Seagate 3TB MBR to GPT

[Maziki]

Ok, so I know next to nothing about computers. A friend helped me build one but the hard drive is reading "disk read error" so i figured it was time to buy a new HDD. I was already full on the last drive so 3TB seemed like a good idea.

The HDD is brand new and seems to be already partitioned into "Disk 0 Partition 1" and "Disk 0 Unallocated space" x2. Windows 7 refuses to be installed on them saying:

Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks.

I didnt really understand that but i did some research and apparently you can convert a disk from MBR to GPT BUT it only works if the disk is not partitioned. I attempted to format it BUT it said to me: The partition might contain recovery files, system files, or important software from your computer manufacturer. If you format the partition, any data stored on it will be lost.

I understand this so my question is, what content/info does the seagate have on it?
How do I completely wipe the hard disk?
How do I safely convert from MBR to GPT?

I really appreciate your help.

Also, I'm no computer wizz but I can read and I am willing to learn. Simple, easy to follow text is prefered.

Nate

 

[AdmiralP]

1.Enter Command Prompt
a. If you are not familiar with how to access Command Prompt, simply open the Windows Menu (formerly the Start Menu), enter the Search area and type CMD. Then click on the program CMD or CMD.exe (however it is listed in your system).
2. Type DISKPART
3. Type LIST DISK
a. Remember your disk’s number assignment
b. For my example I will select the hypothetical disk “1” and you will replace 1 with your respective disk assignment.
4. Type SELECT DISK=1
5. Type CLEAN
6. Type CONVERT GPT
7. Type CREATE PRIMARY PARTITION
8. Type ASSIGN LETTER=E
a. Again, I assigned a hypothetical drive letter (“E” in this case), but you can select any drive letter that is presently available on your system.
9. Windows 7 will now recognize your drive and direct you to format the drive.
a. Follow the prompt to format and select NTFS (it will actually be your only available option in most cases). Select your file allocation size (default is 4096).
b. You may also assign a disk label (or name) if you desire to do so. Then click OK.

 

[lonewolf7]

First make sure you have a UEFI BIOS on MB. Search the net or follow the MB manual to know. If the MB is new or around 3 years old then chances are you have UEFI BIOS on MB.

Go to BIOS and see if the UEFI boot is enabled or not(sometimes its disabled by default). Enable it, again read the MB's manual for better understanding.

A 3TB drive needs UEFI BIOS to boot, normal BIOS can't.

The message you got from windows is a standard message and nothing to worry about that, you will lose nothing if its a new HDD.

After enabling the UEFI option in BIOS, save it and exit the BIOS.

Put a bootable media (DVD/USB) on ODD, restart the PC, you will see a message "Press any key to boot from CD/DVD" press any key, and follow the onscreen dialog.

Then when it comes to drive partition screen, partition the drive with GPT format and with your desired size. (e.g 50GB :C 200GB ). That's all. You are done. Good luck.