Translation

Have you ever wondered how a computer boots? Regardless of the hardware and operating system, all computers boot using either the traditional BIOS-MBR method or the more modern UEFI-GPT implemented in the latest OS versions.

In this article, we will compare GPT and MBR partition structures; GPT stands for GUID Partition Table and MBR stands for Master Boot Record. Let's start by taking a look at the download process itself.

The following chapters highlight the differences between the GPT and MBR partition styles, including instructions on how to convert between the two styles and advice on which one to choose.

Understanding the download process

When you press the power button on your PC, a process starts that will eventually load the operating system into memory. The first command depends on the partition structure of your hard drive.

If two kinds of partition structures: MBR and GPT. The partition structure on a disk determines three things:

The data structure on disk.
The code to use when booting if the partition is bootable.
Where does a section start and end?

MBR boot process

Let's go back to the download process. If your system uses an MBR partition structure, then the first run process will load the BIOS. The Basic Input/Output System (I/O) includes the bootloader firmware. The bootloader firmware contains low-level functions such as keyboard input, video display access, disk I/O, and code for loading the initial bootloader stage. Before the BIOS can determine the boot device, it performs a sequence of system configuration functions, starting with the following:

Power-on self test.
Video card detection and initialization.
Display the BIOS start screen.
Perform a quick memory (RAM) test.
Plug and play device configuration.
Boot device definition.

Once the BIOS has detected a boot device, it reads the first disk sector of that device into memory. The first sector of the disk is the Master Boot Record (MBR) with a size of 512 bytes. Three objects fit into this size:

The first stage of the bootloader (446 bytes).
Disk partition table (16 bytes per partition × 4 partitions) - MBR only supports four partitions, more on that below.
Signature (2 bytes).

At this stage, the MBR scans the partition table and loads the boot sector - Volume Boot Record (VBR) into RAM.

VBR usually contains an Initial Program Loader (IPL), this code initiates the loading process. The boot loader includes a second stage loader that then loads the operating system. On Windows NT family systems, such as Windows XP, the bootstrap loader first loads another program called NT Loader (abbreviation for NTLDR), which then loads the operating system.

For operating systems based on the Linux kernel, the GRUB (Grand Unified Bootloader) bootloader is used. The loading process is similar to the one described above, the only difference is in the names of the loaders in the first and second stages.

In GRUB, the first stage of the boot loader is called GRUB Stage 1. It loads the second stage, known as GRUB Stage 2. The second stage of the boot gets a list of operating systems on the hard drives and provides the user with a list to select which OS to boot.

GPT boot process

At the same boot step, the following happens in the GPT partition structure. GPT uses UEFI, which does not have the procedure of storing the first stage of the bootloader in the boot sector and then calling the second stage of the bootloader, like the MBR. UEFI - Unified Extensible Firmware Interface - is a more advanced interface than BIOS. It can parse the file system and even upload files itself.

After turning on your computer, UEFI first performs system configuration functions, just like the BIOS. These are energy management, setting dates and other system management components.

UEFI then reads the GPT - GUID Partition Table. GUID stands for Globally Unique Identifier. GPT is located in the first sectors of the disk, just after sector 0, where the master boot record for the Legacy BIOS is still stored.

GPT defines a disk partition table where the EFI bootloader recognizes the EFI system partition. The system partition contains bootloaders for all operating systems installed on other hard disk partitions. The boot loader initializes the Windows boot manager, which then loads the operating system.

For Linux kernel operating systems, there is an EFI-enabled version of GRUB that loads a file, such as grub.efi, or an EFI bootloader that loads its own file, such as elilo.efi.

You may notice that and UEFI-GPT, And BIOS-MBR transfer control to the bootloader, but do not directly load the operating system themselves. However, UEFI does not require you to go through multiple bootloader stages like BIOS does. The boot process occurs at a very early stage, depending on your hardware configuration.

Differences between GPT and MBR partition structures

If you have ever tried to install Windows 8 or 10 on a new computer, you have most likely seen the question: which partition structure to use, MBR or GPT.

If you want to learn more or you are planning to install a new operating system on your computer, then read on. We've already covered the differences in boot processes to keep in mind when partitioning a drive or choosing a partition structure.

GPT is a newer and more advanced partition structure and has many advantages which I will list below. MBR has been used for a long time, it is stable and has maximum compatibility. Although GPT may eventually replace MBR as it offers more advanced features, in some cases only MBR can be used.

Master boot record

MBR is a traditional structure for managing disk partitions. Since it is compatible with most systems, it is still widely used. The master boot record is located in the first sector of the hard disk, or, more simply, at the very beginning of it. It contains the partition table - information about the organization of logical partitions on the hard disk.

The MBR also contains executable code that scans the partitions for an active OS and initializes the OS boot procedure.

An MBR disk only allows four primary partitions. If you need more, you can designate one of the partitions as an extended partition, and you can create more partitions or logical drives on it.

The MBR uses 32 bits to record the length of a partition expressed in sectors, so each partition is limited to a maximum size of 2TB.

Advantages

Compatible with most systems.

Flaws

Allows only four partitions, with the possibility of creating additional subsections on one of the main partitions.
Limits the partition size to two terabytes.
Partition information is stored in only one place - in the master boot record. If it is damaged, then the entire disk becomes unreadable.

GUID Partition Table (GPT)

GPT is a newer standard for defining the structure of partitions on a disk. Globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) are used to define the structure.

This is part of the UEFI standard, meaning that a UEFI-based system can only be installed on a drive that uses GPT, such as the requirement of the Windows 8 Secure Boot feature.

GPT allows an unlimited number of partitions, although some operating systems may limit this to 128 partitions. Also in GPT there is practically no limit on the size of a partition.

Advantages

Allows an unlimited number of partitions. The limit is set by the operating system, for example, Windows allows no more than 128 partitions.
Does not limit partition size. It depends on the operating system. The limit on the maximum partition size is greater than the size of any existing disks today. For disks with 512-byte sectors, a maximum size of 9.4 ZB is supported (one zettabyte is equal to 1,073,741,824 terabytes)
GPT keeps a copy of the partition and boot data and can recover the data if the main GPT header is corrupted.
GPT stores cyclic redundancy checksum (CRC) values to check the integrity of its data (used to check the data integrity of the GPT header). In the event of a corruption, GPT may notice the problem and try to recover the corrupted data from another location on the disk.

Flaws

May not be compatible with older systems.

GPT vs MBR

GPT allows an unlimited number of primary partitions while MBR only allows four primary partitions and the rest are optional.
GPT allows you to create partitions of any size, while MBR has a 2TB limit.
GPT keeps a copy of the partition's data, allowing it to be restored if the main GPT header is corrupted; The MBR stores only one copy of the partition data in the first sector of the hard disk, which can result in the loss of all information if the partition information is corrupted.
GPT stores checksum values to verify that data is intact and can perform necessary recovery from other areas of the disk in case of corruption; MBR has no way to know about data corruption, you can only find out about it if the computer refuses to boot or the partition disappears.

Operating system compatibility

The first sector (sector 0) on a GPT disk contains an MBR security record that states that the disk has a single partition that spans the entire media. In the case of using older tools that read only MBR disks, you will see one large partition the size of the entire disk. The security record is there to prevent the old tool from mistakenly treating the disk as empty and overwriting the GPT data with the new master boot record.

MBR protects GPT data from being overwritten.

Apple MacBooks" and use GPT by default, so it's not possible to install Mac OS X on an MBR system. Even though Mac OS X can run on an MBR disk, it's not possible to install on it. I tried to do this, but without success.

Most Linux kernel operating systems are compatible with GPT. When installing Linux OS to disk, GRUB 2 will be installed as bootloader.

For Windows operating systems, booting from GPT is only possible on UEFI computers running 64-bit versions of Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10 and corresponding server versions. If you bought a laptop with a 64-bit version of Windows 8, then with a high probability there is GPT.

Windows 7 and earlier systems usually install on MBR disks, but you can still convert partitions to GPT, as explained below.

All versions of Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10 can read and use data from GPT partitions - but they cannot boot from such non-UEFI drives.

So GPT or MBR?

You can feel comfortable with both MBR and GPT. But given the advantages of GPT mentioned earlier, and the fact that modern computers are gradually moving to this technology, you may prefer GPT. If the goal is to support older hardware, or if you need to use a traditional BIOS, then you're stuck with the MBR.

Check hard disk partition type

On each hard drive under Windows, you can check the type of partitions using Disk Management. To launch Disk Management, do the following:

Press the Windows + R hotkey combination, a window for launching programs will open.

Type diskmgmt.msc and press the Enter key.

Windows will scan the hard drives and show them shortly. To check the partition type of any hard disk, right-click on the disk plate at the bottom of the interface. You need to click on "Disk 0", "Disk 1" and so on, and not on partitions.

Select "Properties" from the context menu that appears. A window with the properties of the selected drive will open.

Click the Volumes tab and look at the Partition Style value.

If you prefer the command line, you can choose another option. Its advantage is that it is slightly faster, since it immediately displays disks and partition styles.

Press the Windows key, type cmd.exe while holding Ctrl and Shift, press Enter.
Confirm the UAC message about privilege escalation on the system.
Type diskpart and press Enter.
Type list disk and press Enter again.

All disks are listed. The Gpt column lists the partition style for each drive. If you see an asterisk in the column, then this is GPT, if there is none, this is MBR.

Convert between MBR and GPT during Windows Setup

There are two typical error messages that may occur when installing Windows to a hard drive:

Mistake #1: “Windows cannot be installed to this drive. The selected disk does not have a GPT partition style."
Mistake #2: “Windows cannot be installed to this drive. The selected drive is in the GPT partition style."

When one of these two errors appears, you may not be able to select a partition to install. But this does not mean that something is wrong with the computer.

As you already know, MBR and GPT are two completely different hard disk partition structures. MBR is the traditional partition structure while GPT is the newer one.

Error #1 occurs when you try to install Windows on a UEFI machine and the hard disk partition is not configured for UEFI mode or Legacy BIOS compatibility. Microsoft TechNet offers two solutions to the problem.

Restart your computer in Legacy BIOS compatibility mode. This option will keep the current section style.
Reformat the drive to UEFI using the GPT partition style. This option will allow you to use the UEFI firmware features. You can do the reformatting yourself by following the instructions below. Always back up your data before formatting.

Of course, there are third-party utilities for converting disks to GPT while preserving the data, but it's still safer to make a backup in case the utility fails to complete the conversion.

Instructions for converting a hard disk from MBR to GPT

Using Windows Setup

Select the unallocated space and click Next. Windows will detect that the computer is booted in UEFI mode and automatically reformat the drive with the GPT partition style. The installation process will start immediately after that.

Manual conversion

Turn off your computer and insert your Windows bootable drive (USB or DVD).
Boot from it in UEFI mode.
Clean up the disk: clean .
Converting to GPT is done with the convert gpt command.

Instructions for converting a hard disk from GPT to MBR

Sometimes it may be necessary to convert a disk to an MBR partition structure. For example, if the following error message occurs during Windows Setup:

"Windows cannot be installed to this drive. The selected disk has GPT partition style"

Booting from GPT is only supported on 64-bit versions of Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10 and corresponding server versions on UEFI systems. This error message means that your computer does not support UEFI, and therefore you can only use a BIOS that works with the MBR partition structure.

Microsoft TechNet offers two solutions to the problem.

Restart your computer in BIOS compatibility mode. This option will keep the current section style.
Reformat the disk using the MBR partition style. Always back up your data before formatting. Although there are third-party utilities for converting disks to GPT while preserving data, it's still safer to make a backup in case the utility fails to complete the conversion.

If you chose the second option, then follow the step-by-step instructions:

Using Windows Setup

Turn off your computer and insert your Windows bootable drive (USB or DVD).
Boot from it in UEFI mode.
Select "Custom" in the installation type.
A screen will appear with the message "Where do you want to install Windows?" Select all partitions on the disk and click Delete.
After successful deletion, the disk will be a single area of unallocated space.
Select the unallocated space and click Next. Windows will detect that the computer is booted in BIOS mode and automatically reformat the drive with the MBR partition style. The installation process will start immediately after that.

Manual conversion

Turn off your computer and insert your Windows bootable drive (USB or DVD).
Boot from it in BIOS mode.
From Windows Setup, press Shift+F10 to open the console. Press Enter after each following command.
Run the diskpart tool with the diskpart command.
To select a drive to convert, type list disk .
Specify the disk number to convert: select disk # .
Clean up the disk: clean .
Converting to GPT is done with the convert mbr command.
Type exit to exit diskpart.
Close the console and return to installing Windows.
When choosing an installation type, select "Other". The disk will be a single area of unallocated space.
Select the unallocated space and click Next. Windows will start installing.

Modern PCs use two ways to partition hard drives: MBR (used with the classic BIOS) and GPT (works with the modern UEFI interface). In this article, we will provide several ways to find out which of these two partition structures is typical for your computer's HDD.

How to define partition style through Disk Management

The easiest way to find out if a GPT or MBR disk is installed on a computer is to use the standard Windows tool for working with hard drives - the Disk Management utility. Run it through the start menu ( RMB - Disk Management) or using the "Run" line (press the combination Win + R on the keyboard, and then enter the command diskmgmt.msc).

In the application window that opens, all storage devices connected to the computer - physical hard drives and USB drives - will be displayed. Right-click on the desired disk and select "Properties".

If this parameter is set to "Master Boot Record (MBR)", then the traditional MBR partitioning method is used.

Command line

You can perform various operations with the HDD from the command line using the utility diskpart. Of course, it also allows you to find out the style of disk partitions - GPT or MBR. We launch the command line with administrator rights, and then execute the commands in sequence diskpart And list disk.

A list of all hard drives will be displayed. Drives that have a GPT partition structure will be marked with an asterisk.

By the way, the command line makes it possible to view information about media without starting the operating system itself, you just need to have a Windows installation disk. We boot from it, and after the installation wizard appears, press the key combination Shift+F10. Next, a console will open in which we enter already familiar commands diskpart And list disk.

You can also perform other useful operations here, for example, . The need for this often arises when an error "" appears during the installation of Windows 7/10.

How to find out the partition type of a disk in Acronis Disk Director

You can determine whether an MBR or GPT disk is used on your computer using any utility designed to work with the HDD. One of the most popular applications of this format is Acronis Disk Director. Finding out the style of the sections is as easy as shelling pears, you just need to run the program. The disks will be displayed as a list, and the layout will be indicated in a separate column.

Translation

The following chapters highlight the differences between the GPT and MBR partition styles, including instructions on how to convert between the two styles and advice on which one to choose.

Understanding the download process

When you press the power button on your PC, a process starts that will eventually load the operating system into memory. The first command depends on the partition structure of your hard drive.

If two kinds of partition structures: MBR and GPT. The partition structure on a disk determines three things:

The data structure on disk.
The code to use when booting if the partition is bootable.
Where does a section start and end?

MBR boot process

Power-on self test.
Video card detection and initialization.
Display the BIOS start screen.
Perform a quick memory (RAM) test.
Plug and play device configuration.
Boot device definition.

The first stage of the bootloader (446 bytes).
Disk partition table (16 bytes per partition × 4 partitions) - MBR only supports four partitions, more on that below.
Signature (2 bytes).

At this stage, the MBR scans the partition table and loads the boot sector - Volume Boot Record (VBR) into RAM.

GPT boot process

After turning on your computer, UEFI first performs system configuration functions, just like the BIOS. These are energy management, setting dates and other system management components.

For Linux kernel operating systems, there is an EFI-enabled version of GRUB that loads a file, such as grub.efi, or an EFI bootloader that loads its own file, such as elilo.efi.

Differences between GPT and MBR partition structures

If you have ever tried to install Windows 8 or 10 on a new computer, you have most likely seen the question: which partition structure to use, MBR or GPT.

Master boot record

The MBR also contains executable code that scans the partitions for an active OS and initializes the OS boot procedure.

An MBR disk only allows four primary partitions. If you need more, you can designate one of the partitions as an extended partition, and you can create more partitions or logical drives on it.

The MBR uses 32 bits to record the length of a partition expressed in sectors, so each partition is limited to a maximum size of 2TB.

Advantages

Compatible with most systems.

Flaws

Allows only four partitions, with the possibility of creating additional subsections on one of the main partitions.
Limits the partition size to two terabytes.
Partition information is stored in only one place - in the master boot record. If it is damaged, then the entire disk becomes unreadable.

GUID Partition Table (GPT)

GPT is a newer standard for defining the structure of partitions on a disk. Globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) are used to define the structure.

This is part of the UEFI standard, meaning that a UEFI-based system can only be installed on a drive that uses GPT, such as the requirement of the Windows 8 Secure Boot feature.

GPT allows an unlimited number of partitions, although some operating systems may limit this to 128 partitions. Also in GPT there is practically no limit on the size of a partition.

Advantages

Allows an unlimited number of partitions. The limit is set by the operating system, for example, Windows allows no more than 128 partitions.
Does not limit partition size. It depends on the operating system. The limit on the maximum partition size is greater than the size of any existing disks today. For disks with 512-byte sectors, a maximum size of 9.4 ZB is supported (one zettabyte is equal to 1,073,741,824 terabytes)
GPT keeps a copy of the partition and boot data and can recover the data if the main GPT header is corrupted.
GPT stores cyclic redundancy checksum (CRC) values to check the integrity of its data (used to check the data integrity of the GPT header). In the event of a corruption, GPT may notice the problem and try to recover the corrupted data from another location on the disk.

Flaws

May not be compatible with older systems.

GPT vs MBR

GPT allows an unlimited number of primary partitions while MBR only allows four primary partitions and the rest are optional.
GPT allows you to create partitions of any size, while MBR has a 2TB limit.
GPT keeps a copy of the partition's data, allowing it to be restored if the main GPT header is corrupted; The MBR stores only one copy of the partition data in the first sector of the hard disk, which can result in the loss of all information if the partition information is corrupted.
GPT stores checksum values to verify that data is intact and can perform necessary recovery from other areas of the disk in case of corruption; MBR has no way to know about data corruption, you can only find out about it if the computer refuses to boot or the partition disappears.

Operating system compatibility

MBR protects GPT data from being overwritten.

Most Linux kernel operating systems are compatible with GPT. When installing Linux OS to disk, GRUB 2 will be installed as bootloader.

Windows 7 and earlier systems usually install on MBR disks, but you can still convert partitions to GPT, as explained below.

All versions of Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10 can read and use data from GPT partitions - but they cannot boot from such non-UEFI drives.

So GPT or MBR?

Check hard disk partition type

On each hard drive under Windows, you can check the type of partitions using Disk Management. To launch Disk Management, do the following:

Press the Windows + R hotkey combination, a window for launching programs will open.

Type diskmgmt.msc and press the Enter key.

Select "Properties" from the context menu that appears. A window with the properties of the selected drive will open.

Click the Volumes tab and look at the Partition Style value.

If you prefer the command line, you can choose another option. Its advantage is that it is slightly faster, since it immediately displays disks and partition styles.

Press the Windows key, type cmd.exe while holding Ctrl and Shift, press Enter.
Confirm the UAC message about privilege escalation on the system.
Type diskpart and press Enter.
Type list disk and press Enter again.

All disks are listed. The Gpt column lists the partition style for each drive. If you see an asterisk in the column, then this is GPT, if there is none, this is MBR.

Convert between MBR and GPT during Windows Setup

There are two typical error messages that may occur when installing Windows to a hard drive:

Mistake #1: “Windows cannot be installed to this drive. The selected disk does not have a GPT partition style."
Mistake #2: “Windows cannot be installed to this drive. The selected drive is in the GPT partition style."

When one of these two errors appears, you may not be able to select a partition to install. But this does not mean that something is wrong with the computer.

As you already know, MBR and GPT are two completely different hard disk partition structures. MBR is the traditional partition structure while GPT is the newer one.

Restart your computer in Legacy BIOS compatibility mode. This option will keep the current section style.
Reformat the drive to UEFI using the GPT partition style. This option will allow you to use the UEFI firmware features. You can do the reformatting yourself by following the instructions below. Always back up your data before formatting.

Of course, there are third-party utilities for converting disks to GPT while preserving the data, but it's still safer to make a backup in case the utility fails to complete the conversion.

Instructions for converting a hard disk from MBR to GPT

Using Windows Setup

Select the unallocated space and click Next. Windows will detect that the computer is booted in UEFI mode and automatically reformat the drive with the GPT partition style. The installation process will start immediately after that.

Manual conversion

Turn off your computer and insert your Windows bootable drive (USB or DVD).
Boot from it in UEFI mode.
Clean up the disk: clean .
Converting to GPT is done with the convert gpt command.

Instructions for converting a hard disk from GPT to MBR

Sometimes it may be necessary to convert a disk to an MBR partition structure. For example, if the following error message occurs during Windows Setup:

"Windows cannot be installed to this drive. The selected disk has GPT partition style"

Microsoft TechNet offers two solutions to the problem.

Restart your computer in BIOS compatibility mode. This option will keep the current section style.
Reformat the disk using the MBR partition style. Always back up your data before formatting. Although there are third-party utilities for converting disks to GPT while preserving data, it's still safer to make a backup in case the utility fails to complete the conversion.

If you chose the second option, then follow the step-by-step instructions:

Using Windows Setup

Turn off your computer and insert your Windows bootable drive (USB or DVD).
Boot from it in UEFI mode.
Select "Custom" in the installation type.
A screen will appear with the message "Where do you want to install Windows?" Select all partitions on the disk and click Delete.
After successful deletion, the disk will be a single area of unallocated space.
Select the unallocated space and click Next. Windows will detect that the computer is booted in BIOS mode and automatically reformat the drive with the MBR partition style. The installation process will start immediately after that.

Manual conversion

Turn off your computer and insert your Windows bootable drive (USB or DVD).
Boot from it in BIOS mode.
From Windows Setup, press Shift+F10 to open the console. Press Enter after each following command.
Run the diskpart tool with the diskpart command.
To select a drive to convert, type list disk .
Specify the disk number to convert: select disk # .
Clean up the disk: clean .
Converting to GPT is done with the convert mbr command.
Type exit to exit diskpart.
Close the console and return to installing Windows.
When choosing an installation type, select "Other". The disk will be a single area of unallocated space.
Select the unallocated space and click Next. Windows will start installing.

In modern operating systems of the Windows family and other operating systems, one of two standards can be used to store information about the hard disk partition table. There is an old standard MBR(Master Boot Record - Master Boot Record) and a new GPT(GUID Partition Table - GUID Partition Table). In Windows, the topic of the partition table used has become especially relevant since the start of the mass production of OEM computers pre-installed with Windows 10 and Windows 8. In this article, we will show how to use the built-in Windows tools to find out what type of partition table is used on your disk (this can be like a regular hard drive - HDD, or a high-speed SSD or flash drive).

Note. The GPT partition table is gradually replacing the MBR (which is used in the classic BIOS) and is the new standard for placing tables on a physical disk. In turn, GPT is used by UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), which should completely replace the BIOS on new computers in the next few years. Unlike the MBR, which is stored at the beginning of the disk (this is the boot sector), the GPT partition table (GUID table) is stored in multiple copies throughout the disk with CRC storage, which ensures that problems with lost partitions are quickly identified and restored. Each section is assigned a unique global identifier. On Windows, the partition table reserves 128 entries, allowing you to create up to 128 partitions. An important difference between a GPT and MBR partition table is the ability to create a partition larger than 2 TB on a disk.

To determine whether your drive is using GPT or MBR, there are three simple and affordable tools available: the Disk Management snap-in, the Diskpart command-line utility, and PowerShell.

How to view the partition table style using the Disk Management snap-in

Determine partition table type using DiskPart

To get the type of partition table for each of the disks available in the system, launch a command prompt with administrator rights and run the following commands in sequence:

diskpart
list disk
exit

Notice the last column named Gpt. In the event that it contains an asterisk (*), then it uses the GPT partition table. If there is no label, most likely the type of the partition table is MBR, or the system could not determine the type of disk.

How to find out the style of a disk partition table using PowerShell

You can also determine the type of disk partition table using PowerShell. Launch the PowerShell console as an administrator and run the following cmdlet:

For convenience, in order not to display unnecessary information, you can use the following command:

The partition table type for each disk connected to the system is indicated in the PartitionStyle column. In the example, disk index 1 has a GPT partition table, and disk 0 has MBR.

In this tutorial, we will analyze the problem associated with MBR and GPT hard disk partitions. Very often, this is associated with various errors that occur when installing the system on some partition. A message like this may appear: "Windows cannot be installed to this drive. The selected disk has GPT partition style".

I already wrote about the conversion of GPT and MBR, but here another question arises, how to find out the GPT or MBR markup has your drive.

What is MBR and GPT?

For users who want everything in one article, I will write a little theory about these concepts.

To work properly with a disk, it must be partitioned. Information about them is stored in two ways:

With master boot record − MBR
Using the partition table - GUID

MBR- the very first type of disk partitioning, which appeared back in the 80s. The disadvantage of today's use is that MBR cannot handle disks larger than 2TB. The next drawback is support for only 4 partitions, that is, you will have partitions, for example, C, D, F, E and that's it, it's impossible to create more.

GPT- the use of this markup is most preferable, since all the shortcomings that exist in the MBR are absent in the GPT.

GPT also has a rather significant plus: MBR damage is followed by problems when loading the system, because the markup data is stored in a certain place. GPT has many copies located in different places on the disk, so if damaged, it is possible to recover from another copy.

Now the modern version of the BIOS is being introduced more and more - and the GPT style works very well with this system, which increases the speed of work and makes it easier.

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How to find out the disk layout through Windows 10?

Now let's move on to practice. I show under the Windows 10 operating system, but on other systems everything is the same.

Open the control panel and go to "System and safety", from there we go to the subsection "Administration".

A window will open in which we click on the utility "Computer Management".

On the left, click once on the section "Disk Management", and right-click on the drive of interest to us with the right mouse button, and then select "Properties".

Let's go to the tab "Toma" and look at the line "Section Style". I have this MBR.

This is what the GPT style would look like:

How to find out GPT or MBR using command line?

We start the command line. In this case, I will press the keys on the keyboard Win+X and select the desired item.

Next I enter the command diskpart, and then a command to display all disks - list disk. In the results, you will see a GPT column, if there is an asterisk (*) icon under it, then this is GPT markup, if it costs nothing, then MBR.