What is this 1MB FAT volume thats always created w/ install media?

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  1. Posts : 18,484
    Windows 11 Pro
       #11

    Rufus creates the FAT32 partition so that all UEFI computers can boot from the flash drive in UEFI mode.
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  2. Posts : 15,896
    Windows10
       #12

    SIW2 said:
    I think it is so that you can have large files on the ntfs partition.

    Many motherboards bios require fat32 for efi boot.
    This is the reason. You cannot fit standard w10/w11 iso install.wim on a fat32 drive as it is larger than maximum 4GB filesize.

    As you say may uefi pcs will not boot from an NTFS (or exFAT) partition so need a small Fat (or Fat32) partition to boot usb drive, and it kickstarts installation from NTFS partition.

    This is how Rufus does it.

    If you use media creation tool to create an iso, it uses install.esd which is smaller, and usb drive can be Fat32 instead.

    So it depends on iso @TheCars wishes to use whether they need to select NTFS or Fat32. In general, selecting NTFS will a from Rfus always result in a bootable USB drive regardless if PC is UEFI or MBR.
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  3. Posts : 35
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #13

    cereberus said:
    This is the reason. You cannot fit standard w10/w11 iso install.wim on a fat32 drive as it is larger than maximum 4GB filesize.

    As you say may uefi pcs will not boot from an NTFS (or exFAT) partition so need a small Fat (or Fat32) partition to boot usb drive, and it kickstarts installation from NTFS partition.

    This is how Rufus does it.

    If you use media creation tool to create an iso, it uses install.esd which is smaller, and usb drive can be Fat32 instead.

    So it depends on iso @TheCars wishes to use whether they need to select NTFS or Fat32. In general, selecting NTFS will a from Rfus always result in a bootable USB drive regardless if PC is UEFI or MBR.
    I solved it pretty much. The extra 1MB volume is for hardware that doesn't natively support UEFI boot on NTFS but I deleted the volume and checked and found my firmware does natively support it and boots right into Windows Install properly even without the "compatibility" volume. Thanks to everyone for the extra help <3
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 15,896
    Windows10
       #14

    TheCars said:
    I solved it pretty much. The extra 1MB volume is for hardware that doesn't natively support UEFI boot on NTFS but I deleted the volume and checked and found my firmware does natively support it and boots right into Windows Install properly even without the "compatibility" volume. Thanks to everyone for the extra help <3
    Hardly worth the effort. If you leave it in place, installer will work on any pc.

    Having said that, you can create iso without using rufus for pcs that can boot from ntfs.

    1. format usb as ntfs

    2. mount iso as a drive

    3. copy files from iso drive to usb drive.
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