Why and How to Convert Boot Disk to GPT?

Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, now Windows 11, Microsoft always bring us various kinds of surprises. With the upgrade of software, the hardware is also should be replaced by the new generation components, thus Windows 11 puts forward higher requirements for hardware. Before Windows XP, most motherboards don’t support UEFI. But Windows operating system after Windows XP started to support GPT disk. And now, if users wish to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, the "GPT disk + UEFI boot mode" becomes a necessary condition. What’s the relationship between them?

About UEFI and GPT

The two items are often confusing. Now here we introduce briefly.

UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, an upgrade of EFI. It is a specification that defines a software interface between platform firmware and the operating system. UEFI supports hard disks with either MBR or GPT partition tables. MBR, namely master boot record, is an old-style but still used by many vendors.

GPT is a newer standard. Systems that support UEFI require that boot partition must reside on a GPT disk. Other hard disks can be either MBR or GPT

Why do users convert boot disk to GPT?

Why do some users choose to convert system disk from MBR to GPT? One reason is as I noted above. The second reason is that if you want to expand a partition more than 2TB (MBR only supports a maximum partition size of 2TB). GPT supports theoretically unlimited partitions. By contrast, MBR only supports 4 primary partitions per hard drive.

Above are the main two reasons. So if you think GPT is necessary for you, you can convert the system disk to GPT without hesitation like other users.

Convert system disk from MBR to GPT without data loss

With only a few steps, you can convert MBR to GPT successfully without any data loss. AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a powerful disk manager for Windows 11/10/8/8.1/XP/Vista users. Converting boot disk from MBR to GPT might cause data loss during the progress, but, with this convenient tool, users can execute the conversion safely and quickly.

Step 1. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant, and right-click the disk with the system, choose the "Convert to GPT Disk" function. 

Step 2. Click “OK” to confirm your operation.

Step 3. Click on “Apply” to commit the pending operation.

It’s really simple, only a few clicks! It keeps the system and data safe at the same time. AOMEI Partition Assistant is always known for being professional and efficient.

Conclusion:

With this handy tool, you can easily and securely convert boot disk to GPT, or convert back to MBR.

If you need,  you can experience the amazing functions “Windows to go creator”, “rebuild MBR”, "Allocate free space", “migrate OS to SSD” etc, provided by AOMEI Partition Assistant. What's more, we have Server edition for Windows Server users, so all Windows users can trust AOMEI Partition Assistant to organize their devices simply like an expert. I hope you try and enjoy it yourself. Our website has lots of article tutorials and videos which will help you a lot.