Switching from MBR and Bios to GPT and UEFI

[nikkill]

Hi guys,

I've recently decided to switch from MBR partition style to GPT when installing Windows 10 on my PC. Now, I'm not savy enough to figure this one out myself and have been struggling to find the answer on forums and other websites, so I've decided to ask here.

What exactly do I have to do when switching from MBR to GPT, besides of course formatting the HDD from one type to anothe using diskpart? Do I maybe have to turn off the CSM compatibility feature in Bios before doing that? I really don't understand this process...What are the actual steps?

 

[Colif]

What operating system are you running now? If you have win 10 installed now, you can run run the MBR2GPT tool in command prompt and convert the partitions to GPT without losing any data: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/81502-convert-windows-10-legacy-bios-uefi-without-data-loss.html

With this tool, you will need to change CSM to EUFI after you have converted the drive or PC won't boot.

If you still need to Install win 10, the ideal steps are upgrade to win 10 and then convert to GPT

 

[nikkill]

What operating system are you running now? If you have win 10 installed now, you can run run the MBR2GPT tool in command prompt and convert the partitions to GPT without losing any data: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/81502-convert-windows-10-legacy-bios-uefi-without-data-loss.html

With this tool, you will need to change CSM to EUFI after you have converted the drive or PC won't boot.

If you still need to Install win 10, the ideal steps are upgrade to win 10 and then convert to GPT

Hi, thanks for answering. Much obliged. I decided to take the safe rout and reinstall Windows 10, formatting the HDD in the process. Unfortunately, this caused the Windows boot logo to stretch for some reason (not sure what that was ), so I'll probably just stick to the good old (emphasis on "old") MBR and BIOS since there doesn't seem to be a fix for that...Bummer

 

[Colif]

It seems I answered that question before: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3287453/window-boot-logo-wrong-proportion.html

what cable you use to connect monitor? Display Port, HDMI or other?

I am not sure the stretching there would stop me using GPT. Really, you only need GPT if your hdd is larger than 2tb in size.

You already using UEFI now, you just have it set up as CSM which makes it use the legacy boot method and MBR. Your bios having CSM proves it is UEFI now. UEFI replaced Legacy in 2009, all PC since have been both. On a basic level, a UEFI is a bios. IT is also so much more, it was created to fix BIOS limitations, hence your BIOS now includes graphics, knows what a mouse is and can boot off many more things than just a local drive.

UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface

 

[nikkill]

It seems I answered that question before: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3287453/window-boot-logo-wrong-proportion.html

what cable you use to connect monitor? Display Port, HDMI or other?

I am not sure the stretching there would stop me using GPT. Really, you only need GPT if your hdd is larger than 2tb in size.

You already using UEFI now, you just have it set up as CSM which makes it use the legacy boot method and MBR. Your bios having CSM proves it is UEFI now. UEFI replaced Legacy in 2009, all PC since have been both. On a basic level, a UEFI is a bios. IT is also so much more, it was created to fix BIOS limitations, hence your BIOS now includes graphics, knows what a mouse is and can boot off many more things than just a local drive.

UEFI stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface

I read the thread you provided, but my graphics card driver seems to be working fine and is enabled by default in BIOS no matter how I decide to install Windows (MBR or GPT). I am also very anal about small details and this always strikes me as irritating every time I turn on the computer.

As for the cable, I don't use it. The machine in question is a laptop (ASUS X555LN)

 

[Colif]

It appears on your laptop it is tied to Secure boot - https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-windows_install/windows-8-installing-in-uefi-mode-boot-logo/a349bc75-f8e6-4bd6-8430-3dc17896126e?auth=1 - this is same problem but in Win 8, on your laptop model. Turn secure boot on and it should go back to normal.

 

[nikkill]

Thanks for helping me! Now I just have to figure out how to enable it in bios...Seems a bit tricky :/