Can I Convert My SSD (OS) Drive From MBR to GPT?

tackyjan

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Hello All,

I was playing around with this new program I bought called Paragon HD Manager.

I ran it on my laptop which is only about one month old and has two hard drives: a Samsung 830 SSD (for the OS) and an HGST Travelstar HDD (for data). I then ran the program on my desktop PC which also has two hard drives: a Samsung 840 PRO SSD and a Western Digital Raptor HDD. I immediately noticed one thing that was different between my laptop and my desktop PC.

On the laptop both hard drives were marked as Basic GPT, however, on my desktop only the secondary drive was marked as GPT. The primary drive was marked as MBR.

Here are some screenshots to demonstrate:

n550jk_diskmap.png mypc_diskmap.png

I have no idea why my desktop PC has a drive that is MBR and another that is GPT nor do I know why my laptop has both GPT. I never even knew about MBR vs GPT so I guess I didn't pay much attention. Also, whenever I install Windows 8.1 Pro (which I do quite frequently) I have never seen anything in the install process that asks whether I want to install using MBR or GPT.

I can only assume that it has something to do with the fact that my laptop is so new and my desktop is a couple years old. However, the SSD in my laptop (which is marked as GPT) is as old as the one in my desktop. I had it lying around and when I got the laptop I swapped out the original HD for that SSD, added a 2nd HDD, and did a clean Win 8.1 Pro install.

Anyway, I have 2 questions regarding MBR vs GPT:

1. I have done some fast Google'ing and from what I have seen so far it appears that GPT is better. Is it significantly better than MBR and should I convert it to GPT?

2. If I can convert my SSD to GPT will I have to do a brand new install of Windows or are there programs out there that can convert it for me without causing any major issues?

Thank you,

Jan
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro
Hi Jan,
It's really does not matter if your Windows was installed with MBR or GPT. GPT supports HD > 2TB, secure Boot. In term of speed it will not be any benefit.

EDIT: You would have to re-install Windows if you want to use GPT.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Hi Jan,
It's really does not matter if your Windows was installed with MBR or GPT. GPT supports HD > 2TB, secure Boot. In term of speed it will not be any benefit. EDIT: You would have to re-install Windows if you want to use GPT.

I just read somewhere that GPT is for UEFI motherboards.

I don't think my ASUS N550JK laptop has a UEFI BIOS and yet both disk drives are GPT. My Desktop PC has a new MSI Micro ATX Motherboard (A78M-E45*) which has a UEFI BIOS and I have installed a fresh Win 8.1 OS after putting in the motherboard.

* MSI USA A78M-E45
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro
Hi Jan,
I am pretty sure that your Laptop has UEFI supported, otherwise you won't be able to install Windows using UEFI style. However, it is just the terminology they use that sometimes confuse the hell out of us. In your BIOS, you should have an option called CSM (Compatibility Support Module). If you turn it off then you are using UEFI mode. With GPT DATA disk, you have no problem reading it since Windows XP but to install Windows using GPT style, your Laptop must have UEFI support.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
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