[Solved] System Clone Does Not Support Cloning MBR Disk to GPT

Why system clone does not support cloning MBR to GPT?

When you try to clone the MBR disk (Master Boot Record) to the GPT disk (GUID Partition Table), you may get the error "System clone does not support cloning MBR disk to GPT or vice versa" during any cloning process.

The main reason why many system cloning tools typically do not support direct cloning from MBR to GPT is that MBR and GPT are two different partitioning schemes.

Generally speaking, they have distinct boot processes. MBR uses a single boot sector and an active partition to load the boot loader, while GPT relies on the EFI firmware, an EFI System Partition (ESP), and individual boot loaders stored in the ESP for different operating systems. GPT provides more flexibility and resilience in terms of booting, especially with larger drives and modern UEFI-based systems.

Thus, if the original and target hard drives are initialized with MBR or GPT partition style respectively, you will fail to perform the system cloning between them.

How to fix system clone does not support cloning MBR to GPT

To solve the problem that system clone does not support cloning MBR to GPT disk, you are supposed to change the partition style on the destination disk to match that of the source disk. This process involves two methods:

Method 1. Convert the target disk to MBR/GPT with DM

DM (Disk Management) is a useful built-in Windows tool to manage hard disks. It can be used to change the partition style.

1. Confirm the partitioning scheme of the source hard disk.

Step 1. Use the Windows + R shortcut key to access the Run box.

Step 2. Enter diskmgmt.msc and press OK.

Step 3. Right-click on the source hard drive and select Properties.

Step 4. Navigate to the Volumes tab and identify the Partition Style (GPT or MBR) of the source disk.

By performing the above steps, you will determine the partition style of your source hard drive. Then, you will know which partition scheme you should convert the target disk to.

2. Modify the partition style of the target hard disk.

Step 1. Right-click on the new empty hard drive (Here we take the GPT target disk as an example).

Step 2. Select Convert to MBR Disk to continue (If the source disk is GPT, choose Convert to GPT Disk in this step).

Method 2. Convert the target disk to MBR/GPT with a third-party tool

If you are using DM to make disk conversion, you need to manually check the partitioning scheme in advance as DM doesn't show you the specific scheme directly. Moreover, converting the disk requires you to delete all partitions.

But the fact is that users found they are not allowed to delete the system partition using Disk Management. In such a case, you are recommended to try one easier alternative: AOMEI Partition Assistant (PA) Professional. This third-party tool directly presents all your disks' partition schemes, so you can confirm the partitioning scheme of each disk at once without executing complex operations to check. Then, you can directly convert the disk without deleting any partitions.

PA Professional is specially designed for Windows 11/10/8/7/XP/Vista 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Users can convert their partitioning styles in simple clicks.

Please follow the steps below to convert the target disk from GPT to MBR using AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro:

Step 1. Install and start AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional Edition.

Step 2. Right-click on the target disk and select Convert to MBR.

Step 3. Click OK to confirm the operation.

Step 4. Click Apply to submit the conversion.

This process ensures a seamless transition from GPT to MBR without the risk of data loss due to partition deletion, thus providing a smooth and efficient conversion with AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro.

By following these outlined steps, both the source and destination disks will have an MBR partition style.

The best cloning way to evade "system clone does not support cloning MBR to GPT"

When you encounter the "System clone does not support cloning MBR disk to GPT or vice versa" error, don't worry. You can resolve it by converting the partition style of the target disk to be the same as that of the source one. However, several users are complaining that it is annoying and time-consuming to carry out the MBR2GPT conversion before cloning. Therefore, they are questioning whether there is a way to evade this error.

Yes, there is! You are recommended to utilize AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. It is a simpler and straightforward solution. With its "Clone Disk" feature you can directly clone MBR to GPT or vice versa without conversion.

You can see its advantages in cloning:

ஐ Allow to directly clone MBR HDD to GPT SSD without converting the target disk.
ஐ Ensure successful boot from the cloned drive.
ஐ Provide the option to transfer only OS-related partitions during cloning via the "Migrate OS" feature.
ஐ Optimize SSD performance by implementing 4K alignment during the cloning process.
ஐ Provide the option to clone used sectors or all sectors as per specific requirements, even from larger drives to smaller drives.

Follow the steps below to clone MBR directly to GPT SSD using AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro:

Step 1. Select Clone Disk from the menu.

Step 2. Select your preferred cloning method, such as Clone Disk Quickly.

Step 3. Select the MBR disk as the source disk.

Step 4. Specify a GPT as the target disk, ensuring optimized SSD performance (if applicable).

Step 5. Adjust the partitions on the target disk as needed.

Step 6. Review the instructions for booting from the target disk and confirm and execute through the software interface to continue the cloning operation.

Step 7. Confirm the operations. Click Apply > Proceed to save the changes.

Once the cloning process is complete, restart your computer and access the UEFI settings to adjust the boot order. Make sure to set the cloned SSD as the primary boot device to successfully boot the computer from the SSD.

Conclusion

This article dives into resolving the "System clone does not support cloning MBR disk to GPT or vice versa" error. Users can not only align the partition style on the target disk with that on the source disk before cloning but also opt for a more straightforward solution that involves utilizing AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional for direct MBR to GPT disk cloning or vice versa.

In addition to the disk cloning feature between MBR and GPT, the software also offers other features such as moving installed programs to another drive, cloning an encrypted hard drive, and allocating free space to extend the C drive.

For users running Windows 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012, or 2008, the AOMEI Partition Assistant Server is recommended to provide a comprehensive disk management solution.