UEFI/GPT-based hard drive partitions 9005 05/02/2017 » 6 minutes toread + In this article Portion Reauirements Portion yout Sample fles: configure dive partion by using Windows PE and DiskPar scripts New steps Related topics Create custom partition layouts for your hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), and other drives when deploying Windows +o Unified Extensible Firmware interface (UEF-based devices, Note Ifyou use a custom partion layout on Windows 10 for desttop eons (Home, Pro nterpise and Education update the push-button recovery script othe recovery tals can recreate the custom patton layout when needed Partition Requirements When you deploy Windows to a UEFFbased device, you must format the hard drive that includes the Windows partition by using a GUID partition table (GPT) file system. Additional drives may use either the GPT or the master boot record (MBR) file format [AGT ctive may have up to 128 partitions Each partition can have a maximum of 18 exabytes (~18.8 million terabytes) of space ‘System partitionThe device must contain a system partition. On GPT drives, this is know as the EF! System Partition, or the ESP. This partition is usually stored on the primary hard drive. The device boots to this patition ‘The minimum size ofthis partition is 100 MB, and must be formatted using the FAT32 file format, This partition is managed by the operating system, and should not contain any othe files, including Windows RE tools. Note For Advanced Format 4K Native drives (#-KB-per-sector) drives, the minimum size is 260 MB, due to a limitation of the FAT32 fle format. The minimum partion size of FAT32 drives is calculated as sector size (4KB) x 65527 = 256 MB. Advanced Format 5126 drives are not affected by ths limitation, because their emulated sector size is 512 bytes. 512 bytes x 165527 = 32 MB, which is less than the 100 MB minimum size for this partition, Microsoft reserved partition (MSR) Beginning in Windows 10, the size ofthe MSR is 16 MB ‘Add an MSR to each GPT crive to help with partition management. The MSR isa reserved partition that does not receive a partition ID. Iecannot store user data Other utility partitions, Any: her utility partitions not managed by Windows must be located before the Windows, data, and recovery image partitions, This allows end users to perform actions such as resizing the Windows partition without affecting system utilities, Protect end users from accidentally modifying utlty partitions by identfying them using a GPT attribute, Ths prevents these partitions {rom appearing in File Explorer. ster cninion eta fachrorgrea tant te pris on‘To set partitions as ut eeey When you are deploying Windows by using the **0iskPart#* tool, use the “attributes voluse set GPT\_ATTRIBUTE\ PLATFORM aEQuIRED** cornand after you create the partition to identify the partition as a utility partition. For wore inforsation, see the MSON topic: [PARTITION\_INFORMATION\ G>T structure] (neeps://g0.microsoft.con/ulint/p/?1inkia=240300) To verify that system and utility partitions exist cory aSsigned a drive Letter. Windows partition +The partition must have at least 20 gigabytes (GB) of drive space for 64-bit versions, or 16 GB for 32-bit versions. ‘The Windows partition must be formatted using the NTFS fle format. ‘+The Windows partition must have 16 GB offre space after the user has completed the Out Of Box Experience (OOBE) and ‘Automatic Maintenance has completed. Recovery tools partition** ‘This partition must be at least 300 M8, The Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) tools requite additional free space: ster cninion eta fachrorgrea tant te pris osestas ‘+ Aminimum of 52 MB is required but 250 MB is recommended, to accomodate future updates, especialy with custom partition layouts, When calculating free space, note: ‘+ The recovery image, winreswim, is typically between 250-300MB, depending on what drivers languages, and customizations you add ‘+ The filesystem itself can take up additional space. For example, NTFS may reserve 5-15MB or more on a 750MB partion ‘This partition must use the Type ID: DE948BA4-06D1-4D40-A16A-BFDS0179D6AC The recovery tools should be in a separate partition than the Windows partition to support automatic failover and to support booting partitions encrypted with Windows BitLocker Drive Eneryption, \We recommend that you place this partition immediately after the Windows partition. This allows Windows to modify and recteate the partition later if future updates require a larger recovery image. Data partitions The recommended partition layout for Windows 10 does not include data partitions. However, if data partitions are required, they should be placed after the Windows RE partition. This allows future updates to Windows RE to grow the Windows RE partition by shrinking the Windows partition, This layout makes it more difficult for end users to remove the data partition and merge the space with the Windows partition. To do 50, the Windows RE partition must be moved to the end of the unused space reclaimed from the data partition, so that the Windows partition can be extended. Windows 10 dees not include functionality of utliy to facilitate this process. However, manufacturers ean develop and provide such a utility if PCs are shipped with data partitions, ster cninion eta fachrorgrea tant te prissino estar oates ate pants ea oct Partition layout ‘The defauit partition layout for UEFI-based PCs is: a system partition, an MSR, a Windows partition, and a recovery tools partition, Disk 0 default partition layout (UEFI-based PCs) ie) sec This layout lets you use Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption through both Windows and through the Windows Recovery Environment, Sample files: configure drive partitions by using Windows PE and DiskPart scripts For image-based deployment, boot the PC to Windows 25, and then use the DiskPart tool to create the partition structures on your destination PCs [Note In these DiskPart examples, the partitions are assigned the letters: System=5, Windows=W, and Recovery=R. The MSR partition does not receive a drive letter. CChange the Windows drive letter to a letter that's near the end of the alphabet, such as W, to avoid ative leter conflicts. Do not use X, ‘because this drive letter is reserved for Windows PE. After the device reboots, the Windows partition is assigned the letter C, and the ‘other partitions don't receive drive letters Ifyou reboot, Windows PE reassigns disk letters alphabetically, starting with the letter C, without regard to the configuration in Windows Setup. This configuration can change based on the presence of different drives, such as USB flash drives, ‘The following steps describe how to partition your hard drives and prepare to apply images. You can use the code in the sections that follow to complete these steps. ster cninion eta fachrorgrea tant te pris sw‘To partition hard drives and prepare to apply images ions-UEFL.tt) on a USB flash drive, 1. Save the following code in the asa text fle (CreatePart Createpartitions-UEFZ.txt These comands are used wit! ren create four partitions ren for 2 UEFE/6Pr-based Pc. ron Adjust the partition sizes to fill the drive iskrare to convert gpt ren == 1. systen partition ~ create partition efi sizertee ren ** NOTE: For Advanced Format 4Kn drives, ren change this value to size = 260 ** Format quick fafat32 Tabel="Systen” Fen == 2, Microsoft Reserved (HSA) pa create partition nse sizes16 ren == 3. Windows partition 2. create the Windows partition create partition prinary ». Greate space for the recovery tools ** Update this size to match the size of vo the recovery tools (winre win) ren == c. Prepare the Kindous partition foraat quick sents lasel="windows” assign letter="W" ren vos 4, Recovery tools partition = create partition prinary nsec noon neta fachrorgre ala tenl te prisformat quick fronts lavels"Recovery tools” assign Tetter="®" set ids" de94bba4-O6d -actd-a160-Df@50179465307 apt attributes-exseenaeeeaeee00e1 ise volume 2. Use Windows PE to boot the destination PC. 3. Clean and partition the drive. In this example, Fis the letter of the USB lash drive, copy Distant /s F:\createPartitions-UEFr.txt 4,1f you use a custom partition layout on Windows 10 for desktop ecitions, update the push-button recovery script so the recovery tools can recreate the custom partition layout when needed, Next steps Use a deployment script to apply the Windows images on the newly created partitions. For more information, see Ca Windows, System, and Recovery Partitions Related topics Sample serints Configure BIOS/MBR-Based Hard Drive Patitions BitLocker Drive Encryption ster cninion eta fachrorgrea tant te pris 8Win2E: Install on a Hard Drive (Eat Boot or Non-RAM) Configuring Disk Mirroring ‘The Windows and GPT FAQ. Is this page helpful? Yes PNo ster cninion eta fachrorgrea tant te pris