Get the Best Alternative to MBR2GPT Disk Conversion Tool

Review of MBR2GPT tool

MBR2GPT is a built-in disk conversion tool in Windows 10 v1703 and later versions. It allows Windows 10 users to convert an MBR system disk to a GPT system disk without modifying or deleting data on the disk. MBR2GPT.EXE is located in the Windows\System32 directory on a computer running Windows 10 version 1703 or later. It is designed to be run from a Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) command prompt, but can also be run from a Windows 10 operation system by using the /allowFullOS option.

With the MBR2GPT tool, you can convert any attached MBR-formatted system disk to the GPT partition format. This is important for people who wish to upgrade to Windows 11 because GPT + UEFI is required if you try upgrading Windows 10 to Windows 11 directly, which means you'll have to convert to a GPT disk, for UEFI can't work with MBR disk to boot your PC.  And of course, you can also convert operating system disks that have earlier versions of Windows 10 installed, such as 1507, 1511, and 1607 by running MBR2GPT while booted into Windows 10 version 1703 or later, and performing an offline conversion.

How to use the MBR2GPT conversion tool?

Compared with MBR disk, GPT disk has many advantages:

MBR disk only supports up to 4 primary partitions while GPT disk breaks out the limitation and allows you to create up to 128 primary partitions.

MBR disk supports up to 2 TB capacity. If your disk capacity is beyond 2 TB, you cannot fully use it when it comes to MBR disk type. While GPT disk supports disk capacity of more than 2TB – up to 9.4 ZB large, which is more suitable for disks that have a large capacity.

And because of the advantages of GPT disk, users would like to convert the MBR disk to GPT disk for better use. Before converting, you need to know:

• As for the MBR2GPT tool is built-in Windows 10 v1703 and later versions, you need to make sure your operating system supports it.

• To use the MBR2GPT conversion tool, you need to be familiar with those 2 commands to satisfy the different situations:

mbr2gpt /convert /disk:n (n refers to the disk number you want to convert to GPT disk. This command is suitable if you are working under Windows PE).

mbr2gpt /convert /disk:n /allowfullOS (n refers to the disk number you want to convert to GPT disk. This command is suitable if you are working in the full OS environment ).

Then, you can use the MBR2GPT disk conversion tool to convert the MBR disk to a GPT disk with the commands we mentioned above. For example:

However, the MBR2GPT disk conversion tool frequently lets its users get into trouble. You may meet the MBR2GPT errors like MBR2GPT missing, MBR2GPT failed, or you may receive the error “disk layout validation failed for disk 0”. Besides, the MBR2GPT disk conversion tool does not support converting GPT disk to MBR disk. Well, for those situations, it is necessary to find the best alternative to the MBR2GPT disk conversion tool.

The best alternative to the MBR2GPT disk conversion tool

Since you may frequently get into trouble with MBR2GPT, here, I introduce another more powerful alternative AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. With it, you can easily convert the system disk from MBR to GPT or GPT to MBR without any data loss - you don't need to delete partitions as you use Disk Management or DiskPart.  What's more, this software also supports primary disk to logical disk conversion, SSD secure erase, and free space allocation. 

What's the best alternative to the MBR2GPT conversion tool? Download the demo of the powerful disk management program and have a try!

Step 1. Install the AOMEI product to your Windows PC and start to convert the system disk from MBR to GPT with the function Convert to GPT. Right-click the target drive and choose "Convert to GPT"

Step 2. Click on “Yes > OK” to confirm the operation.

Step 3. Hit “Apply” where the screenshot shows to commit the conversion operation.

Note:
1. You need to ensure that your computer supports UEFI before converting the OS disk to GPT; otherwise, the disk will not boot after converting.
2. After the MBR OS disk has been converted to GPT partition style, you need to reconfigure the firmware to boot in UEFI mode.
3. Windows 32-bit doesn’t work on a GPT disk. If you need to convert the 32-bit OS from MBR to GPT, you need to upgrade the system to 64-bit before converting.
4. AOMEI Partition Assistant should be the best alternative to the MBR2GPT disk conversion tool. One of the reasons is it can keep data safe during the operations. But you’d better backup data in advance in case of some unexpected situations that may cause data loss.

Conclusion

What’s the best alternative to the MBR2GPT disk conversion tool? Since when using MBR2GPT users could encounter different errors and suffer from many limits, it’s imperative to find another better replacement. This time, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional helps you out. It’s able to convert both system/data disks from MBR to GPT or GPT to MBR without data loss and contains many other useful features in disk management. Meanwhile, if you are a Windows Server user, the Server edition of this software supports Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2022, and all Windows PC OSes.