How to convert MBR to GPT disk without data loss on Windows 11 PC – Guide

If you want to upgrade to Windows 11, the question arises “Does Windows 11 use MBR or GPT?” According to the minimum requirements published by Microsoft, Windows 11 will drop the old MBR partition scheme and switch to the GPT scheme. It also aims to make your Windows computer more secure. So if you want to upgrade to Windows 11, you need to convert your current MBR disk to a GPT disk. MBR only supports up for 2TB volume size and 4GB file size. Unlike MBR disks, GPT disks do not have these limitations. You can see their difference in this table.

What are the different partition styles? MBR and GPT are two different partition styles that are commonly used on storage devices such as computer hard drives. They correspond to different boot modes, from MBR mode to Legacy mode and from GPT mode to UEFI mode. GPT is more flexible and compatible with modern hardware than the MBR partition style. The biggest advantage of GPT is that the disk size and number of partitions are unlimited. On an MBR disk, users can create up for 4 partitions. While users can create up for 128 partitions on GPT disks. ..

MBR vs. GPT

MBR

MBR is the older of the two partitioning schemes and is therefore compatible with a wide range of systems. MBR was originally designed for IBM PCs and has been the partition table of choice for Windows machines. The master boot record gets its name from its location at the beginning of the drive, which contains the operating system’s boot loader and information about the drive’s partitions. MBR only works with drives up to 2TB in size. Additionally, an MBR disk can only have four primary partitions. ..

GPT

GPT is the newer of the two. It is closely associated with UEFI, the firmware solution that modernizes the old alternate BIOS. The GUID partition table assigns each partition on your drive a globally unique identifier (GUID), a 128-bit number that uniquely identifies your hardware.

GPT disks have few limitations of MBR disks. GPT drives can be significantly larger than their MBR counterparts (with the right settings, a theoretical 256TB drive would work). On a Windows system, GPT disks may have up to 128 different partitions without using an extended partition. Other systems allow even more. ..

Compatibility

Some versions of Windows can’t boot from a GPT partitioned drive, and require a UEFI-based system to work.

Windows 10, 8/8.1, 7 and Vista 64-bit require a UEFI based system to boot from a GPT drive if the computer is running Windows 10 or 8/8.1, or if the computer is running Windows 7 or Vista. If the computer is running Windows 8/8.1, it does not require a UEFI based system to boot from a GPT drive.

Windows 10 and 8/8.1 32-bit require a UEFI-based system to boot from a GPT drive. There is no 32-bit version of Windows 11. ..

Windows 7 and Vista cannot boot from a GPT drive if the computer is running the 32-bit version of Windows.

Windows 10, 8.1, 8, and 7 can read and write to a GPT drive.

Other operating systems also use GPT systems. For example, Apple now uses GPT instead of its Apple Partition Table. Linux has built-in support for GPT drives. ..

Final note

How to convert MBR to GPT disk without data loss on Windows 11 PC If you have a computer that is running Windows 11, you can easily convert your MBR to GPT disk without any data loss. This guide will show you how. First, open the Start screen and type “cmd” into the search bar. Then click on the “command prompt” icon. When the command prompt opens, type “gdisk /mbr /floppy /dev/sda” into the command prompt and hit enter. You will see a message telling you that conversion has started. Once conversion is complete, you will need to reboot your computer for it to take effect. To do so, type “reboot” into the command prompt and hit enter.