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Backup/Clone a MBR disk to a GPT disk - Multi-boot Win-10 and Linux Mint

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Greetings!

Note:  I strongly suspect that the answer will be "fresh install on the target disk and copy over all the goodies"
Note:  I'd REALLY LIKE to avoid that if at all possible as it would be a Royal Pain.

Given the following:

  • A copy of Acronis True Image 2019, (or any earlier version)
    • It can be run from a bootable CD.
    • I am not adverse to purchasing a later version if that will help.
    • I am willing to consider a non-Acronis based solution if all else fails.
  • A 2T SSD configured as MBR
    • It dual-boots Win-10 and Linux Mint
  • It contains five partitions, (Obviously some are extended partitions)
    • Linux swap partition
    • Linux root partition
    • Windows 10 system partition
    • Windows 10 root partition (C:)
    • Windows 10 recovery partition
       
  • A 4T SSD that I'd like to move all of this to, intact if possible
    • Of course, it would need to be created as a GPT partitioned disk as I want to use all the space.
    • Microsoft's MBR to GPT tool cannot be used because it has too many partitions and it dual-boots Linux.

Is this even possible?  Or do I have to "bite the bullet" and do a complete re-install of everything under the sun?

Note that this computer has been around the block a few times and reinstalling everything would be a non-trivial task of major proportions that I would like to avoid if at all possible.

Thanks!
Jim

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Comments: 1727

Hello!

Please refer to:

If you have met the prerequisites, you can proceed with cloning. If you have not, backup and recovery is the best option.

Best regards.

Jim, welcome to these public User Forums.

You may want to consider a slightly different approach here and not try to clone the whole dual boot system along with migrating from MBR to GPT at the same time!

How are you doing the dual boot?  Are you using the Windows Boot Manager or using Grub?

First, when booted into Windows 10, make a backup of all the Windows partitions including the hidden / system Microsoft System Reserved and Recovery partitions - this would allow you to perform a recovery using your ATI 2019 rescue media booted in UEFI BIOS boot mode and convert those partitions from MBR to GPT.

Next, when booted into Linux Mint, make a full backup of all your Linux data - I have been using TimeShift to do this for my own Linux systems (running Zorin and Antix) - it defaults to not including all the folders but this can be changed to save everything to avoid having to reinstall apps etc.

Once you have both backups secured, then you should start by removing the 2TB SSD and setting it aside safely for an immediate option to recover back to how it all works today, and install the new 4TB SSD.

Start the PC from the Acronis rescue media in UEFI mode and recover your Windows 10 backup.  This will automatically convert from MBR to GPT but you may need to manually size partitions else Acronis will want to try to use the whole 4TB drive space.

If you want to keep matters simple, you could let Acronis recover to the whole drive then use a Partition Manager tool such as the free MiniTool Partition Wizard to reconfigure the partition sizes and make room for Linux Mint (or boot a Linux live distro and use Gparted to do the same).

Test that Windows 10 boots up ok on its own.

Next, if you have a Linux Live distro, then you could try restoring the backup from Linux Mint, or else do a fresh install of Mint, then recover from within Linux from your backup.

Unfortunately dual boot is somewhat of a nightmare at times.  Microsoft will walk all over Linux boot schemes such as Grub if you install Linux before Windows!

I have taken the approach of not using dual boot for around 5 years now and instead either have dedicated Linux machines or else use Hyper-V for Linux Virtual Machines running within Windows 10 / 11.

Dual booting:

I use both boot managers.

  1. I install Linux first.
  2. I run dd to capture the first 512 bytes to save the Linux MBR.
  3. I install Windows and let it overwrite the MBR.
  4. I use EasyBCD and use the file with the Linux MBR as the loader it jumps to.
  5. I reboot and boot Linux.
  6. I use dd to copy the Windows MBR as noted above.
  7. I use a grub customizer, (the one everyone hates), to configure the Linux boot process and re-capture the Linux boot partition.
  8. Reboot and verify that both operating systems will boot.
  9. Boot back into Windows. (Use the boot disk to recover the boot sector if necessary.)
  10. Use EasyBCD to relink the Linux boot partition.
  11. Test both boot methods (Windows and Linux) to make sure both can boot into both operating systems.
  12. You're done.

Re:  The conversion.

I might just try what you suggest, using the original disk(s) as backups and data sources.