By buying a new hard drive or installing a new operating system, the user may find that some partition, or even the entire storage device, is not available to him. That is, it simply cannot enter the file system. In this case, when you try to open, an error will appear with the following content: "Disk protected by GPT." This article will deal with just such a situation. As a result of reading, you will learn what GPT is and how to open a disk protected by it, so read it to the end to understand all the intricacies.
What is GPT?
Before you try to figure out what to do with the GPT-drive, you need to understand what it really is. So, GPT is the standard for partitioning a hard drive. This standard uses an interface called EFI, which was developed by Intel. EFI replaced BIOS.
So, as we found out, the system cannot work with GPT. Why then was another partition table created - the GPT? In fact, everything is simple. The fact is that GPT is more technologically advanced in quality of work. It allows you to create partitions whose size can reach 9.4 zettabytes, as opposed to MBR, which has a limit of 2.2 terabytes. However, these obvious differences end there.
Based on this, it still does not become clear why, when we try to open the partition, as we have already found out, GPT, an annoying error appears?
What does it mean: protected by GPT?
We found out a lot of new things with regard to sections created using GPT technology, but still it does not become clear why they cannot be opened. Now let's talk about this.
The fact is that EFI, and, accordingly, GPT, are relatively recent technologies, so modern operating systems work fine with them. If you go into details, then modern means 64-bit systems. That is, if you use them, then there can be no question of any "GPT protected disk" error. But problems start on 32-bit. By the way, this is why users of Windows XP suffer from this problem, because the version of this operating system is only 32-bit.
As you might guess, in order to open access to the hard disk partitions, you just need to format it by specifying a new partition table, or more precisely, MBR. Further in the text, we will do just that - we will format it within the framework of the Windows XP operating system.
How to open a protected GPT partition
After understanding the whole theory, you can proceed directly to explaining how to change the GPT to MBR so that the hard drive can open within the 32-bit system. Looking ahead, let's say that there are two ways. The first involves the use of the command line, and therefore most of it may not be to your liking, because working in a graphical interface is much more convenient and understandable. That is why the second method is for such people. It already implies the use of a special program. But first things first.
Method 1: Format
Perhaps this method of formatting a GPT disk is faster than the one that will go further in the text, but, as already mentioned, it does not imply the use of a graphical interface, which complicates the work of a simple user.
But we will go directly to the instruction, although it should be said before it starts that if you have only one hard drive installed, you won’t be able to execute it from under the system, but, reasoning logically, you won’t even be able to install the system. That is why first write down a bootable USB flash drive with some Windows distribution, and then start the computer from it. After that, do the following:
- Press SHIFT + F10 to invoke Command Prompt.
- Run the diskpart utility by typing its name and pressing Enter.
- Check the disk list by running the "disk list" command .
- Having found the number of the desired one, select it by typing "select disk <disk number>".
- Clean it by doing "clean".
- Now you need to create a new section on it. To do this, run the "create partition primary" command.
- Exit the diskpart utility by typing "exit" and pressing Enter.
- Close the command line by typing "exit" and pressing Enter.
After that, you can restart the computer and install a new operating system on it, if you have only one hard drive.
Method 2: Convert Using the MiniTool Partition Wizard
As mentioned earlier, a protected GPT disk can also be fixed using programs that have a graphical interface. One of these programs is the MiniTool Partition Wizard, and we’ll talk about it now. This method is perfect if you have only one hard drive on which you cannot install Windows due to GPT problems.
- Download the program on another computer and write it to a USB flash drive, thereby creating a bootable drive.
- Start the computer from the USB flash drive.
- The program interface will appear. In it you need to find and select the disk that you want to convert to MBR. It is worth focusing on the fact that it is necessary to choose the drive, and not its partition.
- Having done this, on the left side of the program, click on the "Convert GPT Disk to MBR Disk" item.
- After that, on the top panel of the program, click on the "Apply" button to confirm your actions.
The process of converting the partition table from GPT to MBR will start. After its completion, the computer can be rebooted and a new operating system installed on it.
Method 3: Convert Using Paragon Hard Disk Manager
If you have a problem with a second hard drive in a computer on which the operating system is not installed, then you can not write the distribution image to a USB flash drive, but do everything directly within your system.
To do this, you will need to download and install a program called Paragon Hard Disk Manager. Having done this, you can begin to convert the hard drive.
- Run the program.
- Select in it a section that has GPT markup.
- Right-click on it and select the option "Convert from GPT to MBR" from the menu that appears.
- Press the button to confirm the selected actions and give your consent to make the change.
After that, the conversion process will start. In some cases, it may require a restart of the computer. In any case, as a result, your disk will be with the correct layout, and you can use it without any problems. By the way, in this way you can fix an external hard drive protected by GPT.
Conclusion
Now you know - if the disk is protected by GPT, then this does not mean that it is broken, on the contrary, it is functional, it just needs to be reconfigured. At a minimum, this can be done in two ways, which were discussed above. In the future you will know what to do in such a situation.