ or ’Convert GPT Disk to MBR Disk’ from the left action panel.
At last, click Apply’ button to execute the change.Note: MiniTool Partition Wizard is also capable of converting system disk from MBR to GPT with keeping Windows bootable, but converting system disk to GPT should be on the basis that UEFI boot is supported and enabled in your BIOS.Bottom Line
Now, all information about MBR vs. GPT is told to you and you would know which partitioning scheme is better to choose. It’s time to initialize GPT or MBR for SSD or HDD or convert old HDD/SSD between MBR and GPT based on the actual needs.
Should you have any questions, feel free to leave us messages in Comments part or send us an email to [email protected].MBR VS GPT FAQ
MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (Guide Partition Table) are two different styles that help the system to manage your disk partitions. MBR is a disk partition standard began operating in 1983 and is still functional today. MBR disk has good compatibility and it is compatible in most operating systems.
The MBR format disk has some limitations. It is only capable of handling disks of up to 2TB and supports only 4 primary partitions. However, on GPT disk, you can have more than four primary partitions on each disk, which can be up to 128 partitions.MBR and GPT are two different ways to store the partition information on a hard drive. MBR and GPT disks have some differences and limitations. For MBR disk, it can only work with the disk up to 2TB and supports up to four primary partitions. However, the capacity of GPT disk can be larger and up to 128 partitions can be created. Windows can only boot from GPT on UEFI-based computers running a 64-bit version of Windows 10, 8, 7 Vista and corresponding Server editions.In general, the legacy BIOS only supports MBR, but the UEFI supports MBR and GPT. So, when selecting the MBR or GPT disk, you can take the OS support into consideration. All operating systems can be installed on the MBR disk. However, all Windows versions can use GPT partitioned disk to store data, but booting is only supported for 64-bit editions on UEFI-based systems.Minitool Partition Wizard Gpt To Mbr Without Data Loss CodeIf your disk is more than 2TB and you want to manage more than 4 primary partitions on a hard disk, you can choose to format the disk to GPT. When selecting MBR or GPT, you also need to check whether your computer uses BIOS or UEFI. BIOS only supports the MBR, but the UEFI supports the MBR and GPT.Summary :
As GPT disk becomes more and more popular, many people want to use GPT disk instead of MBR. So many users wonder: is there a way to convert MBR disk to GPT disk without any data loss? In fact, users can easily convert MBR disk to GPT as long as they use a professional partition magic. This article will show you how to convert MBR to GPT with a free partition magic.Quick Navigation :
MBR and GPT are two different partition styles (click here to see their differences). And GPT disk is becoming more and more popular now due to its superior features, and many people convert their MBR disk to GPT disk.
You may wonder: what are the advantages of GPT disk? How to convert MBR to GPT Windows 10? Will convert MBR to GPT erase all the disk partitions? If you want to know the answers to these questions, read the following contents.The Advantages of GPT Disk
Compared with an MBR disk, a GPT disk has the following advantages.
1. You can create more than 4 primary partitions on a GPT disk.
On a GPT disk, you can create up to 128 primary partitions while on an MBR disk (See: How to Create More Than 4 Partitions on MBR Disk in Windows 10), you are only allowed to create four primary partitions at most or 3 primary partitions and one extended partition (many logical partitions can be created).
2. GPT disk supports up to 18EB in capacity.
GPT disk supports up to 18EB in capacity but MBR disk only supports up to 2TB. If your disk is larger than 2TB, you will find the rest disk space becomesUnallocatedin Disk Management as Windows only recognizes 2TB for an MBR disk.
3. GPT disk has higher security than MBR disk.
Once the partition table is corrupted, MBR disk is unusable. While for GPT disk, it has primary GUID partition table header at the beginning of the hard disk and backup GUID partition table header at the end of the disk. Once errors are detected on primary GPT, it is allowed to recover the whole partition table from the backup GUID partition table header.
Above all, if you want to break those limits on MBR disk or if you have very important files on your disk and are afraid of data loss, you’d better convert MBR to GPT.Ways to Convert MBR to GPT Windows 10
In general, there are 3 ways to convert MBR to GPT:
1. Convert MBR to GPT Windows 10 with Disk Management.
Open Disk Management, right-click the disk that you want to convert, and delete all volumes on the disk. Then, select the disk and right-click it to chooseConvert to GPT diskfeature.
2. Convert MBR to GPT via Diskpart.
First of all, users need to pay attention to the number of disk which will be converted to GPT. Then, take these operations: open command prompt, type the following commands in Command Prompt, and press Enter after each command.Minitool Partition Wizard Gpt To Mbr Without Data Loss Calculator
diskpart
list disk
select disk * (* represents the number of the target disk)
clean
convert gpt
3. Convert MBR to GPT without data loss with third-party Partitioning Tool.
Although the first two methods can change MBR to GPT Windows 10, it will require you to delete all existing partitions on the disk, which will cause data loss. Since no one wants to delete any partition on the disk, in this case, it is recommended to use a free third-party partition manager to convert MBR to GPT.
Here, we take the free partition manager MiniTool Partition Wizard for example. Let’s see how to convert MBR to GPT without losing data by using MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition.How to Convert MBR to GPT Without Data Loss with MiniTool Partition WizardNote: If you want to convert the system disk to GPT, you need to get MiniTool Partition Wizard Professional Edition. If you want to boot from the GPT disk successfully, UEFI mode should be supported and enabled. Besides, you’d better use MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable Edition to convert the system disk and make a backup of the system disk beforehand.
Here I take a non-system disk as an example to show you how to convert MBR to GPT without data loss.
Step 1. Download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition by clicking the following button, install it on your computer and launch it to get the main interface.
Step 2. Select the target disk and chooseConvert MBR Disk to GPT Diskfrom the left pane.
Step 3. This interface is the preview of conversion result. ClickApplyto allow the change.Bottom Line
You see, to change MBR to GPT
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