INSTALLING WINDOWS 10 USING THE MBR OR GPT PARTITION STYLE

INSTALLING WINDOWS 10 USING THE MBR OR GPT PARTITION STYLE

By: Christopher A Titus

Agenda:

By the end of this topic, a participant should be in position to:

1. Differentiate between MBR or GPT partition

2. Explain the key terms such as: Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), GUID Partition Table (GPT), Master boot record (MBR) etc

3. Explain the role of MBR

 

Key terms in Installing Windows Operating systems

1. Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI): Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is a specification for a software program that connects a computer's firmware to its operating system (OS).

2. GUID Partition Table (GPT): The GUID Partition Table (GPT) is a standard for the layout of partition tables of a physical computer storage device, such as a hard disk drive or solid-state drive, using universally unique identifiers, which are also known as globally unique identifiers (GUIDs). Forming a part of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) standard (Unified EFI Forum-proposed replacement for the PC BIOS), it is nevertheless also used for some BIOS systems, because of the limitations of master boot record (MBR) partition tables, which use 32 bits for logical block addressing (LBA) of traditional 512-byte disk sectors.

3. Master boot record (MBR): A master boot record (often shortened as MBR) is a kind of boot sector stored on a hard disk drive or other storage device that contains the necessary computer code to start the boot process.

It's created when a hard drive is partitioned, but it's not located within a partition. This means non-partitioned storage mediums, like floppy disks, don't contain a master boot record.

The MBR is located on the first sector of a disk. The specific address is Cylinder: 0, Head: 0, Sector: 1.

NB: It's commonly abbreviated as MBR. You might also see it called the master boot sector, sector zero, master boot block, or master partition boot sector.

What Does the Master Boot Record Do?

A master boot record consists of three major pieces: the master partition table, the disk signature, and the master boot code.

Here's a simplified version of the role it plays when a computer is first starting up:

1.     BIOS looks for a target device to boot from that contains a master boot record.

2.  The MBR's boot code uses the volume boot code of that specific partition to identify where the system partition is.

3.    That particular partition's boot sector is used to start the operating system.

As you can see, the master boot record plays a very important job in the startup process. Without this particular section of instructions always available, the computer would have no idea how to start the operating system.

How Do we Fix Master Boot Record (MBR) Problems

Issues with the master boot record can happen for various reasons—maybe a hijacking by an MBR virus, or corruption thanks to a physically damaged hard drive. The master boot record might be damaged in a small way or even removed entirely.

A "No boot device" error usually indicates a master boot record problem, but the message could be different depending on your computer maker or motherboard's BIOS manufacturer.

An MBR "fix" needs to be performed outside of Windows (before it starts) because, of course, Windows can't start.

·  Windows 10 and 8: A corrupted master boot record can be repaired in Windows 10 and Windows 8 using the bootrec command in Advanced Startup Options.

·  Windows 7 and Vista: While Windows 7 and Windows Vista support the same command, it's used from System Recovery Options instead.

When installing Windows on UEFI-based PCs using Windows Setup, your hard drive partition style must be set up to support either UEFI mode or legacy BIOS-compatibility mode.

For example, if you receive the error message: Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is not of the GPT partition style, it’s because the PC is booted in UEFI mode, but your hard drive is not configured for UEFI mode. You’ve got a few options:

1. Reboot the PC in legacy BIOS-compatibility mode. This option lets you keep the existing partition style.

2. Configure your drive for UEFI by using the GPT partition style. This option lets you use the PC’s UEFI firmware features.

You can preserve your data and convert the drive using the MBR2GPT tool, or you can choose to reformat the drive using the instructions below. Reformatting will erase all the data on the drive.

Why you should convert your drive

Many PCs now include the ability to use the UEFI version of BIOS, which can speed up boot and shutdown times and can provide additional security advantages. To boot your PC in UEFI mode, you'll need to use a drive formatted using the GPT drive format.

Many PCs are ready to use UEFI, but include a compatibility support module (CSM) that is set up to use the legacy version of BIOS. This version of BIOS was developed in the 1970s and provides compatibility to a variety of older equipment and network configurations, and requires a drive that uses the MBR drive format.

However, the basic MBR drive format does not support drives over 4TB. It's also difficult to set up more than four partitions. The GPT drive format lets you set up drives that are larger than 4 terabytes (TB), and lets you easily set up as many partitions as you need.

Reformatting the drive using a different partition style

Use Windows setup to Wipe and convert the drive

1.    Turn off the PC, and put in the Windows installation USB key or DVD.

2.    Boot the PC to the USB key or DVD in UEFI mode.

3.    In Windows setup, When choosing an installation type select Custom.

4.  On the Where do you want to install Windows? screen, select each of the partitions on the drive where you're installing Windows, and select Delete. The drive will show a single area of unallocated space.

Caution:

If your PC has multiple drives, make sure you're deleting the partitions on the correct drive.

5. Select the unallocated space and click Next. Windows detects that the PC was booted into UEFI mode, and reformats the drive using the GPT drive format, and begins the installation.

To manually wipe a drive and convert it to GPT

1.  Turn off the PC, and put in the Windows installation DVD or USB key.

2.  Boot the PC to the DVD or USB key in UEFI mode.

3.   From inside Windows Setup, press Shift+F10 to open a command prompt window.

4.   Open the diskpart tool:

cmd

1. diskpart

Identify the drive to reformat:

cmd

2. list disk

Select the drive, and reformat it:

cmd

3. select disk <disk number>

clean

convert gpt

exit

Close the command prompt window.

Continue the Windows Setup installation.

When choosing an installation type, select Custom. The drive will appear as a single area of unallocated space.

Select the unallocated space and click Next. Windows begins the installation.