Click "Yes" to confirm your operation.ĭuring the process, your computer will reboot into AOMEI Pre-OS mode. Right-click on the system disk and select Convert to GPT Disk.ģ. First, download and run AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro.Ģ.
Please download the Demo version to see how to change Legacy to UEFI:ġ. Note: To avoid data loss caused by improper operation or some accidents like power outages, you can back up vital data beforehand. This way, you don’t need to spend time reinstalling Windows and all of your programs for enabling UEFI boot mode. Luckily, there are some professional and safe tools like AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional Edition, allowing you to convert disk from MBR to GPT without deleting partitions or losing data in Windows 11/10/8/7 and Windows XP/Vista (convert MBR and GPT without data loss in Server operating systems, the Server edition can satisfy you).
So, many users feel confused whether they can convert MBR to GPT without deleting data and swicth Legacy to UEFI without reinstalling Windows 11, 10, 8, 7. With the first traditional method, it is inevitable to reinstall OS. How to change Legacy to UEFI without reinstalling Windows or losing data? ★Tip: The "clean" command is required to delete all partitions on the disk because the command prompt can only convert an empty disk.
If you try to install Windows without these steps, you will get the error “ Windows cannot be installed to this disk” after you change BIOS to UEFI mode. Now, you can go back and reinstall Windows. Type “diskpart” and use the command “list disk-> select disk #-> clean->convert gpt” to convert the disk from MBR to GPT as the screenshot belowĤ. At the Windows Setup screen, press Shift + F10 to open a command prompt.ģ. After you convert Legacy BIOS to UEFI boot mode, you can boot your computer from a Windows installation disk.Ģ. So, normally, it is necessary to reinstall Windows for changing to UEFI mode. If you want to convert Legacy to UEFI, detailed steps are listed as follows:ġ. Meanwhile, you will lose everything including the operating system on the target disk during converting disk from MBR to GPT. Is it necessary to reinstall Windows for Legacy to UEFI switch?Īs mentioned above, the Legacy requires that Windows boots from an MBR disk and UEFI requires a GPT boot disk, so it is necessary to convert MBR to GPT when switching the firmware setting from Legacy to UEFI. By the way, Microsoft proclaims that upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 also requires the UEFI boot mode and GPT partition table.
Changing BIOS mode from Legacy to UEFI can be a bit of upgrade and worth doing if you are using 64-bit Windows 7/8/8.1/10/11. So, it is easy to conclude that the UEFI performs the same job as Legacy, but does better.
It can make the boot process much securer by preventing the UEFI drivers or OS boot loaders without an acceptable digital signature from loading. Compared with BIOS, the UEFI comes with the Secure Boot feature.UEFI can enhance the boot time and elevate the computer speed, which will make a big difference when you install a large hard drive in your device.The majoy differences between those two partition styles is that MBR can only support up to 2TB hard drive while GPT can support up to 9.4ZB, which dramatically break out the 2TB disk size limit. Legacy BIOS uses the MBR disk while UEFI uses the GPT hard drive.On the whole, the UEFI is better than Legacy BIOS with the following advantages: But many users wonder what's the difference, or which one is worth using over the other one. When you boot up a computer, the interface (Legacy or UEFI) will initialize the hardware components and start the OS installed on the disk. They work like an interpreter between the OS and platform firmware. Legacy and UEFI are two firmware interfaces for computers.