What is the difference between BIOS and UEFI?
Most people may be familiar with the BIOS of a computer. Simply put, please refer to the following figure:
Traditional BIOS interface
BIOS represents the basic input/output system. When your computer starts, the task of the BIOS is to activate various components and check their normal operation, then pass the functionality to your operating system or other boot loader.
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, abbreviated as UEFI. It can be said that it is an updated version of traditional BIOS, simple and easy to use, and supports mice. It is also crucial to start Windows on disks larger than 2 TB (known as GPT disks). Some new motherboards are compatible with traditional BIOS (CSM mode) and support the new UEFI by default.
UEFI BIOS interface
Upgrading BIOS to UEFI can be achieved by directly switching BIOS to UEFI in the motherboard settings (as shown in the above figure). However, if your motherboard model is too old, you can only replace it with a new motherboard. I suggest that you perform a complete disk backup before the operation.
Comparison between MBR and GPT
Convert MBR to GPT without losing data
After upgrading the BIOS to UEFI, you can convert the MBR disk to GPT and reinstall the Windows operating system, etc.
Regarding converting MBR to GPT, I suggest using Aomei Partition Assistant Professional Edition, which is an efficient, easy-to-use, and multifunctional partition management software with user-friendly operations to help you manage hard disk partitions.
With the help of the partition assistant, you can easily and quickly create/delete and merge partitions, etc. The advantage is that it re adjusts the partition size while ensuring data security.
Let’s take a look at the steps of converting MBR to GPT together:
Free download of professional version
Win 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
- Install and start the Aomei partition assistant. Right click on the system disk and select “Convert to GPT Hard Disk” on the main interface.
Convert to GPT disk
- This step will pop up a prompt message as shown in the following figure. Select “OK” to continue.
Confirm conversion to GPT disk
- Then, click “Submit” and then click “Execute” to suspend the operation.
Submit
summary
Through this article, after understanding the differences between BIOS and UEFI, to achieve BIOS upgrade to UEFI, we also need to transfer the disk from MBR to GPT, which can be easily achieved through partition assistant software. For situations where the old motherboard does not support UEFI boot, we can also migrate the MBR system to a GPT disk through the system migration function of the partition assistant, so that it can be directly booted on the new motherboard (requiring Windows 11/10/11 systems)
