Diskpart command info needed?

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  1. Posts : 15,441
    Windows10
       #11

    sportsfan148 said:
    Hi Bree, So How do you get the Bootmgr.efi and the folder efi and its contents onto the flash drive?...Is that done automatically after mounting the downloaded Windows 10 ISO when you copy and paste the Windows ISO files over onto the flash drive? You've also referenced native Windows commands. Is there something wrong with my Diskpart commands then..and is it OK to leave out the Active command as I mentioned?
    The windows 10 iso has all the files. Just mount it as a drive and copy all files to fat32 partition.

    Active is optional if for uefi install but it does not affect anything if you do it. You can always do that from disk management later.

    When you do list disk, you can see if drive has been setup as gpt by an asterisk present in gpt column if gpt.
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  2. Posts : 985
    Windows 10 Home 21H1
    Thread Starter
       #12

    cereberus said:
    The windows 10 iso has all the files. Just mount it as a drive and copy all files to fat32 partition.

    Active is optional if for uefi install but it does not affect anything if you do it. You can always do that from disk management later.

    When you do list disk, you can see if drive has been setup as gpt by an asterisk present in gpt column if gpt.
    Hi Cereberus. I will be using the Convert MBR command after Clean because I did the list disk thing yesterday on the flash drive and I must have used Rufus on it at some stage because it has an asterisk next to GPT.

    You said "Active is optional if for uefi install but it does not affect anything if you do it. You can always do that from disk management later. Can you clarify exactly what you mean there please?..I will only be using the flash drive for my UEFI laptop. I don't have any older Legacy BIOS boot systems or anything like that. Im sorry to be a pain but I want to make sure the commands Ive listed in my initial post are correct for UEFI only and the clean Windows 10 installation goes smoothly
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  3. Posts : 5,478
    2004
       #13

    Bree said:
    No, the only requirement for the usb to be bootable for UEFI is that it has an MBR partition layout, formatted to Fat32 and that this contains the file Bootmgr.efi and the folder efi and its contents - that's all, and easily achieved with native Windows commands.
    None of that is true.

    There is no requirement for either mbr or gpt. In fact there is no requirement to have any partition table at all. One of the options in Rufus is to use dd to directly copy (without partition table) an image to USB. If it looks like it is formatted with a name taken for a Mexican restaurant a complient UEFI will still (have to try to) boot it.

    The only requirement is the firmware must be able to read a FAT partition. There is no requirement at all that FAT is the only format it can read or that the partition scheme needs to be mbr or gpt or anything else.
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  4. Posts : 985
    Windows 10 Home 21H1
    Thread Starter
       #14

    lx07 said:
    None of that is true.

    There is no requirement for either mbr or gpt. In fact there is no requirement to have any partition table at all. One of the options in Rufus is to use dd to directly copy (without partition table) an image to USB. If it looks like it is formatted with a name taken for a Mexican restaurant a complient UEFI will still (have to try to) boot it.

    The only requirement is the firmware must be able to read a FAT partition. There is no requirement at all that FAT is the only format it can read or that the partition scheme needs to be mbr or gpt or anything else.
    Hi lx07. That seems to contradict everything else Ive read. Is that just if you are someone who intends to use Rufus?
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  5. Posts : 5,478
    2004
       #15

    sportsfan148 said:
    Hi lx07. That seems to contradict everything else Ive read. Is that just if you are someone who intends to use Rufus?
    I don't use rufus often. I was only pointing out that rufus has an option to directly copy an image which Windows doesn't.

    For example, if you want to install Arch Linux it will instruct you to make a USB using neither gpt or mbr partition but just copy the image direct (which will then show your USB in Windows as a CD drive). You can't do this natively with Windows as there isn't a "dd" option so Rufus is good for that. Normally though there is no need - just format your USB FAT32 and copy the ISO contents.

    I have (for one reason or another) read the UEFI standards several times. Pedantry perhaps. Certainly though I can assure you there is no UEFI requirement for a bootable USB have either a gpt or mbr partition scheme and I can also tell you that from my experience Apple computers will only UEFI boot an external USB if the partition scheme is gpt. Conversely my Thinkpads seem not to care either way.

    Don't worry about it - just try and see. If it doesn't work then reformat and try again - not all firmware are equal and most (according to me) don't obey UEFI standards anyway.
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  6. Posts : 985
    Windows 10 Home 21H1
    Thread Starter
       #16

    lx07 said:
    I don't use rufus often. I was only pointing out that rufus has an option to directly copy an image which Windows doesn't.

    For example, if you want to install Arch Linux it will instruct you to make a USB using neither gpt or mbr partition but just copy the image direct (which will then show your USB in Windows as a CD drive). You can't do this natively with Windows as there isn't a "dd" option so Rufus is good for that. Normally though there is no need - just format your USB FAT32 and copy the ISO contents.

    I have (for one reason or another) read the UEFI standards several times. Pedantry perhaps. Certainly though I can assure you there is no UEFI requirement for a bootable USB have either a gpt or mbr partition scheme and I can also tell you that from my experience Apple computers will only UEFI boot an external USB if the partition scheme is gpt. Conversely my Thinkpads seem not to care either way.

    Don't worry about it - just try and see. If it doesn't work then reformat and try again - not all firmware are equal and most (according to me) don't obey UEFI standards anyway.
    I'm wanting to set up my USB flash drive to boot UEFI only (not Legacy BIOS boot)..that's why I was asking if typing the "Active" command in Diskpart was necessary or not. I did write down some diskpart commands you gave me for resetting a USB flash drive back to factory a while ago. The Diskpart commands you gave me for that are the same as the ones Ive shown here at the beginning of this thread (except in that case you had inserted "Convert MBR" after "Clean" to ensure that it is an MBR partition). You instructed me then to not set the flash drive "Active" as they aren't Active when you buy them. I don't want to use the "Active" command for creating a UEFI only Boot Windows 10 USB flash drive if it isn't required. What do you think?
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  7. Posts : 5,478
    2004
       #17

    You don't need "Active".

    Active can only be set for mbr not gpt partitions. To make a UEFI only boot USB you can make it either (or neither) partition scheme but in no case will you need to set "active".

    Many legacy BIOS systems (but not all) require "Active" to be set to boot an external USB so to make a universal one it is easier to make it mbr (legacy and usually but not always EFI will boot from mbr), format it FAT (both can see) and set "active" (to be safe).
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  8. Posts : 4,752
    Windows 11 Pro 64 Bit 22H2
       #18

    To make a bootable UEFI Bios Windows installer using Rufus, with your USB Flash Drive in, at Partition Scheme, take the drop down arrow and choose GPT Partition Scheme for UEFI (see attached) then under Create a Bootable Disk Using... choose Iso Image and browse to your Windows 10 ISO image
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Diskpart command info needed?-rufus-uefi-1-.png  
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  9. Posts : 2,799
    Linux Mint 20.1 Win10Prox64
       #19

    Bree said:
    No, the only requirement for the usb to be bootable for UEFI is that it has an MBR partition layout, formatted to Fat32 and that this contains the file Bootmgr.efi and the folder efi and its contents - that's all, and easily achieved with native Windows commands.
    @Bree
    No offend to you but this is incorrect:
    - the only requirement for the usb to be bootable for UEFI is that it has an MBR partition layout: For UEFI, it does not have to be MBR.
    - formatted to Fat32: Only half true, use FAT32 format so that it'll be compatible with older UEFI Firmware prior to version 2.0 on old PC's else can be NTFS.
    - Bootmgr.efi is not used at all.
    To boot into WinPE (Macrium, Windows Installation etc...) : \efi\boot\bootx64.efi is used which read the BCD then run Winload.efi
    To boot into normal Windows: \efi\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgrfw.efi is used which read the BCD, run Winload.efi, present Menu if dual boot, else boot into Windows default.
    NOTE: This can be verified using: bcdedit /v

    Don't take my word for it. Rename Bootmgr.efi to Bootmgr.efi.bak then boot up UEFI-USB, it will still boot up.
    For UEFI, bootmgr is also not used. This is for MBR.
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  10. Posts : 41,412
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       #20

    What is the plan with the bootable flash drive?
    Had you looked at this option:
    Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Windows 10 Forums
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