Information
Some time ago in another thread I 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:
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, I 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 I 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, I 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.)
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
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 I 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 10 Fall Creators Update (W10 FCU)
rem OS 2: Windows 10 Insider Preview (W10 IP)
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Select Disk, wipe it empty, convert to GPT
rem
select disk 0
clean
convert gpt
rem
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Create & format 100 MB EFI System partition
rem
create partition efi size=100
format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
rem
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 OS
rem
create partition primary size=53248
rem
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Format OS partition, label it, assign drive letter
rem W. Windows Setup will change this drive letter to C
rem when installed. It is 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="W10 FCU"
assign letter="W"
rem
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Create & format a 450 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-bfd50179d6ac"
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="W10 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 10 (any version & edition)
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Select Disk, wipe it empty, convert to GPT
rem
select disk 0
clean
convert gpt
rem
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Create & format 100 MB EFI System partition
rem
create partition efi size=100
format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
rem
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 450 MB to leave space at end of HDD
rem for WinRE partition
rem
create partition primary
shrink minimum=450
rem
rem ---------------------------------------------------
rem Format OS partition, label it, assign drive letter
rem W. Windows Setup will change this drive letter to C
rem when installed. It is 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="W"
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, 500 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="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
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 0
clean
convert gpt
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 diskpart
, 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
format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
2.6) Next, the 16 MB
MSR (
Micro
soft
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, I 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
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=450
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-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) I will format OS partition as
NTFS and label it as
W10 FCU, assigning it drive letter
W: (I can't use currently reserved drive letters, Windows setup will later automatically change it to C
:):
format quick fs=ntfs label="W10 FCU"
assign letter="W"
You can of course label your Windows partition as you prefer,
W10 FCU 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 OS) partition:
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 primary
format quick fs=ntfs label="W10 IP"
exit
2.11) Save the script as
Disk0Config.txt on your Windows install USB
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.
I always prepare myself for this oddity by saving the original script as Disk0Config.txt, 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 I am prepared, having a script regardless if the Windows system disk is listed as disk 0 or disk 1.
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 vol
and 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 disk
. In most cases it is
disk 0, but can occasionally be shown as
disk 1 (see note in step 2.7). In this sample case it is as it should be,
disk 0. Also note the drive letter for your USB install media shown after command
list vol
. In this example it is drive E:
Step Four
Run DISKPART script
4.1) In steps 3.3 & 3.4 I 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) I can now run DISKPART again, this time telling it with switch /s that I want to run a script Disk0Config.txt (Disk1Config.txt if I had found out that system disk this time had been disk 1):
diskpart /s E:\Disk0Config.txt
Script in action (video length 32 seconds):
4.3) Close Command Prompt
Step Five
Install Primary OS
5.1) Continue installation normally:
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):
5.3) Primary OS successfully installed:
Step Six
Install Secondary OS
6.1) Open
Disk Management, right click partition reserved for secondary OS, 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
In this example I assigned letter Z: to this partition
6.2) Download (or copy from another PC) ISO image for the secondary OS, 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 ISO is drive G:
6.3) Open an
elevated PowerShell (
tutorial)
6.4) Type following command and press
Enter, replacing drive letter for mounted ISO (G: in this example) in
/WimFile switch with actual drive letter:
dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:G:\Sources\install.wim
Note the
index number to the edition you want to install as secondary OS. In this example I want to install
Enterprise edition,
index 3:
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:G:\Sources\install.wim /index:3 /ApplyDir:Z:\
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 OS, 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:
bcdboot 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
bcdedit. However, as
bcdedit switches do not work in PowerShell we need first switch PowerShell to
Command Prompt mode.
This is done with a simple command
cmd
(#2 in screenshot in 6.11)
6.10) As the secondary OS is at the moment the default OS, its identifier is
{default}. I 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 "W10 Enterprise"
6.11) Current OS we are booted to at the moment, the primary one has identifier
{current}. I 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 + R to open
RUN prompt, type
msconfig
and press
Enter to open
System Configuration. Select the
Boot tab, select your primary OS and click
Set as default. Click
OK to confirm:
6.15) Click restart and boot back to primary OS:
6.16) Both operating systems have now been installed, primary OS set as default:
That's it geeks!
Kari