MBR partitioning and GPT partitioning

MBR partitioning and GPT partitioning

There are two types of partitioned tables: MBR and GPT. MBR is the traditional format of the partition table, in the hard disk capacity of today, the MBR inherent some deficiencies, resulting in MBR partition table can not very good management of large-capacity hard drives; GPT is a new generation of partitioned tables, much better than MBR in many ways, especially in dealing with large-capacity hard drives. Currently, a hard disk with an MBR partition table may be more numerous than a GPT partitioned table, but in view of the trend of development, there will be more and more cases of using GPT partitioned tables.

MBR partition Table

This article does not describe the technical details of MBR partitioned tables, although the structure of MBR partitioned tables is actually simple. This article mainly introduces how to use MBR partition table, and some problems needing attention.

When using MBR partitioned tables, partitions are divided into primary partitions, extended partitions, logical partitions, and three types.

Primary partition: The primary partition can be created directly on the hard disk, and the primary partition after creation can be used directly to store and read data;

Extended partitions: You can create extended partitions directly on your hard disk, the extended partitions that you create cannot be used directly, and you must create logical partitions on the extended partition to store and read data on logical partitions.

Logical partitioning: You cannot create logical partitions directly on your hard disk, you must create an extended partition on your hard disk, and then create logical partitions on the extended partition, which you can use once you create the logical partition.

You may hear about the concept of active partitioning, where the active partition refers to the partition in which the operating system is located, and only one active partition can be set on one hard disk, and only the primary partition can be set as the active partition. In most cases, the active partition on your computer is a C partition.

There are some restrictions on the use of MBR partitioned tables, which restrict the performance of MBR partitioned tables, making them less able to handle large-capacity hard drives.

1, the total number of primary partitions, not more than 4. This means that a hard drive can be divided into 4 primary partitions.

2. If the extended partition is divided, then a hard disk can only have one extended partition, and the number of partitions between the primary partition and the extended partition cannot exceed 4, that is, a hard disk can be divided into 3 primary partitions and an extended partition.

3. There is no limit to the number of logical partitions created in the extended partition, and you can create as many logical partitions as you want. In fact, Microsoft has introduced the concept of extended partitioning and logical partitioning in the MBR partition table in order to break the limit of four primary partitions that the MBR can only divide.

4, any partition, including primary partitions, extended partitions, logical partitions, the size of the partition can not exceed 2TB, this is an MBR partition table can not be very good processing of large-capacity hard disk restrictions.

5, any partition, its starting address, can not be located in the hard disk physical address 2TB, the actual situation is, not only the starting address, the end address in the hard disk physical address 2TB after the partition, will also cause a lot of serious problems. This restriction directly declares that the MBR is not suitable for managing large-capacity hard drives exceeding 2TB.

6, Uefi to the MBR partition table support is not good, UEFI is a new generation of BIOS, the current computer, whether the desktop or notebook, are beginning to support the UEFI. Uefi content can be clicked: BIOS Terminator, what is UEFI? Uefi Detailed!

If your computer's hard drive capacity is less than 2TB, and does not use UEFI,MBR is actually a very good partition table type, it is simple and easy-to-use, stable and efficient. and the MBR partition table is particularly compatible, and all windows, including Windows 7, 8, 10, including 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, can be installed and run well under the MBR partition table.

A hard disk that typically uses an MBR partition table is divided into one primary partition, the rest is allocated to an extended partition, and multiple logical partitions are partitioned on the extended partition as needed. The following figure uses the Diskgenius software to view a hard disk partition on a computer:

Figure 1: Partition of this computer's hard disk: 1.8T, SATA interface, MBR partition table, one primary partition, one extended partition, 5 logical partitions

As shown in the figure above, using the Diskgenius software, select the hard drive, you can very clearly and visually view the hard disk capacity, interface, partition table type and partition.

GPT partition Table

If you have more than 2TB of your computer's hard drive, or if your computer uses UEFI, the GPT partitioning table is more appropriate for your needs. GPT is a new generation of partitioned table-type, can be very good management of large-capacity hard disk, good with the UEFI to match.

With regard to GPT partitioned tables, this article does not describe their technical details, in fact GPT partitioned tables are much more complex than MBR. This article only describes some of the knowledge you need to know when using GPT partitioned tables, and some considerations.

1, GPT partition table, no extended partition and logical partition concept, all partitions are primary partitions.

2, GPT partition table, a physical hard disk, under Windows can be divided into up to 128 partitions, should be enough to use.

3, GPT partition table, the maximum capacity of each partition is 18EB (1EB = 1024PB = 1,048,576TB), so large, do not consider the hard disk capacity too big problem.

4, GPT partition table, with the use of Uefi new computer with very good, but the use of the bios of the old machine, there will be some problems, do not recommend use.

5. GPT partitioned tables are very well supported for new Windows operating systems, such as Windows 7, 8, and 10, but only 64-bit Windows XP is supported.

GPT partitions are used in some of the considerations that are basically so much. The biggest advantage of GPT partitioning is that it supports large-capacity hard drives and supports UEFI.

GPT partitioning is much more cumbersome to use than the MBR, which requires some knowledge of the basics, whether installing an operating system or managing a partition.

Recommendation: Using an older BIOS computer, it is recommended to use MBR partition format; With UEFI's new computer, GPT is recommended. The converse is not entirely impossible, but it is very easy to go wrong, unless it is an expert, it is not recommended to use.

There are times when you need to convert your hard disk into a GPT partition format by using MBR partitioning, or, conversely, you can use Diskgenius software to implement this conversion.

Hard disk with no partitioned table

u disk, SD card, Micro SD card and other storage equipment, in fact, can also be seen as another form of hard disk. But in use, U disk, SD card, Micro SD card, such as mobile storage devices, can not use the partition table, can still be recognized by the system, the entire device as a partition to use. In fact, it is not very useful to use partitioned tables on mobile storage devices. Because that is, using partitioned tables to separate multiple zones for a mobile storage device, Windows will still recognize only the first partition and ignore the other partitions.

Mobile hard disk is more special, the mobile hard disk can not be partitioned table, so that the entire mobile hard disk will be viewed as a partition system, you can use the partition table divided into multiple partitions, the mobile hard disk can be identified by multiple partitions, like a normal hard drive

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