How to convert a section to gpt. How to check if your hard disk is using GPT or MBR and convert one standard to another. You may be interested in this

Newer versions of Windows (Vista, 7), like older versions (XP, 2000), use the outdated M.B.R. Boot Master Record. or an updated registry of the GUID partition (G.P.T.) as a plan of the hard drive parts.

In other words, these are various methods of placing and saving the plan of parts on the hard drives of a computer. The GUID Part Table is a more advanced method that is used for UEFI-based Windows systems. For example, starting with Windows 8 and up.

Master Boot Record - used on earlier Windows systems that operate on the basis of BIOS, but Windows 7 with 64-bit bits can boot with a GUID as well.

How to find out what kind of table of parts your disks are using

Click on the combination Win + R and type in the cmd field press "Enter" to launch the command line. Then, in the command line, type in diskpart, press enter, then type list disk, confirm the command with the "Enter" key. A board will appear on which a list of working information storages is shown.

The string "Gpt" will be marked with an asterisk if used on disk. An unmarked line means that the MBR scheme is used.
For example, in the image below, "Disk 0" and "Disk 1" operate with "G.P.T", and "Disk 2" operate with the "M.B.R" scheme.
Save the information from the disk and start formatting. Before converting a hard drive from gpt to mbr or vice versa, you need to format it, completely deleting everything that is saved on it. Therefore, copy the data to the reserve if the information is necessary for you.
When the system is converted to a new schema, all data with partition tables will be deleted to load the new schema.

Convert partition schemes via command line

Be sure to copy all your data before proceeding with the conversion. Remember, the system will clear the disk completely!

It is better to convert partition schemes using the command line, because the used option "clean" opens closed or locked partitions and disks for modification from the graphical disk management partition.

At the command prompt, enter diskpart and list disk. The window will show a list of computer disks. (They differ in number and size) Write down the ordinal number of the converted object.

Type in select disk #, where we replace the lattice with the number of the formatted storage. Then type clean, each command is executed by typing with the "Enter" key. After that, all information and parts are completely erased from the disk.

Then type convert gpt if you want to convert from M.B.R, and convert mbr if you want to convert from G.P.T.

This is how you repeat a set of commands to convert all the drives you need.

How to convert gpt to mbr without data loss

There are several options for reformatting partition table schemas while preserving data on disks. There are programs that can accomplish this task. You can take a chance and take advantage of them.

But, such programs have a significant drawback - they are unofficial products, and their compatibility has not been confirmed by Microsoft. So you can convert to gpt without losing data, but according to Microsoft, this is "unsafe" for your computer.

But if such a need nevertheless arises, this can be done using a bootable disk, for example "LIVE CD / DVD", in which there is a utility PARAGON HARD DISK MANADGER

Load Windows through this disk, through the "START" menu, select the desired program. We launch and then start converting storages through it.

This is how you can easily convert mbr partitions to gpt when installing Windows without losing the necessary information.

Good day everyone!

It sometimes happens that when you try to install Windows on your computer, you may see an error like this: "Windows cannot be installed on this disk because the disk uses an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed on a GPT disk." ... Or it is possible that your system simply does not see a disk that is larger than 2 TB.

In these cases, you need to convert the MBR to GPT partition table to fix this problem. This can be done in different ways and ways, in this article I will consider how it can be done no data loss (see method 1 and 2)!

As a side note!

Difference between MBR and GPT. MBR supports partitions up to 2 TB. If your disk is, say, 4 TB (which is no longer uncommon), then when using MBR - 2 TB on such a disk will be listed as an unallocated area (and will not be used).

How to convert MBR to GPT

Method number 1: step by step in the AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition

AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition

An excellent and free program for working with hard drives. Allows literally in 2-3 clicks to change the file system, partition sizes, clone, etc. Moreover, many operations are performed without loss of information (which is so lacking in the tools built into Windows).

Supplement (from 10.11.18): the option for converting MBR to GPT in the 7th version of the program became paid (in the 6.6th version it was free, and it was on it that I relied on when writing the article).

I do not consider downloading and installing the program - it is standard. After starting, in the main window of the program, you can immediately find out which of the available disks are in the system in GPT, and which in MBR (see the screenshot below).

As you noticed, "Disk 3" I have MBR and I am converting it to GPT.

To do this, just right-click on the disk itself (where it is directly written that this is "Disc 3", see the screenshot below), and in the menu that appears, select "Convert to GPT disk".

After that, in the left corner of the screen, you need to confirm all the commands that we gave the program in the current session: click the "Apply" button.

A reboot is required to complete the current operation. Therefore, first of all, save all your open documents, and then click on the "Go" button in the program window (see example below).

The final touch: agree to reboot ...

After rebooting the device, instead of loading Windows, a special will be launched. conversion utility (see example below). Within seconds, my 1TB disk was converted to GPT (again, no data loss).

That, in fact, is all the action.

Addition!

If you want to convert the system disk (i.e. the disk on which you have Windows installed and from which you are currently booted), then you will fail. In this case, there are two options:

1) remove the disk from the PC / laptop, connect it to another device and perform the conversion operation;

2) create a bootable USB flash drive (can be done in the same AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard), and already booted from it to carry out the operation.

Make Bootable CD Master

Method number 2: using the MiniTool Partition Wizard utility

Multifunctional program for working with hard drives. Allows you to split, format, resize hard disk partitions. The free version of the program supports converting from MBR to GPT (which is what we need).

Perhaps one of the significant disadvantages for the majority will be the lack of the Russian language.

Note: screenshots in the article are made from version 10.3.

After starting the program, you will be presented with a list of all drives connected to the system (HDD, SSD, USB flash drives, etc.). Please note that next to the name of the disk, its partition table (MBR, GPT) is indicated.

To convert from one to another: just right-click on the desired disk and select "Convert MBR Disk to GPT Disk" from the menu (example on the screenshot below).

Then another warning will pop up, after confirming the operation, the disk will be converted. If you are converting a disk other than the system disk (i.e. not the one on which you have Windows installed), then the operation takes 1-2 minutes. (see screenshot below).

Method number 3. At the command line or disk management

Important! This method will delete all your data on the disk!

If you encounter the error "On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to a GPT disk" when installing Windows: then in order to open the command line, press the combination of buttons Shift + F10.

Otherwise, to run the command line, open the task manager (keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Esc) , click "file / new task" and enter the command CMD(check the box that the task must be performed by an administrator!).

Windows also has another good tool for working with disks. It's called just that - disk management .

To open it, you need:

1. press a combination of buttons Win + R ;
2. enter command diskmgmt.msc and press Enter.

To find out what partitioning on the disk (MBR or GPT), just right-click on the disk (in the place where it says "Disk 0", "Disk 1", etc., see the example below), and open properties .

• "Partition table with GUID ..." is GPT;
• the MBR markup will be indicated directly.

To convert MBR to GPT - you must first completely delete all partitions on the disk (important! when deleting a partition - you will lose all data on the disk!) ... If the sections are not deleted, then the "Convert to GPT" button will simply be inactive (as in the screenshot below).

That's all for me today.

Let's see how to convert MBR to GPT to change the style of hard disk partitions on a computer. Converting an MBR disk to GPT will allow you to move to the modern standard, which has some advantages over the previous one.

Previously, during the boot of the Windows operating system, the BIOS used the MBR (Master Boot Record) located on the computer's hard disk. The BIOS initializes the hardware, accesses the MBR, transfers control of the computer to the operating system.

At this point in time, the outdated BIOS has been replaced with a new UEFI interface. One of the components of UEFI is the GPT (GUID Partition Table) partition table, located on the PC's hard drive. Motherboard manufacturers are releasing hardware with a new UEFI bootloader, so hard drive manufacturers are adjusting to the new GTP standard.

Thanks to UEFI, the computer will be more secure (Secure Boot function). When using GPT, the performance increases, there are more chances for it due to the fact that the partition data is stored in different places on the disk, and not in one place, as on a disk with an MBR partition table.

There are some differences between GPT and MBR disks:

• disks with GPT support the creation of a huge number of partitions (up to 128), disks can be of any size, from the existing hard disks;
• on disks with MBR there is a limitation of disk size up to 2 TB, you cannot create more than 4 partitions;
• only 64-bit Windows operating system (starting from Windows Vista x64 SP1) can be installed on a disk with a GPT partition table;
• with UEFI BIOS, Windows can only be installed on a GPT disk.

If necessary, the user can change the MBR disk to GPT, or vice versa, convert. How to make a GPT disk from MBR?

There are several ways to convert a disk from MBR to GPT: by means of the system and using third-party software. Conversion to GPT by means of the system occurs with the loss of data on the hard disk. All partitions will be deleted from the disk, all information will be erased.

To convert to GPT without losing data, you need to use third-party programs (Paragon Hard Disk Manager, AOMEI Patition Assistant, Acronis Disk Director, MiniTool Partition Wizard, EaseUS Partition Master, etc.), which should be run from a bootable media (USB flash drive or CD / DVD disc).

In this article, we will analyze the methods using the tools of the Windows operating system: the Disk Management snap-in, using the command line during system installation, an easy way when installing Windows on a computer.

How to convert from MBR to GPT in Disk Management

This instruction is suitable if the computer has two hard disks, one of the disks needs to be converted to GPT. All actions take place in a running Windows operating system.

Follow these sequential steps:

1. Press the "Win" + "R" keys.
2. In the Run dialog box, enter the command: "diskmgmt.msc" (without quotes), and then click OK.
3. The “Disk Management” window will open, in which you need to right-click on the name of the required disk (“Disk 0”, “Disk 1”, etc.).
4. The "Convert to GPT disk" context menu item will be inactive if there is data on the disk. All information must be removed to enable the disk conversion feature.

1. Right-click on the disk area, select "Delete volume ...".
2. Click on the disc name again and then click on "Convert to GPT disc".

1. Do all the necessary steps.

After conversion, the hard disk has a GPT partition table. You can install 64-bit Windows OS on the disc.

How to convert from MBR to GPT via command line

During the installation of Windows on the computer, an error message appears in the window for selecting a drive for installing the operating system: "Unable to install Windows to partition X of drive X. (Show details)".

To view the message, open a window in which you will see the entry: “Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk contains an MBR partition table. On an EFI system, Windows can only be installed to a GPT disk. "

To solve the problem, you can use the system tool: the command line. We convert HDD disk from MBR to GPT via command line.

In the Windows installation window, press the "Shift" + "F10" keyboard keys (on some laptop models, it may be "Shift" + "Fn" + "F10").

In a command prompt window, run the Diskpart utility, which is designed to work with disks. Enter the commands sequentially, after entering each command, press the "Enter" key.

Diskpart

In the console window, enter the command to display a list of all disks on the computer:

List disk

Now you need to select the disc number. If your computer has multiple hard drives, look at the size of the drive to distinguish the drives from each other.

Select disk X (X - disk number)

Enter the command to clear the contents of the disk. After executing the command, all data and partitions on the disk will be deleted.

Then enter the command to convert the disk to GPT partition style:

Convert gpt

To exit the Diskpart application, enter the last command:

Close the command prompt.

The hard disk has been converted from MBR to GPT style.

Refresh the Windows installation window. Unallocated space appears in the disk selection window. Click on the "Next" button. Windows Setup will create the necessary partitions on its own, and then continue with the installation of the operating system.

Convert MBR to GPT on Windows Installation

Now let's see how to convert MBR tables to GPT when installing Windows 10.

After an error appears about the impossibility of installing Windows on a disk with MBR partitions, do the following:

Remove all partitions from the hard drive. Highlight the section and then click on the "Delete" button.

If the computer has another hard drive, do not touch it. Look at the disk number and the size of the partitions so that you are not mistaken when deleting partitions.

After deleting partitions, there will be unallocated space on the disk. Do nothing else, just click on the "Next" button.

Windows Setup will automatically convert the disk to GPT, create the necessary partitions, and continue installing the operating system on your computer.

Conclusions of the article

The Windows operating system supports converting hard disk partition tables from MBR to GPT using its own means: using the Disk Management snap-in, using the command line during system installation, or simply removing partitions during Windows installation.

Nowadays most laptops and computers are sold with Windows 8 preinstalled. But not all users like it. Many people uninstall the new operating system and install the familiar Windows 7 instead.

However, during the installation process, the following message appears: “Windows cannot be installed on this disc. The selected disk has a GPT partition style. "

The thing is that new computers have hard drives with a GPT partition table instead of the usual MBR. This is a new standard developed by Intel and is part of the UEFI BIOSa. Unlike the MBR table, which supported drives with a maximum of 2 TB, the GPT partition table supports much larger hard drives.

But, despite all the advantages, sometimes you need to install the operating system on a disk with an MBR partition table. Let's take a look at how you can convert your hard drive from GPT to MBR.

During Windows installation

Delete all sections

ATTENTION!!! All information stored on the hard drive will be deleted.

During the installation of the operating system, in the window where you need to select the partition for installation, click on the button "Disk setup"... Then delete everything and recreate them. If the volume of your hard drive is less than 2.2 TB, then a new disk will be created with the MBR partition table.

Converting via the command line

This method also implies complete deletion of data from all partitions. That is, if you had sections C :, D :, E :, then the information will be deleted not only from C: on which the system was installed, but also from D: and from E :.

In the window where you need to select the partition for installing the operating system, press Shift + F10.

A command prompt window will open. We will convert GPT to MBR using a special utility built into Windows. Enter the command diskpart and press "Enter".

The list disk command will open a list in which you can select the one you want. Note, if the disk is with the GPT partition table, there will be "*" in front of it.

The select disk 0 command will allow you to select the desired disk. Here, instead of "0", there should be the number of your hard drive, which was determined by the previous command - it can be 0, and 1, and 2, depending on how many are installed on the computer.

The clean command will completely clean it up - remove all sections and information from them.

The convert mbr command converts hard to MBR.

Enter exit once to exit the DiskPart console utility, and exit again to close the command prompt.

Now on the hard partition table MBR, you can proceed with the installation of the operating system.

Conversion without data loss

If you do not want to lose the information that is on the hard drive, but convert it to MBR as needed, then we will use the Paragon Hard Disk Manager program. You can download it from the official website. The only thing is that this program is paid. Of course, there is a Demo version, but the GPT to MBR converter is not active in it. Therefore, you only need to install the full version.

We launch the program on a computer using a Live CD or a bootable USB flash drive. Then select the hard one to be converted with the mouse. Here you can also see which partition table is on it.

If such a list does not open for you, find the item in the program window "List of disks and partitions" and click on the black small arrow opposite it.

Click on the desired one with the right mouse button and select the item "Convert basic GPT to basic MBR disk".

In the next window, click on the button "Convert".

To apply the changes, click on the green checkmark in the upper left corner.

A confirmation window will pop up, click "Yes".

After the process is complete, click "Close".

Now the name in the list will change - "Basic MBR hard drive".

We open the disk through the explorer and see that all the files have remained in place.

Convert on a computer with two hard drives

Consider this option as well. The computer has two hard drives, divided into partitions. Your main OS is on the first, on the second you want to install a new system. In this case, you can convert GPT to MBR using Windows itself, or using Paragon Hard Disk Manager.

With the removal of information

Let's consider the first option. In this case, the information from the selected hard disk will be deleted. To do this, go to "Disk Management": press the combination Win + R and in the "Open" field type diskmgmt.msc, click "OK".

The window we need will open. I only have one hard drive installed. You will have "Disk 0" and "Disk 1". Select the one on which you are going to install the new OS. Now right-click on any partition and select "Delete volume" from the context menu. Repeat this for everyone else on this hard drive.

Now right-click on the hardest one and select the item "Convert to MBR Disk"(you will have it).

After that, the partition table will be MBR. You can partition the disk into the necessary partitions.

With the preservation of information

The second option is to use the Paragon Hard Disk Manager program. Run it on a computer with a working operating system. All information will be saved. Then select the hard one that you want to convert, the main thing is not the one on which the working OS is installed, and repeat all the steps with the program that were described in the paragraph above.

As you can see, there are various ways to convert a disk with a GPT partition table to MBR. You can convert the disk to MBR when installing the operating system, or use Paragon Hard Disk Manager and save all the data.

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Read, how to convert MBR and GPT in Windows 10... Why it leads to data loss and how to avoid it. Historically, during the initial boot of the computer, the BIOS initialized devices and transferred control to the operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS). To do this, he consulted the logical partition table, which is stored in the Master Boot Record of the disk. The disks described in the MBR had a maximum size of 2 TB and their number did not exceed 4. The capabilities of modern hard drives required software improvements and GPT replaced MBR.

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