Hard Drive - GPT or MBR

How to Quickly and Easily Tell if Your Hard Drive is Formatted GPT or MBR​

   Note

New PCs are arriving with their hard disks pre-formatted using the GUID Partition Table (GPT) rather than the legacy MBR method.

This tutorial shows you a quick and easy way to determine the file table format.

Here's how:

1. Open Disk Management: Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management.

2. Right click on the Disk # box
NOTE: The smaller box on the left, with the Disk #, not the larger volume boxes.

3. Select Properties

4. Click the Volumes tab.

5. Next to Partition Style, it will list the format as "Master Boot Record (MBR)" or “GUID Partition Table (GPT)”.

   Note

Also here it lists the small Unallocated and Reserved spaces that Windows requires at the beginning and end of disks for it's housekeeping duties.

• The unallocated space at the end of a hard drive is used by Windows to create (convert Basic to) Dynamic Disks. Any unallocated space at the beginning of of a hard drive is used by Windows in case it needs to manage uncommon partition structures.
• The MSR partition is required for UEFI systems.

Done!

Related Tutorials

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• How to Convert a MBR Disk to a GPT Disk
• How to Convert a GPT Disk to a MBR Disk

 

[Golden]

Very nice! Well done.

Check out this link if you ever want to tart it up a bit:
Windows 7 Forums - BB Code List

 

[x BlueRobot]

Thanks what's with the need for the replacement of the Master Boot Record?

 

[TVeblen]

Newer computers are taking advantage of the UEFI system, and with it comes some new requirements and changes. We often get posts here where the answer is going to depend on whether the OP has a MBR disk or a GPT disk. This tutorial will help to get the OP to find that information, we hope.

Systems that use the UEFI capable motherboards have these primary features:

• Can boot faster that Legacy BIOS systems
• Can boot Windows 7 on hard drives greater than 2TB.
• Can use a "Boot Manager" partition natively (for better or for worse), rather than the legacy "Active" partition and boot loader.

These new systems, and systems using hard drives larger than 2TB, need to use the GUID Partition Table to function in an UEFI environment.
Knowing what kind of system we are dealing with is going to be of primary concern in the coming months.

 

[Hoppy100]

I am not positive but I do not believe you can make a change to GPT from MBR if you are using windows XP.
Please advise if I am incorrect. Thanks Hoppy100

 

[Brink]

Hello Hoppy, and welcome to Seven Forums.

If you have 64-bit XP, you will be able to convert a disk to GPT from MBR. You wouldn't be able to with 32-bit XP.

Windows and GPT FAQ

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Hoppy100]

I only have win xp pro 32 bit so I understand this wont change my MBR.

Does anyone kno of a free or inexpensive software program that will change my disks MBR to GPT???

All Help appreciated. Hoppy 100

 

[Brink]

Hoppy,

You will only be able to do so in a 64-bit XP.

You will not be able to convert a disk from MBR to GPT in a 32-bit XP. It's just not supported.

 

[Hoppy100]

I think that these is a Windows 7 install disk that would probably prepare a hard disk so that I could install W 7 but
I only received 2 disks when I ordered w 7- 32/64. I don't have an install disk. Is there such a disk and if it is available how may I get one?

Thank you Shawn and Brink and anyone else for your help. Hoppy

 

[Brink]

Hoppy,

I thought you were wanting to do this with XP? :huh:

Even if you converted a disk to GPT with Windows 7, a 32-bit XP would not be able to use it.

You can use a GPT disk with either a 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7. The two discs that you got when you ordered Windows 7 should be the installation discs?

 

[Hoppy100]

I apologize! No I wanted to move up to windows 7, Ive used XP Pro for years and I now I want to do some video editing. & i felt Win 7 would do it. I bought a Samsung 120 Gig SSD for Win7. How ever I havent been able to load Win 7 on it..
It has an MBR boo section.t. I will use dual booting with the Samsung as C drive.

Sorry that my previous posting were not clear but all I want is to getW7 on my SSD. It seems i must have GPT.

Thanks John

 

[Brink]

I see now. Thank you for clarifying John.

You could have a data drive as GPT at anytime in Windows 7.

However, if you want the OS drive to be GPT so that you can boot from a GPT disk, then your motherboard must have and support UEFI with 64-bit Windows 7 installed. 32-bit Windows 7 does not support UEFI.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...e-firmware-interface-install-windows-7-a.html
If you like, both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 8 supports UEFI though.
UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 8 with
If your motherboard doesn't have UEFI, then you will only be able to have your OS disk as MBR. You can still have a GPT data disk though.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Very nice! Well done.

Check out this link if you ever want to tart it up a bit:
Windows 7 Forums - BB Code List

Thanks Golden I was wondering how to do that. I did read it once before but got bogged down but it gets clearer at the end

 

[ICIT2LOL]

TV I don't know what I ma doing wrong but I have a brand new 750GB HDD here that I am trying to get ready for a clone/
However whenever I try to format or partition this drive it keeps telling me it needs to be "initialised" . I did try looking for tutorial on how to do that and the nearest thing I can find is this one for that feature MBR etc. But whatever I do I get this in the pic??

 

[TVeblen]

Since this is a brand new drive I assume there is no data on it that you need to save. So we can initialize and format the drive without that problem.

I assume that the problem is "how to initialize the drive"?
If so, you can 'reset' the drive so it can be initialized by performing a CLEAN procedure from DISKPART.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/52129-disk-clean-clean-all-diskpart-command.html

Then, for good measure, restart the PC after the CLEAN operation is done.
The next time you access the hard drive you will be asked to initialize like normal.
(If you have hot swap capability you could connect the (cleaned) drive after you are on the desktop, but this is not required)

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hello TV mate I went to the tutorial http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/26193-convert-mbr-disk-gpt-disk-10.html#post2849586 and problem was I had to uninstall the driver and reinstall. All a bit of a mystery to me but there again a lot of things are

But thanks mate for chipping in