DISKPART - How to Partition GPT disk - Windows 10 Help Forums How to Use DISKPART Script to Partition GPT Disk for Single and Dual Boot Scenarios Published by Kari "Kalsarikanni" FinnCategory: Installation & Upgrade 10 Jan 2018 Information Some time ago in another thread | promised a fellow Ten Forums member, esteemed geek and a good friend of mine Tony K to make him a custom DISKPART script when needed: Kari said Tony K said: My system at present is MBR. When the Fall update is released I want to convert to GPT. This will make it a whole lot easier. Just let me know when you need a DISKPART script, | can make a custom script to you based on how you want to partition the system disk (disk where Windows will be installed). The script | posted is quite basic, to partition a disk where all available space after system partitions will be used for Windows partition. In case you want more data partitions on the same disk, the script needs to be modified Well, a few days ago Tony sent a PM telling what he wants to do: Dual boot Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and Fast Ring Windows Insider Fast Ring builds, doing this on small 120 GB SSD which is currently partitioned as an MBR disk but should be partitioned as GPT disk in new dual boot setup. He also has an additional 2 TB HDD for data. Instead of simply replying to him, | decided to make a tutorial about this process because this might benefit other fellow members, too. This tutorial could have been named as "Dual Boot - The Easy Way"In this tutorial we will use DISKPART to convert an MBR disk to GPT, partition the disk following Microsoft's guidelines, and install ‘two operating systems on it (we'll cover single OS partitioning and setup, too). Here's a screenshot of Tony's Disk Management before we start: (Click to enlarge.) z Note Please notice that although the tutorial might look somewhat long and complicated, procedure itself to use DISKPART script to partition HDD and install two operating systems as told in this tutorial is quite easy. If you are not interested in "under the hood" information about DISKPART, how the script works and want to get going faster, grab the script from step 2.3, and jump directly to step 3.1 Contents Use links below to go to any step, back button of your browser to return to this list. Step One: | Preparations - Create USB install media Step Two: | Preparations - Create DISKPART Script Step Three: | Boot from USB Step Four: | Run DISKPART script Step Five: | Install Primary OS Step Six: | Install Secondary OSStep One Preparations - Create USB install media 1.1) Download Windows 10 ISO image or create one from Insider or Feature Upgrade UUP files: 1.2) Create a bootable USB flash drive install media for Windows 10 version and edition you want to install (primary operating system in dual boot) as told in following tutorial: PowerShell Scripting - Create USB Install Media for Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials Step Two. Preparations - Create DISKPART Script 2.1) A DISKPART script is a text file with extension .txt containing all necessary DISKPART commands. It can be made and edited with Notepad 2.2) Each line is one command with possible parameters. A line starting with REM (remark, not case sensitive) will be ignored, allowing explanations and comments to be added. Even if the script will only be used by yourself, I recommend adding as many REM lines as required to help you to better remember, understand and see what script does also in the future 2.3) The script | made for Tony is in CODE box below, with REM lines to explain what each command is doing. You can and of course should edit it to meet your needs. We will go through the script command by command but for those anxious to get started, just copy the script, paste it in Notepad and edit. Script One: DISKPART script to partition a HDD / SSD for dual boot, or for separate Windows and Data partitions: Code: rem DISKPART script for single disk dual boot rem OS 1: Windows 1@ Fall Creators Update (W1@ FCU) rem OS 2: Windows 1@ Insider Preview (W1@ IP) rem - rem Select Disk, wipe it empty, convert to GPT remselect disk @ clean convert gpt rem rem - rem Create & format 100 MB EFI System partition rem create partition efi size=100 format quick fs=fat32 labe: rem system" rem - rem Create 16 MB MSR partition (will not be formatted) rem create partition msr size=16 rem rem - rem Create a 52 GB (53,248 MB) partition for primary 0S rem 3248 create partition primary siz rem rem - rem Format OS partition, label it, assign drive letter rem W. Windows Setup will change this drive letter to ¢ rem when installed. It's important now to use a not rem reserved letter, therefore we use a letter from rem end of alphabet rem format quick fs=ntfs label="W1e@ FCU" assign lette rem rem - rem Create & format a 45@ MB recovery partition. rem Notice that ID must be set exactly as shown! remcreate partition primary size=450 format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE" set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd5S@179d6ac” rem rem - rem Create partition for 2nd OS using all free space rem create partition primary rem rem - rem Format 2nd OS partition, label it, no drive letter rem format quick fs=ntfs label="W1 IP" rem rem - rem Exit Diskpart rem exit Script Two: An alternative DISKPART script to partition a HDD / SSD for single OS assigning all available space to system (Windows) partition: Code: rem DISKPART script for single disk dual boot rem OS: Windows 1@ (any version & edition) rem - rem Select Disk, wipe it empty, convert to GPT rem select disk @ clean convert gpt rem rem -rem Create & format 100 MB EFI System partition rem create partition efi size=100 format quick fs=fat32 labe: rem system" rem - rem Create 16 MB MSR partition (will not be formatted) rem create partition msr size=16 rem rem - rem Create OS partition using all available space, rem shrink it with 45@ MB to leave space at end of HDD rem for WinRE partition rem create partition primary shrink minimum=45@ rem rem - rem Format OS partition, label it, assign drive letter rem W. Windows Setup will change this drive letter toc rem when installed. It's important now to use a not rem reserved letter, therefore we use a letter from rem end of alphabet rem format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows 10” assign letter= rem rem - rem Create & format WinRE recovery partition at the rem end of the disk. Not defining the size, it will use rem all available space, 50@ MB that we shrunk OS rem partition with. Notice that ID must be set exactlyrem as shown! rem create partition primary format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE" set id="deo4bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd5e179d6ac" rem rem - rem Exit Diskpart rem exit 2.4) First set of DISKPART commands in script selects DISK 0, the primary disk which in most cases is correct (more about this in step 3.4), the disk where Windows will be installed, then wipes it clean and finally converts disk to GPT even if the disk previously already was a GPT disk: [sel disk @ clean (convert gpt| 4 Note If you are using DISKPART command line entering commands one by one instead of running script, you need first to start DISKPART with command (diskparty then enter above commands one by one pressing ENTER after each command. Be careful selected disk will be wiped clean without any warnings (how to check disk ID, see Step 3.4)! 2.5) The first partition will be a 100 MB EFI system partition formatted in FAT32 file system. We will create, format and label it with following two commands: {create partition efi size-1002.6) Next, the 16 MB MSR (Microsoft Reserved) partition. This partition will not be formatted, nor will it get a label: create partition msr size=16 2.7) Now the primary OS partition. In this example using Tony's 120 GB SSD, | will make it a 52 GB (53,248 MB) partition. You can of course make the partition exactly as big or small as you wish, minimum size recommended for Windows 10 is 25 GB: (create partition primary size=53248| ~f Note If you are partitioning disk only for a single Windows partition using all disk capacity (Script Two in step 2.3), use following commands to create Windows and WinRE partitions and jump then to step 2.11 skipping 2.8 through 2.10: Code: create partition primary shrink minimum=45@ format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows" create partition primary format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE" de94bba4-26d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac" The above set of DISKPART commands first creates a partition for Windows using all available space, then shrinks it from end of partition with 450 MB and then creates a 450 MB WinRE partition on that space. 2.8) | will format OS partition as NTFS and label it as W10 FCU, assigning it drive letter W: (I car't use currently reserved drive letters, Windows setup will later automatically change it to C:): Wie FCU”jassign letter= You can of course label your Windows partition as you prefer, W10 FOU here is just an example. 2.9) The recovery partition (WinRE) will be placed between primary OS partition and secondary OS partition. WinRE partition is the only partition that can expand "backwards"; future upgrades requiring more space on WinRE will shrink the C: (primary 0S) partition: “The Windows Recovery pation on a GPT disk has a unique trait no other partition hast can expand “backwards” taking extra space from partion pracecig it. Usualy partitions can only expand “lorwares se ree unallocated space after them but i recovery partition spaced directly aftr €: partition it forces Cta shank when it needs more space allocating Ico sel Here the same cl from same machine than in prewoiscereenchot after upgraded ito ltect Windows Insicer bul: Instead of creating an adctional partion, recovery partition took the extra 8 MBit needed for ‘upgrade (possible rolhtac to previous bul) by shrinking: and allocating tat space to sell, We will create WinRE partition with following commands. Please notice, WinRE partition requires an ID which must be exactly as. shown: create partition primary size-450 ‘format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE" ‘set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac” 2.10) Finally, we'll create partition for secondary OS using all available space left on disk, format and label it but do not assign a drive letter, then exit DISKPART with following commands: (create partition primar: ‘format quick fs=ntfs label="w1e IP"exit 2.11) Save the script as DiskOConfig.txt on your Windows install USB z Note A couple of times I've seen a UEFI PC with GPT partitioning to list the boot USB as disk 0, and Windows system disk as disk 1 | always prepare myself for this oddity by saving the original script as DiskOConfig.ttt, then saving another copy of it as Disk1Config,txt with one small but important change: I'll edit disk selection command sel disk 0 as seen in step 2.4, the very first command in script to read sel disk 1, to select disk 1 instead of disk 0. This way | am prepared, having a script regardless if the Windows system disk is listed as disk 0 or disk 1 Step Three Boot from USB 3.1) Boot the PC from your Windows 10 install media (USB flash drive) 3.2) on region and language selection screen, press SHIFT + F10 to open Command Prompt:3.3) Type {diskpart| and press Enter to launch Windows Disk Partition Utility DISKPART, type list disk and press Enter to list available disks, type [list _volland press Enter to list available volumes, type [exit] and press Enter to exit DISKPART (commands highlighted with yellow in screenshot in next step) 3.4) Note the disk number for Windows system disk shown after command list diskl In most cases itis disk 0, but can occasionally be shown as disk 1 (see note in step 2.7). In this sample case itis as it should be, disk 0. Also note the drive letter for your USB install media shown after command list voll, In this example itis drive E: Step Four Run DISKPART script 4,1) in steps 3.3 & 3.4 | found out that my Windows system disk is disk 0 and USB drive containing Windows setup files and DISKPART scripts is drive E: 4.2) | can now run DISKPART again, this time telling it with switch /s that | want to run a script DiskOConfig.txt (Disk1Config. txt if | had found out that system disk this time had been disk 1): diskpart /s E:\DiskeConfig.txtScript in action (video length 32 seconds): 4.3) Close Command Prompt Step Five Install Primary OS 5.1) Continue installation normally: eae Clean install tutorial: Clean Install Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials 5.2) system disk is partitioned exactly as told in script we run in 4.2. Select the Windows partition (partition for primary OS in dual boot scenario) and click Next, in this example my script labelled it as W10 FCU (Fall Creators Update):© ivinsoesep ‘Where do you want to install Windows? gp Dive atin: s¥sTEM DrveOPattion2 Dine O Patton 3 wo FOU Tine Panton Wie gp Dive Panton wa0P Mp Beiesn Kosee iowsne herons Step Six Install Secondary OS 00 Me s60Me 52058 TONE 550M Sten 260 MBSR Rese 519.58 Pay SOME Reconey 581.98 ray Parente 6.1) open Disk Management, right click partition reserved for secondary 0S, select Change Drive Letter and Paths and add a drive letter to this partition. Remember, it is currently without drive letter therefore not shown in Explorer because in DISKPART script we didn't assign any letter to it. See tutorial if you need any help in assigning a drive letter: Change and Assign Drive Letter in Windows 10 Hardware Drivers Tutorialseach ony en In this example | assigned letter Z: to this partition 6.2) Download (or copy from another PC) ISO image for the secondary 0S, for instance a Windows Insider ISO or another edition of same version as primary OS. Mount it as virtual DVD by right clicking ISO file and selecting Mount. Note the drive letter ISO got when mounted. In this example mounted |SO is drive G: 6.3) Open an elevated PowerShell (tutorial) 6.4) Type following command and press Enter, replacing drive letter for mounted ISO (6: in this example) in /WimFile switch with actual drive letter: (dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFil :\Sources\install.wim| Note the index number to the edition you want to install as secondary OS. In this example | want to install Enterprise edition, index 3:z Note Default path to install.wim file is DRIVE:\Sources \install.wim. If you are using an ESD based ISO, or a dual bit architecture ISO, you need to change the path in above command accordingly: ~In an ESD based ISO the path is DRIVE:\Sources\install.esd In dual bit architecture ISO the path is DRIVE:\x86\Sources\install.wim (or install.esd) for 32 bit W10 In dual bit architecture ISO the path is DRIVE:\x64\Sources\install.wim (or install.esd) for 64 bit W10 6.5) Type the following command, replacing drive letter for secondary OS partition (Z:\ in this example) in /ApplyDir switch and mounted ISO drive letter (G: in this example) in /ImageFile switch. Same rules apply as in note in step 6.4 if you are using an ESD based ISO or a dual bit architecture ISO. Be sure to use correct index number: dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile: Findex:3 /ApplyDir:Z:\| :\Sources\install.wim 6.6) Press Enter, installation starts: Depending on your hardware performance, this takes anythingfrom a minute and a half to 10 minutes. You can freely browse the web or use your PC for anything else while DISM applies Windows image for your secondary 0S, Windows is quite good in multitasking 6.7) When done, the secondary Windows needs to be added to boot menu. Do this with following command (#1 in screenshot in step 6.11), replacing the secondary OS drive letter (Z: in this, example) with the actual one: bedboot Z:\Windows| 6.8) Secondary OS was added as default OS to boot menu, the OS which will be booted if user makes no selection within given timeframe (30 seconds by default). We leave it as default OS for now 6.9) All Windows 10 operating systems are by default listed as Windows 10 on boot menu, regardless of their edition. It is better to change boot entry names to more individual ones, to be sure correct OS will be selected when boot menu is shown. For that we will need command bededit. However, as bededit switches do not work in PowerShell we need first switch PowerShell to Command Prompt mode. This is done with a simple command (emd| (#2 in screenshot in 6.11) 6.10) As the secondary OS is at the moment the default 0S, its identifier is (default). 1 want to change its description, boot menu entry to W10 Enterprise, doing it with following command (#3 in screenshot in 6.11, description in quotes if it contains spaces): bcdedit /set {default} description "wie Enterprise” 6.11) Current OS we are booted to at the moment, the primary ‘one has identifier {current}. | want to change it to W10 Pro (#4 in screenshot): \bcdedit /set {current} description "W10 Pro"6.12) Close PowerShell, restart PC 6.13) We left secondary OS default for now because finalizing Windows setup still needs two restarts. Being default OS it will be automatically booted if user makes no selection within given timeframe, by default 30 seconds: You can leave PC to finish setting up secondary OS and restart to it and have a break 6.14) When on desktop after secondary OS has finished the setup, press WIN + Rto open RUN prompt, type fnsconfig and press Enter to open System Configuration. Select the Boot tab, select your primary OS and click Set as default. Click OK to confirm:@ System Configuration im eneral 856% Services| Startup Tos “Aévareadoptore.._|[ Seton defait ‘oat oot pts sei sare toot | ve cutest [a sees ial Beet oo Arte shel Bese ven acto niet par os bet nfraten (Cate a boot settnas et perrent ced) coeet | | ay ee 6.15) Click restart and boot back to primary OS: System Configuration x You may need to restart your computer to apply these changes, Before restarting, save any open files and close all programs. 6.16) Both operating systems have now been installed, primary OS set as default:That's it geeks! Kari