Convert hard drive to GPT to use AOMEI Backupper

I just read in Reader Support (Issue 577, page 71) that other readers have had problems cloning their hard drive to an external drive using AOMEI Backupper, as you describe in Issue 574 (page 35).

Your answer to David White’s question may well solve the problem if readers were not choosing the Disk Clone option in Backupper. But I had a different problem. Having chosen Disk Clone, once I clicked the OK button to start the

process I was always taken to a message to buy an upgrade.

I had purchased a new external Toshiba hard drive of the correct size, and it used the NTFS file system, so there shouldn’t have been a problem. Then I noticed that disc one in Backupper was showing as using the GPT format, while disc two, my new Toshiba drive, was showing as MBR. This meant that Backupper would not do the clone for free. Only the paid-for version clones from GPT to MBR, which is why it was directing me to upgrade.

I erased all that was on my Toshiba drive (having checked that I did not need the manual that came on it), and then used Windows 10’s Disk Management to right-click in the external drive and chose to convert it to GPT (see screenshot above). It had to be empty to do this.

Then AOMEI backupper showed both my computer hard drive and the new Toshiba as being GPT, and it sailed through the clone when I clicked OK.

I don’t know if this was happening to others, but it was easy enough to fix once I realised there was a problem.