How to Clone 2TB MBR to 3TB GPT Disk without Converting First
You'll find the best way to clone 2TB MBR to 3TB GPT disk without converting first. It's using powerful cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Professional.
Cloning System Drive 2TB MBR - 3TB GPT - Don’t Work
It's easy to clone system disk from MBR to MBR or GPT to GPT with a secure boot. But what if you want to clone 2TB MBR to 3TB GPT? You may experience the following situation.
“Simple problem, but I simply don’t get it. Just got a 3TB WD drive and now I want to “clone” my 2 TB drive, operation system WIN 7 64-bit MBR to 3TB GPT. I tried the Acronis True Image WD Edition, clone drive, but it remains MBR finally. And I cannot find any option to convert GPT. The 3 TB drive boots as it should, but as it is MBR the 3TB drive has only 2 TB available. But this isn’t what I want to have. So Iconvert the target drive to GPT, and resize the drive to 3 TB, but the drive won’t boot. I say’s MBR error 1. Any Ideas or programs to convert MBR operating system to GPT operating system, able to boot? Thanks"
This is probably related to how the cloning software works. If it uses the traditional way, it will wipe your 3TB disk clean and then convert it to an MBR disk, finally doing an MBR to MBR clone.
It works and remains bootable, but MBR disk only supports up to 2TB of disk space, leaving almost 1 TB of space unusable.
What Do You Need?
It's possible to clone2TB MBR to 3TB GPT without converting first, but you need to:
1️⃣ Check if your computer supports UEFI mode.
- Restart your computer. Press F11, Del, F2, or other prompt keys continuously to enter the BIOS window and go to the Boot menu.
- Scroll down and select UEFI/BIOS Boot Mode to see if there is a UEFI option.
- If you see both Legacy and UEFI, your computer supports UEFI mode. If there is only a Legacy option, your computer does not support UEFI mode.
2️⃣ Free download cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Professional.
AOMEI Backupper Professional is such cloning software that allows you to keep the destination disk in the original partition style while cloning MBR to GPT disk.
At the same time, it will automatically convert the boot partition to ensure the GPT disk is bootable. In addition, it allows you to expand the partition during cloning to avoid the hard drive not showing full capacity issues.
- Disk Clone - clone HDDs/SSDs, MBR/GPT disks.
- Bootable Clone - handles the system partition and boot files related to starting a Windows well.
- Edit Partitions - decide whether to convert the disk partition style and resize partitions during cloning.
- SSD Alignment - supports 4k technology and can accelerate the reading and writing speed of SSD disk as well as prolong its lifespan.
- For server users, try the AOMEI Backupper Server.
100% SecureHow to Clone 2TB MBR to 3TB GPT Disk Step by Step
As specialized hard drive cloning software, AOMEI Backupper Professional has made it very easy to clone hard drive from 2TB MBR to 3TB GPT disk. All versions of Windows 8/8.1/10/11 and 64-bit Windows 7/XP support booting from a GPT disk.
Step 1. Run this professional disk cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Professional. Click “Clone” in the main interface and then select “Disk Clone”.
Step 2. Select the 2TB MBR disk as the source disk and then choose the 3TB GPT disk as the destination disk.
Step 3. Click OK to continue the disk clone process if the destination GPT disk does not have any important files. If yes, click Cancel to stop this process and backup files to an external hard drive or other storage devices first.
⭐⭐⭐Step 4. In the Operation Summary window, click “Edit Partitions” to decide whether you want to convert the disk partition style and extend disk space to enjoy its full capacity.
Then, keep the Convert the destination disk from GPT to MBR option unchecked, the destination disk will remain as GPT. At the same time, check “Add unused space to all partitions” or “Manually adjust partition size” to extend the GPT disk to 3TB.
Step 5. Confirm the operations and click “Start Clone” to clone 2TB MBR to 3TB GPT. You can also use your computer during the cloning process.
After cloning, just let your computer to boot from the GPT disk if it uses UEFI mode. If not, go to BIOS > Boot > UEFI/BIOS Boot Mode, change Legacy to UEFI, and save changes. If you have problems doing so, click the cloned drive won't boot to learn more.
Summary
With AOMEI Backupper Professional, one of the best cloning software, you can clone 2TB MBR to 3TB GPT hard drive successfully without converting first. At the same time, it allows you to extend the GPT disk to 3TB to enjoy the full capacity. Why not try it now?
In addition, it also provides backup and recovery features. So you can create a disk backup of the 2TB MBR hard drive and then restore it to the GPT disk, especially useful to move files & OS to a computer with dissimilar hardware.