To date, the latest Windows modifications support two main types of hard disk partitions for storing information - GPT or MBR. How to find out exactly which section style is available in the system? It is quite simple. Such information can be useful, for example, when installing Windows 7, when its launch from the GPT section must meet some additional conditions (64-bit architecture, UEFI instead of BIOS, etc.). Now we will discuss how to find out the disk format (MBR or GPT) using the simplest methods and using standard tools provided in Windows-systems.
GPT or MBR partition styles : what's the difference?
Before starting to consider the main issue, we turn a little to theory. Today, both the master boot record format (MBR) and a completely new standard in the form of a GUID partition table, which is abbreviated as GPT, are actively used.
The new format is more progressive because it supports hard drives with a capacity of more than 2 TB and the latest primary UEFI input / output systems instead of the usual BIOS.
For example, to install the same seventh version of the system on a GPT disk, the presence of UEFI is one of the necessary conditions, not to mention the fact that the 32-bit version cannot be installed in such a partition. For this, initially, it is necessary to solve the question of how to find out - the MBR or GPT disk partition of the user on whom it is supposed to install the system. For now, we’ll do without considering the means of the system, and look at those signs by which we can immediately conclude about the style of the section.
GPT or MBR: how to find out a disk format by implicit signs?
So, we will consider the main indicators, according to which in almost a hundred percent of cases it is possible to determine whether a format belongs to a certain standard. If the volume of the hard drive is 2 TB or more, and the system has four or more partitions, it is definitely a GPT disk. If, however, problems arise when creating the fourth partition, or the system creates some kind of additional partition of its own, this means that the disk belongs to the MBR standard. One of the hallmarks of GPT can be UEFI configuration, when only EFI download is enabled and nothing else. If you can see the EFI system encrypted partition with the FAT32 file system in the disk management section on Windows 10 or 8 , this is a sign of GPT. Finally, if all the disks and partitions available in the computer system have the NTFS file system, this allows us to conclude that the format is MBR.
How to find out which drive is GPT or MBR? The main tool of Windows.
Now about the main tools. Today we have two standards - GPT or MBR. How to find out which one is present in the system? To do this, refer to the disk management section, which can be called from the administration, the line of which is available in the context menu of the right-click on the computer icon. However, the easiest way is to access through the Run (Win + R) console, in which the diskmgmt.msc command is written.
In the table with disks, right-clicking on the desired section brings up an additional menu in which the property string is selected. In the new window, the volumes tab is used, in which you can get detailed information (a line with a description of the section style).
Using the Shell
And another system tool. GPT or MBR? How to find out which standard is applied for the current section? Everything is simple. You can use the command line invoked by the cmd line in the Run menu.
To obtain the necessary data, only two commands are used: diskpart and list disk. After execution of the second line, all sections available in the computer system will be shown. In this case, an asterisk may be on the right opposite the description. But this is just evidence that we have a GPT section.
Instead of a conclusion
As can be seen from the above material, determining the style of the section is not so difficult as it might seem at first glance. Again, returning to the installation of the seventh version, you need to be very careful. But converting an MBR partition to GPT through disk management is easy enough. To do this, you can use the same context menu with the subsequent selection of the appropriate command. But for the most part, such a problem can arise, for example, when replacing a hard drive with a more capacious one (2 TB or more). And here, whatever one may say, the presence of at least one GPT partition is required. It goes without saying that the UEFI primary system must also be on board.