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Windows 10 MBR/GPT

Mushious
By Mushious
in Operating Systems
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Posted

Heyoo,

 

So with Windows 10 coming out and using GPT instead of MBR, what's going to happen to people wanting to upgrade? At the moment the preview doesn't seem to offer any way to convert the drive without wiping it entirely. I know there are ways to circumvent data loss when changing between the two but, what's Microsoft gonna do?

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Where did you here it's going to GPT?

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Where did you here it's going to GPT?

I haven't, but it really should. It's a lot safer and can use bigger drives. I have no idea if OP is right though.

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Windows 10 definitely is not using GPT. Using it right now and I checked that it is still MBR.

 

The only related thing I can find is that "WIndows 10 can not be installed from a USB drive using GPT"

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Where did you here it's going to GPT?

The installer won't let you install on MBR. I would assume that is just a tech preview thing though.

I agree with @EarthboundHero though. GPT is superior.

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Windows 10 definitely is not using GPT. Using it right now and I checked that it is still MBR.

When did you install. I tried 3 days ago and it forced GPT. (only in VM though)

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When did you install. I tried 3 days ago and it forced GPT. (only in VM though)

 

VM is not the same as a physical machine. That happens with windows vms.

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VM is not the same as a physical machine. That happens with windows vms.

Funny both 7 and 8 seem to work fine on MBR in VM's

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Ahh right. that checkbox in the VM that says use EFI (That makes sense)

Should have known!

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VM is not the same as a physical machine. That happens with windows vms.

 

When I installed the preview (physical drive not VM), it refused to install on a MBR drive at the drive selection screen. Error message stated it required GPT. Upon changing the drive to GPT it installed fine.

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I havn't dabbled with Win 10 yet, but I've dabbled plenty with MBR/GPT partitions. It's possible to convert MBR to GPT without losing data. So hopefully Win 10 IS GPT, will make my life easier. Not worried about "what Microsoft will do". It's a fairly simple process, and i doubt they would include it in a preview release, as they don't WANT people using existing partitions. So if it's GPT, we'll likely see it in the consumer release, and knowing Microsoft - we'll never even know at what point during the install the conversion even happens.

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MBR drives can be converted to GPT, but GPT cannot be converted back to MBR. It requires a wipe of the entire drive. When you boot with UEFI mode, the HDD is automatically partition as GPT. Boot from non UEFI mode, if you want to continue with the traditional MBR. 3TB OS drives must use GPT, MBR loses about 700GB of space (can't remember exact size).

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If your motherboard uses BIOS, it will set your drive to MBR (as GPT it unknown to it).

If your motherboard uses UEFI, it will set your drive to GPT.

If your motherboard is those early BIOS+EFI hack for support for large drive, it will use MBR.

While you CAN convert MBR to GPT and the reverse, you would be missing the third boot partition that Windows does on GPT, for full UEFI support. Meaning, if you want to switch to UEFI mode, because all your components are UEFI ready, and you want 6sec from shutdown boot time, then you need to format and re-install.

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If your motherboard uses BIOS, it will set your drive to MBR (as GPT it unknown to it).

If your motherboard uses UEFI, it will set your drive to GPT.

If your motherboard is those early BIOS+EFI hack for support for large drive, it will use MBR.

While you CAN convert MBR to GPT and the reverse, you would be missing the third boot partition that Windows does on GPT, for full UEFI support. Meaning, if you want to switch to UEFI mode, because all your components are UEFI ready, and you want 6sec from shutdown boot time, then you need to format and re-install.

 

So if they were to drop support for MBR they would also be dropping support for BIOS.

 

Well that's certainly not going to happen any time soon.

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So if they were to drop support for MBR they would also be dropping support for BIOS.

 

Well that's certainly not going to happen any time soon.

Considering that Windows 10 STILL is available in 32-bit. I think it is a safe bet that this won't happen :)

In addition, you have more people using BIOS based system than 32-bit CPU, or need a 32-bit Windows for special drivers or 16-bit program support.

Basically, all people, such as myself, running on a first gen Core i3/i5/i7 uses the BIOS based system, or hybrid hacked up BIOS/EFI thing for large HDD support.

Sandy Bridge (second gen Core i3/i5/i7) is a mix of both, and also UEFI system, but not fully supported (just has the fancy looking menu, but it pretty much stops there)

Anything newer should be on fully supported UEFI motherboard.

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I suggest back up the data, convert the boot drive into GPT, and get on with our lives.

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