rufus usb tool partition schemes explained

So we can notice that in GPT we do have much more “space” associated with the table itself. Size of a LBA is also de-facto set to 512 bytes similar to a CHS sector. Firstly, GPT uses Logical Block Addressing (LBA), a more modern way to define hard disk sectors rather than the old Cylinder, Head, Sector (CHS) used in MBR disks. Figure 1: GPT Scheme Īs we can see there are a lot of new features here.

Let’s see in details its structure reported in figure 1. It overcome the limitation of MBR while trying to keep compatibility at the same time. The GPT substitute the MBR by redefining the partition table format. GPT stands for GUID Partition Table and is actually a part of the UEFI standard too. However UEFI/GPT work so well together that they are often confused and considered as one single improvement. Indeed is possible to have UEFI boot with MBR disks, or BIOS boot with GPT disk (which we will see in the next article). So, ideally UEFI and GPT are two different and independent “upgrades” of two completely different systems. Before we start we need to understand one important point: UEFI is the “next generation” of the BIOS while GPT replace the MBR disk structure. The MBR structure was introduced in early 80s and we already saw that it suffers from many limitations. I also have another article in plan where I will discuss mixed versions, secure boot and TPM. Today we will move forward and we will see the changes introduced with UEFI and GPT disks. In the previous article, I presented the boot process of BIOS based system with MBR disk.

Rufus usb tool partition schemes explained