Can I clone from MBR to GPT Hard Drive & Boot from GPT at start up with Dell Dimension 9200 (XPS410)?

Lunar21

Distinguished
Sep 27, 2011
28
0
18,530
Hello,

I currently have 2 x 160GB serial ATA (7200 Rpm) internal hard drives (MBR) installed in my Dell Dimension 9200 (XPS 410) and have recently added a Seagate Barracuda 3TB Hard Drive. To take advantage of the 3TB hard drive capacity I have formatted the disk as GPT with Seagate DiscWizard.

What I am hoping to do is use EaseUS TODO 6.0 Backup to clone the contents of the two 160gb Hard Drives (MBR) on to the Seagate 3TB Hard Drive (GPT) and use the Seagate as the Primary hard drive.

Is it possible to Clone from MBR to GPT HDD using EaseUS TODO 6.0 Backup or similar backup software? If so will it be possible to use the Seagate 3TB GPT as my primary hard drive and Boot from GPT at start up?

I read that normally in BIOS based PCs you can not boot from GPT, you need an EFI-based PC instead of BIOS, but I am not sure if this applies to my setup.

My current system has the following specifications:

Model: Dell Dimension 9200 (XPS410)
Windows Edition: Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
Motherboard: Dell Inc. 0CT017, Intel P965/G965, 82801HH (ICH8DH)
BIOS: Dell Inc. 2.5.3
Processor: Intel Core QUAD Q6600 SLACR 2.40 GHZ/8M/1066/05A
Primary Internal Hard Drives (MBR): 320.00GB (2x160gb) serial ATA (7200 Rpm)
Secondary Internal Hard Drive (GPT): Seagate 3TB 3.5 inch 7200RPM 64MB Cache SATA3 Hard Drive
OCZ - 700W ModXStream Pro ATX Power Supply Unit.
Memory (Ram): 4.00GB (4 X 1GB PC2-5300 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM 240pin)
Video type: PCI Express
Expansion Bus: PCI x 3, PCI Express one x1, PCI Express one x4, and a PCI Express one x16

Thanks,
Lunar21
 
Solution
You cannot boot from a 32 bit Windows install on a GPT drive. HERE is an FAQ on GPT booting.

Basically you lack two key elements to boot Windows from a GPT drive: a 64 bit system (not including XP x64) and a UEFI based computer.

Lunar21

Distinguished
Sep 27, 2011
28
0
18,530
If I were to upgrade to a Windows 7 or 8 - 64 bit system, would it be possible to update the BIOS (DELL: 2.5.3) to UEFI?



 

Lunar21

Distinguished
Sep 27, 2011
28
0
18,530
That's disappointing that there is no workaround for this issue. Had I known this before buying the 3TB HD then I would have opted for a 2TB HD instead. I am surprised that there is no solution other than to buy a new computer. I think Dell should update the current BIOS to UEFI. Probably the best I can do to resolve this issue is store all my files and programs on the 3TB HD and store my current Windows OS and any future Windows OS on the 2x160GB HDD's. I was hoping to speed up the Boot process and use more partitions but this will do for the time being.

Thanks for your help.
Lunar21



 

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
Dell cannot update the bios to UEFI, the chipset would not support it and why would they spend the money on a 6 year old system?

You can use the drive once it is GPT formatted on another machine. You can also always buy a real inexpensive 1TB drive (Newegg usually has them on sale for $60 or so) if you need a new boot drive.

Nothing else much that you can do, and I would not spend too much money on that old of a system. It just is what it is.
 

Lunar21

Distinguished
Sep 27, 2011
28
0
18,530
I wouldn't expect Dell to spend the money on old hardware, however I thought that an update of the BIOS to UEFI would be possible without requiring a new chipset. The 2 x 160GB drives I am using will do for the boot drive.

Thanks,
Lunar21