In this article we talked about difference between Master Boot Record and GUID partition table. MBR VS GPT, now you can decide which one should be chosen for your computer. Apart from that you can make conversion between MBR and GPT without any data loss or repartition a hard drive to GPT or MBR partitioning scheme. (If you format ExFAT with Master Boot Record MBR, you can do this on either system and the other can read it without problem.) This makes absolutely no sense because GPT is the GUID Partition Table. If the Partition Map Scheme says Master Boot Record or Apple Partition Map. Select GUID Partition Table and click OK. This step ensures your drive can be used to boot a Mac. You need to reformat the disk, which will wipe all data. Backup to an external disk with either Time Machine or a clone, then reformat as 'Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)' this will create a volume that is GUID. Then restore from backup.
Hello geeks! Wish you a warm welcome. Hope you are doing fine, and learning new things daily with a quick shot.
Today, we are going to talk about a brand new topic –“Disk Partition”. Many of you might be already aware of it, and some might also have needed it.
If you have done Hard Disk partitions then you must have come through GPT vs MBR. You would have thought of which one should I use.
Basically, both are Partition Structures, which decides many aspects of the partition such as:
- Organization of data
- The code required for Booting
- Partition Borders i.e where the partition starts and ends
- Decides which partition is bootable
MBR and GPT are two types of storing partition information on a drive. In this article, we will give you all the necessary details about GPT vs MBR. So next time you are not confused which one to choose between GPT vs MBR.
If you needed some kind of SSD disk partition; you might have almost got a question that, which technique is better and how to implement one?
So, today we will have a detailed discussion of the same topic.
So, be ready and let’s begin. *drumroll*
What is Hard disk Partition?
So you might have come across a question for sure that why do we need disk partition?
What is that all about?
![Master Boot Record Vs Guid Mac Master Boot Record Vs Guid Mac](https://images.macworld.com/images/howto/graphics/132140-scheme_lg.jpg)
Is it logical or you are harmless?
These all are pretty obvious ones. And need to be answered before to start discussing GPT and MBR.
Partition word means to slice or divide. And Hard drive partition leads to the same concept. Now first let me make sure you understand Hard disk properly. Hard disk a physical storage device used in your PC or Laptop or even Mobile phones. You need a hard drive to store all the data you capture day by day.
A hard disk is a non-volatile memory. This means that data once stored do not get flushed while PC is shut down.
Means it’s not a temporary memory alike your RAM. You might have seen those photos of shining silver disk covered in a black box. Yes, that’s a hard drive.
Well, there exist many more options like FLOPPY, CD, DVD, OPTICAL disks. A hard drive may have storage capacity from 2 MB to 4 TB and much more (as per personal or organization’s requirements).
Your complete data has been backed up here. From system’s OS to those important PDFs and all those high-end games also.
So, in case you are a true geek; you might have faced a situation when you might have to install another OS on the device. Like many Windows users also Ubuntu or another Linux environment in the same PC.
And if you also want to do so; you will have to partition your Hard drive.
A disk partition is also a frequent need after the arrival of new and fast SSD technology. Many users have moved into SSD partition on their HDD system. Maybe you never noticed but, your default hard disk is already sliced in C: and D: drive (Windows users).
GPT vs MBR
MBR | GPT | |
---|---|---|
Maximum Partition Capacity | 2 TB | 9.4 GB (1 ZB is 1 billion terabytes) |
Maximum Partition Number | 4 Primary Partition (3 Primary Partitions Infinite number of primary Partition ) | 128 Primary Partition |
Firmware Interface Support | BIOS | UEFI |
Operating System Support | Windows 7 & Older Systems like Window 95/98, Windows XP 32-bit, Window 2000, Window 2003 32-bit | Window 10 32-bit & newer OS like Window 8/8.1/10 64-bit |
Sometimes you will also need to that to manage and organize data in a proper manner.
By now you should have understood that GPT has many advantages over MBR. MBR doesn’t provide you automatic error checking and recovery and also it is not very reliable because if its Master Boot Record sector is corrupted then you will not be able to access the partition.
Now as we have already seen basics of both GPT and MBR, now let’s make a clear decision which one to choose?
And also which one actually matches your system specifications.
- To be more specific MBR limits block numbers to 4. So, if you need more then that MBR isn’t suited for you. But, GPT rescues you with unlimited numbers of slice size.
- MBR can slice a maximum of 2 TB disk, but GPT can work with even too large disk sizes. So, it’s advised to large organizations.
- If your computer is old BIOS based architecture, MBR is the safe and more specifically only choice.
- Any modern UEFI based system will easily support GPT.
- There exist some ways to use GPT even on BIOS motherboards, but mostly they tend to make your system slower and dealing with such tedious system can annoy you.
- GPT is the best option if you want to have some SSD installation on new devices.
Also, MBR supports Hard Drives up to 2 TB and only 4 Primary partitions are allowed for a Hard Disk. GPT removes all the limitations of MBR and is very reliable.
However, if your device doesn’t have UEFI support then you would not be able to use GPT on your device. If your device is very Old then MBR will be good for you but for all modern Hard Disk GPT is the best option Partition Structure to go for.
So, What is the MBR – Master Boot Record?
In 1983 this partition structure was introduced. It is one of the most widely-used Partition Structure. MBR is used in almost all the platforms such as Windows, Linux or Mac. The name Master Boot Record for MBR means that for each partition there is a special boot sector and after this, the rest of the files are stored in the partition.
This boot sector stores multiple information such as:
- You will find bootloader there, which is responsible for booting of the System
- It will also contain information about different logical partitions on the Hard Drive.
MBR means Master Boot Record. MBR is a technique of disk partition. Being one of the oldest tricks it was introduced back in 1983. The first try was done on Windows DOS 2.
In this method, we build a special boot sector which takes charge of managing all the data and information. This sector contains all data of logical partitions of the disk. The boot loader has starting codes of each data partition. Once it is loaded it actively takes care of the parts.
MBR partition scheme can have a maximum of 4 parts at a time. It also has information on all the blocks saved. MBR also require some extra space to back up necessary data. MBR logically supports slicing 2 TB of maximum disk size. If any time MBR is damaged it may lead to mal-loading of your OS or even failure. Sometimes users demand extra parts using an extended partition method.
MBR is applicable to almost all the BIOS-based systems. Even some newer OS also supports MBR. Windows 7/8 and even 10 (in some cases) support MBR successfully. 32/64 bit architecture both are compatible with MBR.
Whenever you want to install a new OS, then the logical partitions in your Hard Disk are displayed using the Master Boot Sector which stores all this information. It is very popular and had a monopoly on the industry until GPT comes. Each of the partition structures has its pros and cons.
What is GPT – GUID Partition Table?
GPT was developed by Intel in the 1990s in order to remove the limitations of MBR. It is used as a specification for UEFI Systems. GPT stands for GUID Partition Table and GUID stands for Globally Unique Identifier.
Each partition which is GPT based which have unique String Name which will be globally unique. That is not two GPT partitions in the world will have the same String Names. This has several advantages in the proper functioning of OS and also there are many other advantages.
So, once have taken a good idea what disk partition is; now we move on to GPT. GPT means Guide Partition Table. GPT was introduced much later after the discovery of MBR. GPT is trending in modern disk slicing. Although GPT is yield to be more complicated than MBR.
GPT can hold logically unlimited partitions, means it eliminates difficulties faced using MBR. And it also does not suffer from small disk capacity problem. It can slice up to 210 TB of disk size. GPT also contains multiple copies of boot data; which means no data loss even if corruption or loss. Although many old BIOS based CPUs do not support GPT and are only available for MBR.
GPT can only be used on UEFI based systems. Because GPT blocks need UEFI while booting process. All the Windows 7/8/10 having UEFI structure can be used with GPT.
As GPT being a newer Partition Structure, It has several advantages of MBR.
Let’s Look at the MBR’s Limitations
If you have Windows Installed on your System then Windows Boot Loader is on the starting of the Hard Disk Partition. That is why if your MBR is overwritten then your Windows System won’t boot up. If you have Linux Installed then there will be the GRUB Boot Loader located in Master Boot Record of the Hard Disk partition. Let’s see some of the MBR’s Limitations:
- MBR doesn’t support partition size of bigger than 2TB i.e if your Hard Disk has a size bigger than 2TB then you cannot use MBR in that.
- You can create only four Primary partitions in MBR. However, you may need more than 4 partitions then it would be helpful. If you want to make more partitions then you have to choose one of the primary partitions and then create an “extended partitions” inside that logical partition. This is a very unnecessary step.
- If Master Boot Record of your partition is corrupted or overwritten then you would not be able to access your partition. This makes it unreliable.
To overcome these limitations Intel came up with GPT Partition Structure and is now being used in almost every new Hard Disks.
Suggested Reading:
Let’s Look at the Advantages of GPT
It not only fulfills the limitations of MBR Partition Structure but provides various other additional advantages. Let’s review some of the advantages of GPT:
- You can use GPT in any Hard Disk Size. There is no limit to the Hard Disk size on which GPT could be used so now you can use very large size hard disk for various purposes such as storing movies or games or Softwares.
- GPT can support up to 128 Primary Partitions. These number of partitions are sufficient enough for every most of the purposes. Compared to MBR which provided 4 Primary Partitions only, this is a huge improvement over that.
- GPT-Based Hard Disks not very less in the risk of data corruption as it does Cyclic Redundancy Check i.e error checking for data that are stored on the Hard Disk. If it founds that the data is corrupted it tries to recover data by copying the data to other locations in Hard Disk. However, on MBR based Drives you have to do error checking and recovery process manually.
- It is closely related to UEFI and UEFI replaces the default BIOS with More Modern Firmware for BIOS.
- On MBR disk, the Partitioning and Boot data is stored in one sector so if data is overwritten or corrupted then you will not be able to access the Hard Disk. However, GPT will store multiple copies of this data on Hard Disk which ensures reliability, and will recover data is someone accidentally overwritten it.
Should you use GPT?
Obviously, you can easily make your Hard Disk run on GPT Partition Structure but you got to have PC that has UEFI support in its BIOS. One should prefer GPT as:
- It’s compatible with almost every platform such as Windows, Linux or Mac.
- Every GPT-Based drive has a sector called Protective MBR which is used to make Hard Disk compatible with MBR-only devices. However, you would see the drive as single partition only.
Therefore you can see its highly compatible with all other devices and does automatic error checking.
Conclusion
So, up to here, you might have got a decent idea of what is more suitable for your system. The choice is yours. There are many tutorials online to convert MBR drive to GPT and vice versa. You can easily search and try them if needed. It is not much difficult. You just have to follow some basic steps, and there you go.
Hope you enjoyed reading the Article about GPT vs MBR,
Do share your valuable comments below,
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Curated For You
GPT vs MBR: Partition table overview. GPT (GUID Partition Table) and MBR (Master Boot Record) are abbreviations you will see a lot if you’re embarking on creating a new drive partition on your PC or Mac. But it’s small potatoes, really.
We are going to go more in-depth in a little bit but for starters, both GPT and MBR are partition tables you will see in your Mac, Windows or Linux PC. A partition table manages and organises partitions on a disk including which partitions are bootable.
MBR disks use the standard legacy BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) partition table. GPT disks, on the other hand, use the much newer Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) partition table. Both BIOS and UEFI is software that connects your firmware to your operating system and which runs before your operating boots up. There are inherent pros and cons in using both GPT vs MBR as we are about to find out.
GPT vs MBR: Why both?
It all begun with Intel which developed MBR back in 1983 as a way to load operating systems onto the IBM PC DOS 2.0. At their conception, MBR disks could accommodate up to 2 terabytes in size and four primary disk partition entries. This was revolutionary at the time, as disks had much smaller storage capacity. Sadly, it isn’t the case in this day and age.
GPT came on the scene in late 90’s to address the inherent limitations of MBR. For one, GPT disks can accommodate an almost unlimited number of partitions, For that matter, GPT size limits are rather currently dependent on the operating system in question. Windows, for example, taps out at 128 partitions. Being the newer technology of the two, GPT has a host of other improvements over MBR as well as a few disadvantages.
GPT vs. MBR: Talking Points
- MBR boots 32bit operating system. GPT boots 64bit operating system
- MBR supports older system (Windows XP and whatnot). GPT supports computers manufactured in the last 10 years or so with old motherboards.
- GPT is faster, more secure and more stable than MBR
- MBR has a maximum capacity of 2 terabytes while GPT can accommodate over 9 billion terabytes.
- MBR supports a maximum of 4 partitions whereas the number of GPT partitions is limited by OS.
- MBR uses legacy BIOS and GPT uses the newer feature-rich UEFI.
Partition Capacity
As stated above, MBR suffers from limitations of its era. At most, MBR is compatible with up to 4 partitions. If you want more, you can modify one partition into an extended partition. Creating logical partitions in an extended partition is not a very good hack, to begin with, so let’s not go there.
GPT, on the other hand, is on the other end of the spectrum. As of right now, GPT is limited only by what operating systems can handle, and all we can say is that it’s not that much. Microsoft Windows, for instance, is compatible with only up to 128 partitions. To put that in perspective, GPT supports an almost unlimited number of partitions.
![Spring Spring](https://i.stack.imgur.com/aWCGI.png)
Storage Limitations
Now when it comes to storage, GPT leaves MBR in the dust. Where MBR taps out at 2 terabyte capacity, GPT just keeps going. If you had a disk bigger than 2 terabytes on MBR, any excess storage space will be marked as “unallocated” and won’t be usable at all, which is rather a waste.
Conversely, while it’s even hard to even wrap our minds around this figure, a GPT disk has a disk capacity of about 9.44 billion terabytes. We can safely say that we are not about to wake up anytime and buy a 9 billion terabyte SSD on Amazon. To put this in context, the Microsoft Windows supports a maximum of 256 terabytes of disk capacity.
Read more:
Security Enhancements
One of MBR’s limitations is that there’s no way to know if the data is corrupted. The problems only come to light when the boot process fails or something. On that point, if a partition table is corrupted, there’s no way to recover your data. What’s worse is that MBR doesn’t make any backups of your partition table. Once screwed, it’s end of story for you.
GPT on its part builds on these limitations and implements mechanisms and advanced protocols which address all these issues. First off, GPT makes use of CRC32 (Cyclic Redundancy Check) protection and backup partition tables on the off chance that data gets corrupted.
Also, GPT comes with Secure Boot which matches the signatures registered with UEFI firmware before the motherboard allows them to boot. These and other protocols make it a no-brainer when pitted against MBR.
Master Boot Record Vs Guid Mac Os
GPT vs MBR: In Summary
On a closing note, if you have an old PC/Mac and Windows XP or some such, your safe bet is MBR. Anything released in the last 10 years or so will most probably be capable of running GPT. Without mincing words, GPT is the future and it has the tech to prove it. What’s more, it’s absolutely future-proof as far as we can tell.
Featured Image: extremetech.com