What Are MBR and GPT

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Sherly· Answered on Jan 05, 2024

GPT is also called GUID Partition Table, which is a standard for the layout of partition tables on physical hard disks, using a globally unique identifier (GUID). MBR is another partition table. It is short for "Master Boot Record." MBR is older than GPT, so it is more compatible with some previous systems. GPT is more suitable for later systems.

GPT disks have advantages in terms of partition size and the number of partitions. If a computer uses UEFI, then it only supports GPT as the system disk, especially since Microsoft has announced that the Windows 11 system will only support GPT and UEFI. Therefore, the GPT disk becomes one of the essential disks. However, MBR and GPT have their own irreplaceable advantages in certain aspects.

Advantages of MBR:

• MBR disks work with most versions of Windows, especially older ones.

Advantages of GPT

• Break the 2TB partition limit
• Theoretically unlimited partitions
• Boot faster
• Contains a cyclic redundancy check to check the integrity of its data
• Backups that include master GPT headers and partition entries for better protection of on-disk data

For this reason, you should decide whether to use GPT or MBR based on your needs and the hardware you have. For example, if you want a shorter boot time, it is recommended to use a GPT disk as the system disk; on the other hand, if your computer is BIOS-based, please choose MBR for the system disk; and if you use a disk below 2TB to store data, both GPT and MBR are fine.

If you want to learn more details about the "MBR VS GPT," click the link to learn. By the way, if you want to convert MBR to GPT or convert GPT to MBR, click the link below to learn how: