Changing my only drive from MBR to GBT to boot in UEFI.

Victorvis · July 24, 2021

I was considering getting windows 11, so I looked at the Windows 11 system requirements and I saw that my nvme drive had to boot on UEFI to be able to get windows 11. To be able to boot on UEFI, my drive (Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB) had to be on GBT and not on MBR which it is currently on. I also saw that GBT way better is than MBR which made me want to change my drive to GBT. I also found out that you need to backup your data.

Can anyone help me on how to change my only drive which I boot windows on to GBT, what data I have to backup (games or photos) and how to backup?

Chiyawa · July 27, 2021

Well, changing your drive to boot on GPT will require you to clear everything inside your SSD. There is a way to change your drive to GPT from MBR, but that really is very complicated so I usually just reinstall Windows.

Well, if you want to change to GPT that badly, you can backup the data that you deemed important to other storage device (maybe external disk). You may want to backup your Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Musics and Videos folders.

Once done, restart your system, and go to your BIOS. Look into the Boot section of your BIOS. Be sure the Boot Mode is set to 'UEFI' instead of 'Legacy' and make sure the CSM (or for Dell system, Load Legacy Option ROM) is set to disabled.

Then insert Windows Installer media. Follow the on screen instruction, delete all the partition of your SSD and install Windows unto it.

I suggest you to read this links to better understand the procedure on how to create Windows Installer in USB drive:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-create-windows-10-usb-bootable-media-uefi-support

This, if you are adventurous, teach you how to convert your MBR disk to GPT without need to reinstall Windows. It's tricky and complicated.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/windows-setup-installing-using-the-mbr-or-gpt-partition-style

You can further explore in the Internet. There are many tutorials and methods to install Windows.