On Tue, 2025-08-19 at 18:58 -0400, Felix Miata wrote: > Van Snyder composed on 2025-08-19 13:51 (UTC-0700): > > > Let me know when you develop a method to convert a drive from MBR > > to > > GPT without blowing away the partition table. > > https://paste.opensuse.org/bba107b4b4f3 shows the partitioner I've > been using to > do virtually all table writes here for roughly 3 decades has convert > between the > two types it in its menu. I'm certain I've never tried it on a disk > involving a > Windows installation. > https://www.dfsee.com/dfsee > DFSee was shareware before v17.0. Since then, there's been no > suggestion I've seen > that anyone has provided any patches or other changes. There is a > mailing list for > it, and known issues.
I asked duckduckgo "when dfsee converts a disk from mbr to gpt does it retain existing partitions or destroy them?" The "Search Assistant" replied DFSee typically requires that all existing partitions be deleted before converting a disk from MBR to GPT, which means it does not retain existing partitions during the conversion process. Always ensure to back up your data before proceeding with such conversions. I can do that in gparted. But what I REALLY want to do is preserve the partitions. Worst case is I back up /home (which I do frequently), obtain a Windoze 10 installation disk because MS says Windoze 11 isn't supported on Intel i5, install it, reinstall Debian 13, and recover /home from the backup. A hassle, but maybe ultimately worth it. https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/windows-general/latitude-e5470-when-support-window-11-or-not/647fa024f4ccf8a8de51a41a A friend has a Windoze 11 installer with product keys. Maybe I'll try to install it. Probably better than Windoze 10 not working at all. But if I'm going to do that, I might as well start over from scratch with a new GPT boot record and not worry about converting it.
