Converting a Mac OS X GPT partition to an NTFS partition in Windows XP

Problem:
You can see a Mac formatted GPT partition drive in Windows XP's Drive Manager, but it doesn't allow you to delete its partition or reformat the drive!

Cause:
A Mac formatted GPT partition is not be readable by Windows XP. If it has a GPT Protective partition, it will look similar to the image (Disk 1) below when you check Disk Management. If you don't see the drive in Disk Management, I would recommend that you Contact Us

However, if you attempt to delete the partition, Windows isn't capable of doing so, and you will get a menu like below.

Resolution:
The partition table on the hard drive must be set as an MBR (Master Boot Record) for it to work properly with Windows XP. In order to do this through Windows XP, you will need to use our Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows utility to write zeros to the drive. Then you will be able to reformat it with NTFS.

Note: In order to change the drive from a GUID partition table to an MBR all of the data on the drive will be erased. Make sure that you have a copy of your data before you proceed with any of the steps below.

Using DLG Diagnostics to write zeros in Windows XP

1. Please download the latest version of DLG Diagnostics from our Support site. You can download the latest version from the following link: DLG Diagnostics for Windows.
2. Unzip the software to a local folder, and double-click on Setup.exe.
Note: If you have a previous version of DLG Diagnostics on your computer, it will give you a list of options. Choose to remove the old software. Once the old version has been removed, click on the Setup.exe file again to install the new version.
3. Open the Data LifeGuard Diagnostics software from your Start Menu. It should be listed under WD Diagnostics or under Western Digital Corporation folder. Click on WinDLG
4. When you first run DLG Diagnostics, you should get a window asking you to accept the License Agreement. Check the box in front of I accept this License Agreement and click Next.



5. On the next screen, you will see a list of the drives on your computer. Scroll down to the drive that you want to write zeros to, and click on it to highlight it.



6. Just above the window with the list of drives in it, you will see some instructions. Click on the little hard drive you see there, and the menu below will pop up. Highlight Write Zeros and click on Start.



7. You will get several messages making sure that you close any open programs or files, and that you want to write zeros to the drive. When you are ready, click either OK or Yes to each response.









8. Next, please choose either Quick Erase or Full Erase and click OK.
Note: Keep in mind that Full Erase will take at least 6 hours to complete. So, we recommend doing the Quick Erase.



9. The write zeros process will begin.



10. Once the write zeros is done you will get a window notifying you that it is done. Click Close



11. You will get a final window showing you that it was successfully completed. Click on Close, and then Close again, to exit out of the software.



12. You are now ready to initialize the drive, so that you can partition and format it. Follow the links below to do that.
• Answer ID 1018: How to initialize or write a signature to a secondary hard drive or Solid State drive in Windows (7, Vista, XP)
• Answer ID 3865: How to partition and format a WD drive on Windows (8, 7, Vista, XP) and Mac OSX

Note: If you do not wish to use the Data Lifeguard Diagnostics software, Microsoft has integrated a utility into this version of Windows that is able to perform the same function. Please note that Western Digital technical support is unable to assist with using this tool. For more information please see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 300415 for more information.

Source:http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3645/~/how-to-convert-a-mac-os-x-gpt-partition-to-an-ntfs-partition-in-windows-xp

-M S Ali

www.msali.com

www.msali.tk