Crucial SSDs larger than 2 terabytes (TB) can introduce errors if a customer has used a Master Boot Record (MBR) partition structure exclusively in the past, as this structure predates extremely high capacity media and has several limitations which can result in errors until the drive is set up under a GUID Partition Table (GPT). This can also apply when cloning an MBR structure to a new SSD, as that property will be copied and needs to be converted.
MBR only allows for a maximum of four primary partitions on a device. Primary partitions can be converted to Extended partitions using third-party software or Windows® Command Prompt to create additional logical partitions, but this can lead to boot problems if attempted on the operating system (OS) partition, and may not be compatible with all applications. We are also unable to provide support for this process, so please refer to support specific to your OS or partitioning software for guidance on this. Because of this, your SSD should be set to use GPT during initialization or at the time you install Windows. Mac® OS users should refer to initialization steps for their OS.
When creating a partition, MBR only allows for a maximum of 2TB of addressable space per partition, and a user will generally be unable to allocate additional space beyond that. Third-party partitioning software may allow the customer to use any remaining space to create additional small partitions to mount as additional drive letters, however this typically requires specialized drivers and additional CPU/memory overhead, so system performance may be reduced, and this configuration may not be compatible with all applications.
Based on installed OS, and whether or not UEFI is featured in a system, GPT drives may or may not be supported for both data storage and bootable OS partitions. In general, from Windows Vista on a 32-bit OS will not boot from a GPT disk, but it can be used for data storage. 64-bit versions of Windows will be bootable in a UEFI-based system, and can be used for data storage if UEFI is disabled or not supported.
Customers who have a drive configured for MBR and want to convert to GPT have several options.
©2021 Micron Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Information, products, and/or specifications are subject to change without notice. Neither Crucial nor Micron Technology, Inc. is responsible for omissions or errors in typography or photography. Micron, the Micron logo, Crucial, and the Crucial logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Micron Technology, Inc. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. OS X, macOS, and Mac are trademarks of Apple, Inc., registered in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owner