Change MBR system drive GPT partitioning?

I have a Samsung SSD with old-style MBR partitioning and a Windows 8.1 install.  I would like it to have a new-style GUID / GPT partition.  Is there  a procedure for doing this conversion?

Can I take an image of the Windows partition, change the partitioning to GPT, install the image, and expect it to work?  Or, maybe there's some tool to directly convert without needing to reinstall an image?

If not, I guess I'd have to reinstall Windows.  Are there any tips for rebuilding a Windows system based on a previous one?

Details:  This is, of course, a UEFI system.  I want to take just part of the SSD for Windows, and the rest for a fresh Linux install.  This is a system I built myself, and I have the Windows 8.1 pro DVD.  I have some big hard disks on the system to make it easy to take backups.




  • Edited by Dan Zerkle Tuesday, June 23, 2015 6:31 PM
June 23rd, 2015 6:16pm

Thank you for this information.  Unfortunately, the SSD came with MBR partitioning, and I put Windows on it before I heard of UEFI and GUID/GPT.  The Windows installer never mentioned anything, either.  Maybe it should.

I do understand how to completely wipe the system, change the partitioning, and re-install Windows from scratch.  That is my last resort.

What I really want is to avoid a manual re-install of all my applications and drivers and then all that configuration and those updates.  I thought a system backup and restore would let me do this.  Maybe not.  Any tips?



  • Edited by Dan Zerkle Tuesday, June 23, 2015 10:27 PM
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June 23rd, 2015 10:04pm

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