Pen Drive – How to Check if the Burned ISO is MBR or GPT

Introduction

A pen drive, also known as a USB flash drive, is a portable storage device that has become increasingly popular in recent years. It is a reliable and convenient way to store and transfer data between devices. One of the common uses of a pen drive is to copy ISO files onto it to create bootable media. However, it is important to ensure that the partition scheme used on the pen drive is appropriate for the intended purpose. In this blog post, we will discuss how to check if an ISO burned onto a pen drive is MBR or GPT and the effects of changing the partition scheme using Rufus.

MBR vs. GPT Partition Scheme

MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (GUID Partition Table) are two different partition schemes that can be used on a pen drive. MBR is the older and more commonly used partition scheme, while GPT is the newer and more advanced partition scheme. The main difference between the two is that MBR uses a 32-bit partition table and can support up to four primary partitions, while GPT uses a 64-bit partition table and can support up to 128 partitions.

Another significant difference between MBR and GPT is the way they handle disk space. MBR uses a cylinder-head-sector (CHS) addressing method, which limits the maximum disk capacity to 2TB. On the other hand, GPT uses a logical block addressing (LBA) method, which can support disk capacities of up to 9.4 zettabytes (ZB).

Checking if the Burned ISO is MBR or GPT

To check if the ISO burned onto a pen drive is MBR or GPT, you can use the Disk Management tool in Windows. Follow these steps:

1. Connect the pen drive to your computer and open Disk Management. You can do this by right-clicking on the Windows Start button and selecting Disk Management from the menu.

2. In Disk Management, locate the pen drive and right-click on it. Select Properties from the context menu.

3. In the Properties window, select the Volumes tab. Here, you can see the partition style of the pen drive. If it says “Master Boot Record (MBR)”, then the pen drive is using MBR partition scheme. If it says “GUID Partition Table (GPT)”, then the pen drive is using GPT partition scheme.

Alternatively, you can use the command prompt to check the partition scheme. Follow these steps:

1. Connect the pen drive to your computer and open the command prompt.

2. Type “diskpart” and press Enter. This will open the DiskPart utility.

3. Type “list disk” and press Enter. This will display a list of all the disks connected to your computer.

4. Locate the pen drive in the list and note the disk number.

5. Type “select disk X” (replace X with the disk number of the pen drive) and press Enter.

6. Type “list partition” and press Enter. This will display a list of all the partitions on the pen drive.

7. Look for the “Partition Style” column. If it says “MBR”, then the pen drive is using MBR partition scheme. If it says “GPT”, then the pen drive is using GPT partition scheme.

Effects of Changing the Partition Scheme using Rufus

Rufus is a popular tool used to create bootable USB drives from ISO files. It allows you to select the partition scheme and file system of the pen drive. If you want to change the partition scheme of a pen drive using Rufus, follow these steps:

1. Open Rufus and select the pen drive you want to format.

2. Under “Partition scheme”, select either MBR or GPT, depending on your requirements.

3. Under “File system”, select the appropriate file system. FAT32 is the most commonly used file system for pen drives.

4. Click on the “Start” button to begin the formatting process.

Changing the partition scheme of a pen drive using Rufus will erase all the data on the pen drive. Therefore, it is important to back up any important data before proceeding. Additionally, changing the partition scheme can affect the bootability of the pen drive. If you are using the pen drive to boot an operating system, you need to ensure that the partition scheme is compatible with the system’s firmware. For example, some older systems may not support booting from a GPT partition scheme.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to ensure that the partition scheme used on a pen drive is appropriate for the intended purpose. MBR and GPT are two different partition schemes that can be used on a pen drive. To check if an ISO burned onto a pen drive is MBR or GPT, you can use the Disk Management tool or the command prompt. Rufus is a popular tool used to create bootable USB drives from ISO files, and it allows you to select the partition scheme and file system of the pen drive. However, changing the partition scheme can affect the bootability of the pen drive, so it is important to ensure compatibility with the system’s firmware.

To check whether an ISO file that has been burned to a USB drive is using the MBR (Master Boot Record) or GPT (GUID Partition Table) partition scheme, you can use a utility such as Rufus or a command line tool such as diskutil on macOS or diskpart on Windows.

To use Rufus, follow these steps:

1. Download and launch Rufus.
2. Connect the USB drive to your computer.
3. Select the USB drive from the “Device” dropdown menu in Rufus.
4. Click the “Show advanced drive properties” button.
5. The “Partition scheme” field will indicate whether the USB drive is using MBR or GPT.

To use diskutil on macOS, follow these steps:

1. Open a terminal window.
2. Type the command diskutil list and press Enter. This will list all the disks connected to your computer.
3. Look for the name of your USB drive in the list, and note its disk number (e.g. /dev/disk2).
4. Type the command diskutil info /dev/diskX (replace X with the disk number of your USB drive) and press Enter. This will show you information about the disk, including the partition scheme.

To use diskpart on Windows, follow these steps:

1. Open a command prompt window.
2. Type the command diskpart and press Enter. This will launch the diskpart utility.
3. Type the command list disk and press Enter. This will list all the disks connected to your computer.
4. Look for the size and description of your USB drive in the list, and note its disk number (e.g. Disk 2).
5. Type the command select disk X (replace X with the disk number of your USB drive) and press Enter.
6. Type the command detail disk and press Enter. This will show you information about the disk, including the partition style (MBR or GPT).

Changing the partition scheme in Rufus or any other utility will erase the contents of the USB drive, so be sure to backup any important data before proceeding. If you change the partition scheme from MBR to GPT, or vice versa, the USB drive will be reformatted and all data on the drive will be lost.

In summary, you can use a utility like Rufus or a command line tool like diskutil or diskpart to check the partition scheme of a USB drive that has an ISO file burned to it. Just be aware that changing the partition scheme will erase the contents of the drive, so make sure to backup any important data before proceeding.

To determine if your USB drive uses an MBR or GPT partition scheme, you can use the gdisk tool. On Windows, if you have a single hard disk and an external USB drive connected, open the command prompt as an administrator and enter “gdisk 1:”. If the result shows a GPT partition with a protective MBR, then your USB stick is using GPT. Otherwise, it is using MBR. You can enter “p” to check that the USB stick is the correct device since its partition table information will be displayed.

If you have a GPT partition and want to check if you’re booting from the USB under UEFI or legacy mode (since GPT disks can be booted from under legacy mode as well), you can examine the USB’s file system. If the file system is FAT32 and has an “EFI” folder inside it, then you’re probably booting from it under UEFI mode. To confirm this, you can enter your BIOS setup and disable legacy mode (CSM mode) by choosing only UEFI.

Then, boot your device from the USB drive, and it should boot using only the EFI bootloader. Note that your computer must be UEFI-compatible for this to work.