System drive has a GUID partition table (GPT)

Asked By 130 points N/A Posted on -
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I am running Windows 8 on my Desktop PC and I just update it to 8.1. I also have a newly reformatted laptop. I encrypted its hard drive with TrueCrypt and perform the Encrypt System Drive menu. I want to do that on my desktop PC but ended up with an error as stated below:

“Your system drive has a GUID partition table (GPT). Currently, only drives with a MBR table are supported. ”

I don't know how to encrypt my hard disk on Windows 8. Can you please help me on this?

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Answered By points N/A #184769

System drive has a GUID partition table (GPT)

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Hello Tyrone,

TrueCrypt is an awesome encryption software. But it looks like it has got some limitations, too.

Try the latest version of TrueCrypt.

Also, instead of trying TrueCrypt, you should try AxCrypt. It runs on any system configuration. Also, its context menu feature has made it even easier.

It would be better if you converted your HDD partition into MBR. But be careful, if you have got more than four partitions with primary type, you won’t be able to do so.

Download AOMEI Partition Wizard. Open the main window. On the top, select your HDD disk number. Generally, it is called “Disk 0”. Right-click on it and select “Convert to MBR”. Press “Apply” button on the top-left.

Be careful! You will need to install your OS once again.

Answered By 590495 points N/A #293104

System drive has a GUID partition table (GPT)

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If TrueCrypt caught that error when you are trying to encrypt your Windows 8.1 and it uses a GPT volume that means it cannot encrypt a volume that uses GPT. When you create a partition on your hard drive, it normally uses the standard MBR partition table. MBR stands for Master Boot Record and it uses the standard BIOS partition table.

GPT stands for GUID Partition Table and it uses UEFI or the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface. With MBR, every hard drive is limited only up to four partitions that can be created regardless of its capacity. With GPT, you can have more than four partitions on every disk and if you are using a hard drive with more than 2 TB capacity GPT is required.

Since your Windows 8.1 is on GPT, check if your hard drive is 2 TB or higher. If it is lower, it can be converted back to MBR since GPT is not required for hard drives lower than 2 TB.

Unfortunately, if you want to convert your Windows 8.1 from GPT to MBR, you have to reinstall Windows 8.1 because the conversion will require you to delete all partitions on the hard drive before a standard MBR can be created. On the other hand, if you cannot convert your hard drive to MBR because it is higher than 2 TB, you cannot use TrueCrypt.

Note: TrueCrypt has been discontinued and is no longer secure. Its development has been discontinued after Microsoft ended support for Windows XP.

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