If you convert a disk from gpt to mbr. Instructions for converting GPT style to MBR

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

However, during the installation process, the following message appears: "Windows cannot be installed to this drive. The selected drive is in 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 BIOS. Unlike the MBR table, which supported drives up to 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 see how you can convert your hard drive from GPT to MBR.

During Windows Setup

Delete all partitions

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 a partition for installation, click on the button "Disk Setup". Then delete everything and create them again. If the volume of your hard drive is less than 2.2 TB, then a new disk will be created with an MBR partition table.

Convert via command line

This method also involves the complete removal 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 E:.

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

A command line 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 select the one you need. Please note that if the disk has a GPT partition table, it will have a "*" 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, 1, or 2, depending on how many of them are installed on the computer.

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

The convert mbr command converts hard to MBR.

Type 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.

Data Lossless Conversion

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 site. 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 need to install only the full version.

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

If you have not opened such a list, find the item in the program window "List of disks and partitions" and click on the little black arrow next to it.

Right click on the desired one and select "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 completed, click "Close".

Now the name will change in the list - "Basic MBR Hard Drive".

We open the disk through Explorer and see that all the files are left in place.

Converting on a computer with two hard drives

Let's consider this option. The computer has two hard drives, divided into sections. Your main OS is on the first one, 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 drive will be deleted. For this we go to "Disk Management": press the Win + R combination and in the "Open" field type diskmgmt.msc, click "OK".

The window we need will open. I only have one hard one 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 "Convert to MBR Disk"(you will have it).

After that, the partition table will be MBR. You can partition the disk into 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 drive 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 the Paragon Hard Disk Manager program and save all data.

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Often when installing windows, when choosing a target disk, you can stumble upon a message like “The selected disk contains an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to a GPT disk"

An example of an MBR error when installing Windows

The Internet is full of advice, ranging from the strange “you need to press esc very often at a certain stage of the installation”, and ending with quite tolerable, but not always applicable.

Let's try to figure out what can be done in this situation, what is the best thing to do, and in general the reasons for this error.

Reasons for the error

A long time ago, when hard drives were small (less than a terabyte) and used a BIOS, they used something called the Master Boot Record (MBR). Any operating system of the Windows family firmly settled in this entry in order to boot successfully. This entry was located in a certain area of the hard disk, and was accordingly limited in size. Over time, the BIOS was replaced by the UEFI system. And the screws got bigger. And bright minds realized that the MBR is very outdated, and that its volume is small. What if a cunning user wants to install ten operating systems on his multi-terabyte screw? This is how they came up with a replacement for MBR - GPT. And new versions of Windows (starting with the eight for sure) require that the hard drive, if the computer does not have a BIOS a UEFI, be formatted in GPT - just in case.

What to do?

The first option is to enable a special boot mode - Legacy. This mode will make it clear to the Windows installer that this computer has compatibility with older systems, and you can use the MBR. Unfortunately, it is impossible to say how to enable this mode in a specific BIOS - each developer hides it as best he can. Here is one example:

Example of switching boot mode in Legacy

The disadvantage of this method is that if at some point the installer stops responding to Legacy mode, then the method will stop working.

What to do if the previous method cannot be used? The obvious answer is to convert the drive to GPT format. The Windows Installer provides this option, but − all data on the disk will be destroyed. There is also a third method - but more on that later.

So, you are ready to convert the disk to GPT and delete all data. Here are the steps for that:

In the Windows installer, we reach the disk partitioning stage
Click Shift+f10. The console will open (black window with white letters).
We enter the following commands in sequence (after each line, press Enter and wait for a new command prompt):
1. diskpart list disk select disk clean convert gpt exit
At the select disk stage, you need to enter your disk number, which is just shown by the list disk command. Most likely, the disk number is 0. But in the case of booting from a USB flash drive, the number may differ.
Everything, the disk is formatted

This is all great, but not everyone wants to destroy all the data on their disk. In this case, a wonderful utility will help us. Naturally, for its operation, a downloadable working copy of windows is needed. You can put an old XP for such a thing, you can use some kind of assembly that allows you to run programs. In general, the sequence of actions is as follows:

Download the utility and unpack it to a place accessible to windows (for working Windows - anywhere, for an installer with programs running - most likely to a USB flash drive with an installer)
We get in any way to any Windows console. In a working copy, this can be done with the "cmd" command in the "Run" window.
Go to the folder with the unpacked gptgen (for those who do not know how to use the console, google the CD command).
Run the following command gptgen.exe -w \\.\\physicaldrive0

Naturally, instead of zero at the end, you need to substitute the number of the disk that needs to be overtaken. How to find out the disk number is described above. Most likely, you will still need to confirm the conversion, but the program will kindly ask you for this. All! The disk is converted, the data is in place. The only thing is that the windows bootloader will most likely crash. But you can either restore it, if necessary, or install a new windows, for which, in fact, all this was started.

Good day!

If you have a new computer (relatively) with UEFI support, then when installing a new Windows, you may be faced with the need to convert (convert) your MBR disk to GPT. For example, during installation, you may receive an error like: "On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed on a GPT disk!".

In this case, there are two solutions: either switch UEFI to Leagcy Mode compatibility mode (not good, because UEFI shows higher performance. The same Windows loads faster); or convert the partition table from MBR to GPT (fortunately, there are programs that do this without losing data on the media).

Actually, in this article I will consider the second option. So, ...

Convert MBR disk to GPT (without losing data on it)

For further work, you need one small program - AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Great disk management software! Firstly, it is free for home use, supports the Russian language and runs on all popular Windows 7, 8, 10 (32/64 bit) operating systems.

Secondly, it has several interesting wizards that will do the entire routine process of setting up and setting parameters for you. For example:

disk copy wizard;
partition copy wizard;
partition recovery wizard;
OS transfer wizard from HDD to SSD (relevant recently);
bootable media builder.

Naturally, the program can format hard drives, change the MBR structure to GPT (and vice versa), and so on.

So, after launching the program, select your drive that you want to convert (you need to choose the name "Disk 1" for example), and then right-click on it and select the "Convert to GPT" function (as in Figure 1).

Rice. 1. Convert disk MBR to GPT.

Rice. 2. We agree with the transformation!

Then you need to click the "Apply" button (in the upper left corner of the screen. For some reason, many are lost at this step, expecting that the program has already started working - it's not!).

Rice. 3. Apply changes with disk.

Then AOMEI Partition Assistant you will be shown a list of actions that she will perform if you give consent. If the disk is chosen correctly, then just agree.

Rice. 4. Start conversion.

As a rule, the process of converting from MBR to GPT is fast. For example, a 500 GB drive was converted in a couple of minutes! At this time, it is better not to touch the PC and not interfere with the program to do its job. At the end, you will see a message that the conversion is complete (as in Figure 5).

Rice. 5. The disk has been converted to GPT successfully!

Pros:

fast conversion, literally a few minutes;
conversion occurs without data loss - all files and folders on the disk are intact;
it is not necessary to have any special knowledge, you do not need to enter any codes, etc. The whole operation comes down to a few mouse clicks!

Minuses:

you cannot convert the disk from which the program was launched (that is, from which Windows was also loaded). But you can get out - see. below;
if you have only one disk, then in order to convert it you need to connect it to another computer, or create a bootable USB flash drive (disk) and convert from it. By the way, in AOMEI Partition Assistant there is a special wizard for creating such a flash drive.

Conclusion: In general, the program copes with this task perfectly well! (The given minuses can be brought to any other similar program, since you cannot convert the system disk from which the boot was made).

Converting from MBR to GPT during Windows Setup

This method, unfortunately, will delete all data on your media! Use it only when there is no valuable data on the disk.

If you are installing Windows and you get an error that the OS can only be installed on a GPT disk, then you can convert the disk right during the installation process (Attention! The data on it will be deleted if the method is not suitable - use the first recommendation from this article).

An example of an error is shown in the figure below.

Rice. 6. Error with MBR when installing Windows.

So, when you see a similar error, you can do this:

1) Press the Shift + F10 buttons (if you have a laptop, then maybe you should try Fn + Shift + F10). After pressing the buttons, the command line should appear!

2) Enter the Diskpart command and press ENTER (Fig. 7).

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 switch to a modern standard, which has some advantages over the previous one.

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

At this point in time, the outdated BIOS has been replaced with the new UEFI interface. One of the UEFI components was the GPT (GUID Partition Table) partition table, located on the PC hard drive. Motherboard manufacturers are releasing hardware with the new UEFI bootloader, and accordingly, 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, performance increases, there are more chances for the fact that partition data is stored in different places on the disk, and not in one, as on a disk with an MBR partition table.

There are 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 existing hard disks;
on disks with MBR there is a disk size limit of up to 2 TB, you cannot create more than 4 partitions;
on a disk with a GPT partition table, you can only install a 64-bit Windows operating system (starting with Windows Vista x64 SP1);
With a UEFI BIOS interface, 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: using system tools 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 data loss, 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, the easy method 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 drives, one of the drives needs to be converted to GPT. All actions take place in a running Windows operating system.

Perform the following sequential steps:

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

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

Do whatever you need to do.

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

How to convert from MBR to GPT via command line

During the installation of Windows on a computer, an error message appears in the window for selecting a disk for installing the operating system: "Windows cannot be installed on partition X of drive X. (Show details)".

To view the message, open a window in which you will see an entry: “Windows cannot be installed to 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: command line. We convert HDD disk from MBR to GPT via command line.

In the Windows setup window, press the keyboard keys "Shift" + "F10" (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 in sequence, after entering each command, press the "Enter" key.

diskpart

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

List disk

Now you need to select a disk number. If your computer has multiple hard drives, look at the size of the drive to tell the drives apart.

Select disk X (X - disk number)

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

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

Convert gpt

To exit the Diskpart application, enter the last command:

Close Command Prompt.

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

Refresh the Windows setup window. Unallocated space will appear in the disk selection window. Click on the "Next" button. Windows Setup automatically creates the necessary partitions, and then the operating system installation continues.

Convert MBR to GPT when installing Windows

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

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

Delete all partitions from the hard drive. Select the section, and then click on the "Delete" button.

If your computer has another hard drive, do not touch it. Look at the disk number and the size of the partitions so as not to make a mistake when deleting partitions.

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

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

Article Conclusions

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

The correct operation of the software depends directly on the hardware installed on the PC. If the HDD partition tables do not meet the requirements of the developer, then you will not be able to install the OS. Here, knowledge of methods for converting hard drives from the GPT style to MBR and vice versa will come to the rescue.

GPT is a new format for a hard drive, used in conjunction with UEFI - BIOS.

MBR is a familiar standard HDD format.

Convert GPT to MBR

There are often cases when the usual reinstallation of the system does not work. When determining the HDD for “filling” Windows, the information appears - “Installation to this disk is not possible. The selected disk has the GPT partition style”, after which the process stops. The reason is that it is not possible to install Windows on a GPT style disk, or a UEFI BIOS is present.

There are several solutions to change the HDD image from GPT to MBR. Consider the three most common variations of converting GPT to MBR.

Through the command line

In the case of installation, there is no risk of losing information. Therefore, we cope with the task with the participation of the command line:

Advice! Thanks to the considered application, partitions are created on the screw. indication create partition primary size=n will allocate n MB to the system partition. indication format fs=ntfs label="System" quick reformats the device to NTFS, active- activates the device.

Using Windows Disk Management

This method is used exclusively for physical non-system hard drives and converts GPT to MBR without losing data on other HDDs:

Advice! The "Delete volume" operation must be done with each partition of the non-system HDD.

No data loss

There are several programs to solve the problem of converting GPT to MBR without data loss:

Paragon Hard Disk Manager and others.

Let's stop, for example, on the last one with the version of "Paragon HDM 2010 Pro":

After launching the application in the dialog box, with one click, select the edited GPT disk, at the top of the window, click "Hard disk". In the context - "Convert to a basic MBR disk", confirm the actions taken by clicking on the green checkmark.
In the window that appears, click "Convert".
At the end of the transition process from GPT to MBR, Paragon will show the "All operations completed" window. After that we close the program.