There are two choices when connecting a drive to Windows: Master Boot Record (MBR) and GUID Partition Table (GPT). Each method will decide how you will store information on the drive with respective features. In today’s article, we will help you answer the question of which one to choose, MBR or GPT for SSD in detail. This article also provides you with a lot of helpful information. Let’s scroll down to read!
MBR or GPT For SSD: How To Know Which One Is The Best?
Before going to the conclusion of which one to choose for SSD, we would like to discuss with you the difference between MBR and GPT. Here we will compare them in four categories: Partition, Capacity, Recovery, and Compatibility.
Partition
Choosing a partition style for SSD is quite important. They are sections that are divided on the drive to save information. Generally, you might use more than one partition to store the data. Users will have only one physical drive, however, they can use partitions to split it up, then assign different drive letters to differentiate them. However, not many users know the differences between MBR vs GPT SSD.
If you are using an MBR SSD, it will only let you make four main partitions. Things can change if you apply logical partitions. In other words, you can create three primary units instead of four and another extended one. Within the extended partition, you can set up logical ones. However, there is a drawback that you can’t avoid while using MBR SSD. You cannot use the logical partitions as a boot volume. It means you can store different Windows operating system files on these units, but you can’t boot them from the same drive.
When comparing GPT vs MBR SSD, what we like about GPT is that you can divide up to 128 partitions on it without creating logical ones. But this number is applied for Windows only. With other operating systems, you can make even more partitions.
Capacity
In this part, we will discuss whether GPT or MBR for SSD is more suitable. On the market, users have to pay more for SSD than for hard disk drive counterparts. And the drive’s capacity will be the factor that decides whether to choose MBR or GPT.
MBR and GPT have different capacity
According to its features, MBR is suitable for 32 bits with a limited number of sectors. With this type of drive, users can use up to 2TB (terabytes) of space. On the other hand, GPT can be applied for 64 bits, which allows the storage limitation of up to 9.4 ZB (zettabyte). In conclusion, GPT gives more advantages than MBR as it is suitable for many types of capacity drive.
Recovery
The question is whether SSD MBR or GPT has better recovery ability? From our experience, MBR mixes up the partition and boot data in one place. It leads to the fact that when the data gets corrupted, you will face a big problem. So with MBR, the recovery is fine, but it can fail sometimes.
GPT is much better, and it might replace MBR soon. The great feature of GPT is it has multiple copies of the boot data representing several partitions. Therefore, if something is wrong with one partition, users can use another one to recover information. One more feature that can help users decide between Windows 10 MBR or GPT, is that GPT possesses detecting codes. It means that this code will run through the partition table on the boot to check if there is an error. Once the issue is found, GPT will fix the program itself.
Compatibility
Choosing MBR or GPT SSD depends on what interface you are using. Generally, BIOS and UEFI are types of interfaces that can be applied to boot your operating system. Although having the same functions, these two are different from each other. Before selecting MBR or GPT, check the following conditions:
- 64-bit Windows 10, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 7, and Windows Vista: suitable with UEFI interface. These systems can be booted from a GPT drive.
- 32-bit Windows 10 and Windows 8/8.1 require a UEFI interface. The based system to boot from a GPT drive.
- 32-bit Windows 7 and Windows Vista are not able to boot from a GPT drive.
- All mentioned Windows versions can be read from and written to a GPT drive.
So MBR is good for older operating systems, while GPT is better matched with modern ones.
Many users have asked us: “should I use MBR or GPT for SSD?”. After comparing all the main features of these two items, we would say we prefer GPT to MBR. GPT is more resilient to corruption. Also, it exposes better partition management. You might wonder how about MBR, right? There is still a chance for you to use this unit by running an old operating system. However, the current SSDs are more suitable for the new version of the Windows Operating system (Windows 10). If you try to use them for a lower version, it will decline the lifespan and performance of the drive.
How To Check If Your Driver Uses MBR Or GPT?
It is easy to check whether your computer is using MBR or GPT.
- Press on the combination of Windows and X keyboards
- Choose Disk Management
- Look for the drive, after that right-click, select Properties
- Change the Volumes tab
Near the Partition styles, see whether it is Master Boot Record (MBR) or GUID Partition Table (GPT)
How To Convert From MBR To GPT?
The biggest challenge when converting MBR to GPT is data loss. Luckily, here are some solutions that would assist you in implementing this process without any loss:
– Using Diskpart
– Using Gptgen
– Applying the freeware application
– Applying MBR2GPT Disk converting tool
Here we will instruct you through these methods. And before starting, you should back up all your data to a folder.
Converting MBR to GPT using Diskpart
– Open the command prompt and write DISKPART before pressing Enter
– Next, open the list disk, write down the disk number that you want to change it to GPT
– After that, write the number of the disk in the Select disk
– Finally, write convert GPT
Converting MBR to GPT using a freeware application
This solution is also named AOMEI Partition Assistant Lite Edition. Users were more inclined to this method as it was a free application with multiple functions partition management. Nowadays, this method is no longer free. To convert MBR to GPT, follow the below steps:
– Choose the disk that needs to converted
– Right click, select Convert to GPT/MBR Disk
– Click OK to confirm the process
– Finally, choose Apply button to verify the changes
Apply MBR2GPT Disk Converting Tool
Our last suggestion here is using MBR2GPT.exe tool:
- Follow the route Advanced Startup Options screen > Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.
- Write down the command prompt: mbr2gpt /validate
- And to change the drive using another order statement: mbr2gpt /convert
- Now, reboot your computer
Be noted that this application can be utilized with the help of the Windows Preinstallation Environment instead of Desktop. To apply it from the desktop, you will have to apply /allowFullOS to override. If you want to fully apply this software, we advise you to read further about it. With the help of this unit, you can change a Windows 10 desktop from BIOS disk partitioning to a UEFI one safely.
The Bottom Line!
So MBR or GPT for SSD, which one is better? Hopefully, you’ve reached a conclusion to your question. Remember to check the computer’s interface that you are using to see whether they are compatible. As a suggestion, we believe GPT is the better one and is highly recommended by us. In case you still have other questions, just leave us a message! Have a great time reading!
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