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How do you check if your hard drive is UEFI or BIOS, and if it's using MBR or GPT? What are the benefits of this knowledge for your computer's hard drive usage? You might have heard about installing Windows 10 or creating a UEFI-compatible Windows 10 USB. So, why the emphasis on UEFI over MBR? This article will highlight the advantages for users.
Tips for Checking if Hard Drive is UEFI or BIOS, MBR or GPT
What are UEFI and BIOS?
- BIOS, or Basic Input/Output System, operates at a fundamental level within your computer. Stored on a firmware chip on the motherboard, it comprises essential pre-boot instructions. Accessing BIOS settings varies by laptop brand, typically requiring keys like F12 or Dell, depending on the model.
- The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, or UEFI, was developed by Intel to overcome the limitations of BIOS for 64-bit Itanium servers. Initially called the Intel Boot Initiative, UEFI is designed for modern computing needs.
UEFI serves many of the same purposes as traditional BIOS but offers more customization through a user-friendly graphical interface. While aesthetics are not its primary goal, the visual aspects of UEFI facilitate tasks like overclocking.
What is MBR? What is GPT?
MBR, short for Master Boot Record, was first introduced with IBM PC DOS 2.0 in 1983. It refers to the first boot sector of a disk drive, containing the boot loader for the operating system and logical partition information.
A boot loader is a small code snippet that loads a larger boot loader from another disk partition. In the case of Windows installations, the initial bits of the Windows boot loader reside here, which is why repairing the MBR is necessary if it gets overwritten, preventing Windows from starting.
- GPT represents a more modern standard progressively replacing MBR. Associated with UEFI, which succeeds BIOS, GPT comes with a more modern interface and features, surpassing the older MBR partitioning scheme.
GPT surpasses MBR's limitations, supporting significantly larger hard drives with size constraints only dependent on the operating system and filesystem.
GPT eliminates partition limits. Your OS dictates the cap - for instance, Windows supports up to 128 partitions on a GPT drive without needing extended partitions.
-> Explore the detailed differences between MBR Partition and GPT Partition in our comprehensive analysis.
How to Check if Your Hard Drive is UEFI or BIOS
To check if your hard drive supports UEFI or BIOS (Legacy), use HWiNFO software. Download HWiNFO for your PC here.
Step 1: Extract HWiNFO using WinRAR on your computer.
Step 2: Choose between 32 bit or 64 bit version depending on your system; for Windows 10 64 bit, select the 64 bit version and open it with administrator privileges.
Step 3: Upon launching HWiNFO, simply click 'Run' to start the software.
Step 4: Following that, three different parameter windows will appear; close two windows as depicted below.
Step 5: Keep only HWiNFO open; here, observe the 'UEFI BOOT' line. If it shows 'Present', your computer or laptop supports UEFI; if it shows 'No Present', it only supports BIOS (Legacy).
Navigate to the 'Motherboard' section and check the 'UEFI BIOS' line. If it reads 'Capable', your computer supports UEFI. If it reads 'Not Capable' and the UEFI Boot parameter above shows 'Not Present', your computer does not support UEFI, only BIOS.
How to check if your hard drive is MBR or GPT
Checking whether your hard drive is MBR or GPT is quite simple and doesn't require any software.
Step 1: To check, press Windows + R, then type Diskpart and press OK.
Step 2: Next, type the command List disk to display the disks.
Step 3: Here, you'll see the disks listed below with the GPT column on the far right. If there's a * mark next to a disk, it means it's in GPT format; otherwise, it's in MBR.
Mytour has shown how to verify if your hard drive supports UEFI or BIOS, and whether it uses MBR or GPT. This knowledge helps in understanding the best approach to installing Windows 10, emphasizing the necessity of a Windows 10 64-bit installation in UEFI-GPT mode for newer devices that lack BIOS support, without which installation is not possible.
