Windows 10: Stymied moving Win10 from MBR computer to GPT computer . . .

I have an issue in moving my win 10 system from one computer to another MBR on old, GPT on new.


I have been unable to get an MBR Win10 image from a working computer to work on a GPT system. MBR2GPT throws error, rebuilding with BCDBOOT doesn't work.


At this point, I've spent all week on this - I need to find someone who is truly an expert on the issues involved - am willing to pay well...


Where can I find such a person?


Scott Kelley

:)

 

clone MBR HD to bootable GPT partition?

Hi,

1. You cannot convert mbr to gpt without data loss. otherwise, you can follow directions here:

FROM WINDOWS RECOVERY CONSOLE:

To change a master boot record disk into a GUID partition table disk using a command line

• 
  Back up or move the data on the basic master boot record (MBR) disk you want to convert into a GUID partition table (GPT) disk.
  
• 
  Open an elevated command prompt (right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator) and type diskpart. If the disk does not contain any partitions or volumes, skip to step 6.
  
• 
  At the DISKPART prompt, type list disk. Make note of the disk number you want to convert.
  
• 
  At the DISKPART prompt, type select disk <disknumber>.
  
• 
  At the DISKPART prompt, type clean.
  

2. I'd suggest converting your vista drive to a virtual machine, load that up on your windows 10 system and use a program like virtualbox to run it.

 

Convert only one partition on the disk from MBR to GPT

Follow the steps listed here on using GPTgen. He also lists how to create and restore backups.

Converting MBR to GPT without deleting your partitions

 

GPT vs MBR for SSD OS Disk ? (win7 install)

If I have UEFI BIOS, I'm going to use GPT. Only reason why I wouldn't is because the drive is shared between new and old computers (MBR has broader compatibility support). I wrote a guide how to install Windows on GPT here:
Installing Windows Vista/7 on a GUID Partition Table

No. Either you install on GPT via EFI boot or you intall MBR via BIOS boot. You can't install Windows and change it later.


Not only does GPT support booting to partitions larger than 2 TB, it also means the computer is booted using EFI which means it has a lot more memory to work with during startup. It should theoretically mean startup is quicker on EFI/GPT than BIOS/MBR.