I'm trying to shrink my SSD where Windows is installed to convert it from MBR to GPT, but I'm having some issues. I know I need GPT for Windows 11 and to enable secure boot, but when I attempt to run the mbr2gpt tool, it validates fine but fails to convert. The error I get says there's no room for the EFI system partition. I've read that I need to shrink my SSD by about 1GB, but when I go to do that, it shows there's 0 free space available to shrink, even though my SSD should have about 75.8GB free. I've tried several methods to free up space, such as running Disk Cleanup, disabling system restore, and even turning off the paging file and hibernation. Can anyone help?
1 Answer
It sounds like you're hitting a wall with the built-in tools. You could try using third-party software to shrink the partition, but keep in mind that some tools can be sketchy. If you're serious about upgrading to Windows 11, the clean install route might be the best option. That way, you can wipe all partitions and set it up fresh, which will automatically configure your SSD as GPT.
I've been considering those third-party tools too, but I'm nervous about using them. If I choose to do a clean install with a USB drive, do I need to back up all my data first, and then wipe everything before installing?