Converting Raid drive to MBR to GPT?
I have an old Dell PowerEdge R905, which my organization wants to use as a media server. I do not have the original Server 2012 R2 software or license that came with it, because of this I am using Windows 10 64-bit. I currently have five 2TB drives jammed into and am running raid 5. I can initialize them all and can see them being raid'ed (horrible grammar, I know) within Windows Disk Management. What I see is roughly 2TB space associated with the C: and roughly 3TB of "unallocated space." I have tried to use windows provided programs like disk management and diskpart from the command prompt, nothing seems to work. I even have tried 3rd party solutions which I have used in the past on single drives over 2TB which I needed converted over to GPT in order to fully utilize their space available. I cannot seem to merge the 2TB space with the 3TB of unallocated space because the 2TB space has a drive label assigned to it. I tried converting the unallocated space to GPT and just deal with the split of partitions, however I am denied there too, as both the windows programs and the 3rd party ones have that 3TB space greyed out where I could select the option to convert. Please advise how I go about getting to these drives in their raid configuration into GPT format, thank you.
Is it the right solution that converting MBR to GPT?
MBR doesn't support disks that are larger than 2TB and that why you can only see 2TB. If you do want to use the whole space of this 3T disk, you need to convert MBR to GPT (GUID). this conversion can be done for free with the help of partitionguru. however, if you are not stilled at such operation, you neeed someone to help you, otherwise, any operation that you are not familar with will be dangerous.
How do I convert GPT into MBR?
Converting partition table type bewteen MBR and GPT does not cause data loss if you use third-party partition manager software. However, if you do the conversion using diskpart or Windows Disk Management, you’ll have to delete all partitions on the hard drive. To convert GPT into MBR without data loss, you can try this:Step 1: Download and install a free partition manager application, and launch the software.Step 2: Select the hard disk for which you want to change to MBR, and click Disk → “Convert to MBR Partition Table”Step 3: CLick “OK” button when you are asked confirmation by the software.Step 4: Click “Save All” button to save changes on partition table.Please note that MBR partition table can contain 4 primary partitions at most, if there are more than 4 primary partitions, you should convert extra primary partition into logical parittion first.
Will Windows 10 remain intact after converting from MBR to GPT?
Firstly, you should convert MBR to GPT if your hard drive/disk is more than 2TB to get performance boost.If you perform it incorrectly then mostly there is a chance of losing data, So it it is advised to backup data to external device or over cloud before convertiong.It will be better if you convert by using gptgen command in DOS interface.you can checck the following link to get detailed steps to convertConvert MBR to GPT Disk without data loss in Windows 10(before convert make sure to back up all the important data)
How boot windows 10 after I had converting my disk from MBR to GPT?
I answer to my own question.Convert MBR disc to GPT disc one way or another preserve your data but not your system boot record.I had find on the web a way to fix windows booting. A windows installation media is required.You need to split the 350MB MBR boot partition into the System and Reserved partitions used by the Windows GPT boot system. Load a command prompt from the DVD (Repair Your Computer -> Troubleshoot -> Advanced options -> Command prompt)Once these operations are done, you could reboot. This works for me (on Windows 10).source : Fix Windows 8 bootloader after converting MBR disc to GPT
Can I convert GPT to MBR without losing my data?
You can do it only from Advanced Boot Menu Configuration, pressing shift and F8 at boot up.Convert GPT Disk to MBR DiskGet a command prompt and choose the instructions (see option two in the above link).3. In the command prompt, type diskpart and press enter. (See screenshot above) 4. Type list disk and press enter. NOTE: Make note of the disk number (ex: Disk 1) that you want to convert to a MBR disk. 5. Type select disk # and press enter. NOTE: Substitute # with the actual disk number that you want to convert to a MBR disk. For example, select disk 1. 6. Do step 7 or 8 below for what you would like to do. 7. To Use the "Clean" Command to make Disk Unallocated NOTE: This is the easiest method. It will wipe the disk clean all at once leaving it as unallocated space afterwards.A) In the command prompt, type clean and press enter. B) Go to step 9 below. 8. To Manually make Disk Unallocated NOTE: This method has you manually delete each volume on the disk before converting the disk to MBR.A) Type detail disk and press enter. If the disk does not have any volumes listed, then you can go to step 8E below. NOTE: This will give you a list of all the volume numbers on the selected disk number that you will need to delete in steps 8B and 8C below. B) Type select volume # and press enter. NOTE: Substitute # with a volume number listed in step 8A. For example, select volume 3. C) Type delete volume and press enter. D) Repeat steps 8B and 8C for each volume # listed in step 8A until you have deleted all volume #'s. E) When finished, type select disk # and press enter. NOTE: You would use the same one from step 5 above. For example, select disk 1. F) Go to step 9 below. 9. Type convert mbr and press enter.
How to convert partition from MBR to GPT without losing any data?
Just checked your disk management screenshot, you need to convert your dynamic hard drive to basic drive, then you can convert mbr to gpt hard drive without data loss. Since the hard drive contains system partitions, you have to make a system backup image before you do the conversion. You can check the brief tutorial of converting mbr to gpt and have a try.
Is it possible to convert MBR to GPT without losing data?
Yes, you can convert MBR to GPT or conver GPT to MBR without losing data. Here is the guide you can follow:Step 1: Install and run a free partition manager software from which you can see all your disks and partitions.Step 2: Select the disk you want to convert partition table format, click “Disk” menu and choose “Convert to GUID Partition Table”. (Note: GPT is the shor form of GUID partition table).Step 3: Click “OK” to continue.Step 4: Click “Save All” button to make the conversion take effect.Note: As MBR and GPT uses different ways to boot system, thus your computer may not be able to boot after conversion if your computer does not support GPT.