Anybody care to share any comments or insights about using their GPT-format drives?

Paj
8^?

I have never needed to use partitions so I have not tried formatting a disk that way. Did yours come pre-formatted, or are you considering converting?

I have a 3TB GPT drive that I use on desktop for data only, have it all partitioned up, with biab on one partition.

As far as I am aware with the windows 7 32 bit I have got, I can't install an OS on any of the partitions, maybe something to do with bios as well, though I believe you can with modern bios.

The reason I had to convert it to GPT in first place was that it was a 3TB drive but windows couldn't see more than 2 TB and I was unable to partition the unused space.

Works great for data on my desktop and as I have said I have biab on there on one of the partitions running fine. I just have a shortcut on my main C drive pointing to it. I have a SSD as main drive and the GPT and another drive as well, three in total.

Musiclover

For those not aware of what a GPT hard drive is, ++ HERE ++ is an article that provides an informative overview.

To me, this paragraph was a little shocking: "Windows can only boot from GPT on UEFI-based computers running 64-bit versions of Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, and corresponding server versions. All versions of Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, and Vista can read GPT drives and use them for data — they just can’t boot from them without UEFI." I was also surprised to learn Windows 7 hard drives using MBR have an upper limit of 2 Tetrabytes per partition.

I've been partitioning my drives for decades, mostly for maintenance and backup considerations. The more recent versions of Windows maintain hard-drive storage much better so it may no be the advantageous practice it once was.

This was my year for software, so after a year or so of addictive purchasing behaviors and obsessive bargain-hunting, required periodic upgrades to higher-capacity hard drives made me re-evaluate my system requirements. I want to move all of my NI stuff (Komplete Ultimate), especially the Kontakt "factory" libraries, off of the system (C:) drive; my East-West libraries practically require that. Between just those two manufactures I'm over a TB already. I can think of a half-dozen other bundles/libraries that I acquired in the past year that clock in between 60-100 GB and all of the "small" 1-5 GB items add up quickly, so even a separate 2TB dedicated data drive has a visible horizon.

I purchased a 4TB (SATA) HD but could not, even with Partition Master, get more than the 2TB MBR limit activated, while looking at almost two unavailable, "unallocated" TB on the drive display. It appears that, under MBR, it's not only a single partition that has a 2TB limit but the total of all (up to four physical) partitions has a 2TB limit. Slice it, dice it, it looks like 2TB is all you get with MBR.

So I deleted all the partitions and reset the entire 4TB of unallocated space as a GPT disk. It was a quick operation and it appears like any other drive in most current versions of Windows. It was painless but I will caution you that I did this for a entire separate drive. I don't even know if you can but DON'T try to convert a MBR partition to GPT. My experience with that involved using my Windows emergency disk to regain control of my system.

Right now, I'm just using the drive in an external USB dock* to back up all of my other drives/data. Supposedly, the GPT system is more robust and reliable but I was interested if anyone had noticed any peccadillos with their use, or, even better, wanted to share their experiences of having Kontakt libraries moved to one or using East-West libraries from one. Those two would give me pretty much the info I need. I also wouldn't mind hearing more about how that PG package is performing from that GPT drive.

Thanks,
Paj
8^)

*I have to post more about the external USB dock. One of my best-ever computer hardware purchases.