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I'd like to know if it's possible to change disk partitioning standard from MBR to GPT for a disk with OS on which I do that, without loosing the OS. I have windows 7 and want to install side by side Fedora 22. So, I need a GPT disk. But I have only my HD which contains windows 7 and is already MBR.

What should I do?

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  • Fedora 22 supports installation on a MBR disk so there is no need for convertion.
    – lex
    Jul 13, 2015 at 8:56
  • @Chris.C - I think you mean it supports GPT, his current partition type, and not MBR the partition type he wants to convert to.
    – Ramhound
    Jul 13, 2015 at 10:55
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    The question title has to/from reversed compared to the to/from described in the body of the question. Given the problem described in the body of the question, I believe the body's to/from assignments are accurate and they were reversed in the question title. Either way, an edit from Maxim to clarify the matter would be helpful.
    – Rod Smith
    Jul 13, 2015 at 13:12

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A conversion without losing your partitions is possible, but your system won't be bootable after you make such a change. My own GPT fdisk (gdisk and related programs) can do this, and I believe some commercial third-party Windows tools can do so, too. Windows ties its boot mode tightly to the boot disk's partition table type; Windows can boot MBR disks only in BIOS mode and GPT disks only in EFI mode. Thus, making this conversion will require installing an EFI-mode boot loader for Windows. Also, your computer must have EFI firmware, which was absent on most computers from before mid-2011. There are sites describing how to do the conversion and install a suitable boot loader, but I don't happen to have any URLs handy at the moment.

It's almost certain to be easier to install Fedora on your MBR disk. If you have fewer than four primary partitions right now, you can do this pretty easily by resizing your existing partition(s) to make room and install Fedora entirely in logical partitions. (DO NOT create partition(s) for Fedora using the Windows tools, though; that's likely to create new problems.) Fedora copes fine with being installed entirely to logical partitions. If you've already got four primary partitions, you must delete one or convert it from primary to logical form. The latter can be accomplished with my FixParts program or with some third-party Windows tools. Do not convert any bootable partition from primary to logical form; do such conversions only on data partitions.

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You can conveniently use MBR2GPT.EXE by Microsoft:

MBR2GPT.EXE converts a disk from the Master Boot Record (MBR) to the GUID Partition Table (GPT) partition style without modifying or deleting data on the disk. The tool is designed to be run from a Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) command prompt, but can also be run from the full Windows 10 operating system (OS) by using the /allowFullOS option.

Find more information over at Microsoft.

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I think you mean convert MBR to GPT.

1. Convert MBR to GPT using Diskpart command

This method you have to backup all your data and delete all partitions and volumes.

Then use the DISKPART command

Open command prompt and type in DISKPART and press Enter

Then type in list disk (Note down the number of disk you want to convert to GPT)

Then type in select disk number of disk

Finally type in convert gpt.

2.Convert MBR disk to GPT disk with Windows Disk Management

Right click "My Computer" and choose "Manage" -> "Storage" -> "Disk Management".

Delete all volumes on the MBR hard disk which you want to convert to GPT disk.

Right click on the hard disk 1 and choose "Convert to GPT disk".

After you convert MBR disk to GPT disk, you can create partitions on the GPT disk if you like.

3.Third-party disk manage tool

EaseUS Partition Master and Paragon Partition Manager Strongly recommended.

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