In this article, I’m going to show you that how to convert GPT to MBR disk or change GPT to MBR partition. And I’ll give you further information about the GPT disk or Partition and MBR partition. What MBR stand for and how it works? In this topic, I’ll discuss all this stuff.
When installing Windows on UEFI-based PCs using Windows Setup, your hard drive partition style must be set up to support either UEFI mode or legacy BIOS-compatibility mode.
For example, if you receive the error message: “Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partition style”, it’s because your PC is booted in legacy mode, but your hard drive is not configured for legacy mode. Or you might see this error message “Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is not of the GPT partition style”. It’s because your PC is booted in UEFI mode, but your hard drive is not configured for UEFI mode.
Windows Cannot be installed to this disk
What is GPT disk?
GPT is the abbreviation of GUID Partition Table. It’s a new standard that’s gradually replacing MBR. It’s associated with UEFI — UEFI replaces the clunky old BIOS with something more modern, and GPT replaces the clunky old MBR partitioning system with something more modern. GPT allows for a nearly unlimited amount of partitions, and the limit here will be your operating system — Windows allows up to 128 partitions on a GPT drive, and you don’t have to create an extended partition.
GPT stores multiple copies of this data on the disk, so it’s much more robust and can recover if the data is corrupted. GPT also stores cyclic redundancy check (CRC) values to check that its data is intact — if the data is corrupted, GPT can notice the problem and attempt to recover the damaged data from another location on the disk.
What is MBR Disk?
Master boot record (MBR) disks use the standard BIOS partition table. GUID partition table (GPT) disks use unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI). One advantage of GPT disks is that you can have more than four partitions on each disk. GPT is also required for disks larger than 2 terabytes.
You can change a disk from MBR to GPT partition style as long as the disk does not contain any partitions or volumes.
You cannot use the GPT partition style on removable media, or on cluster disks that are connected to shared SCSI or Fibre Channel buses that are used by the Cluster service.
Difference Between GPT and MBR Partition
You have to partition a disk drive before you can use it. MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (GUID Partition Table) are two different ways of storing the partitioning information on a drive. MBR works with disks up to 2 TB in size, but it can’t handle disks with more than 2 TB of space. MBR also only supports up to four primary partitions — if you want more, you have to make one of your primary partitions an “extended partition” and create logical partitions inside it. This is a silly little hack and shouldn’t be necessary.
There are various ways to convert GPT to MBR disk, but in our today’s article, I’m going to show you two best ways.
Step #1. Convert GPT to MBR Disk without losing Data
To convert GPT to MBR disk without losing Data, you need a software that is “EaseUs Partition Master“. Unfortunately, this software is not available for free. You can download the free version but while converting the GPT to MBR disk. This is going to ask the product key. If you love your data so you must buy “EaseUs Partition Master”.
#1. Download EaseUS Partition Master then install it on your computer. The installation process is very easy and simple. Just double click on the setup then click “Next” and next. Once the installation is completed, open the software then click on the button “Convert MBR to GPT” or “Convert GPT to MBR”. If your disk is GPT then you’ll see this option “Convert GPT to MBR“.
EaseUS Partition Master
#2. Click on the “Apply” button at the upper right-hand side of the screen. Wait for some minutes then it’ll complete. This is possible in case you buy this software. If you found the free version and worked properly. Comment it down below this post.
Convert GPT to MBR Disk without losing Data
Step #2. Convert GPT to MBR Disk with CMD
This mostly happens when you want to install Windows operating system. While installing Windows, you’ll see this error. Other time, we’ll not pay attention to this thing. When you see this error while installing windows so follow this instruction very carefully. Before we get started. First, see the note below.
Important message: If you want to convert GPT to MBR disk while installing Windows, you must have backed up your data. Because you’ll lose all the data that is stored on the disk.
Windows Cannot be installed on this disk. The disk is GPT partition
On the partition screen, press “Shift+F10” to open up the command prompt or “CMD“. Once the command prompt pops up, type the commands below.
- Diskpart
- List disk
- Select disk X (x= disk number) for example; select disk 0
- Clean
- Convert MBR
- Exit
Convert GPT to MBR Disk with CMD
Conclusion
It was all about, how you can convert GPT to MBR disk without losing data. If you did not understand, hit a comment down below.