Windows Booting Simplified: Difference between revisions

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**diskpart, select disk WhatEverDiskNumber, ...and see the below choices (these examples assume there is available disk space at the beginning and end of disk that has a working Windows "Boot Partition" in the middle of the disk / drive);

***create partition efi size=1024 (don't use this one, see the next one) Thankfully, there is no way to specify which partition to create as a UEFI / EFI partition. And also thankfully, if there is a blank partition at the beginning of a disk and at the end of a disk, DISKPART will select the partition at the end of the disk for the UEFI / EFI partition. If you can't tell, the use of 'thankfully' is facetious. Anyway, the only trick is to create an EFI partition at the end of a disk, then run the same command to put it on the one at the beginning.

***create partition efi size=1024 offset=1 (~~don't use this one either,~~ see ~~the next one, because this one will create a System Partition that cannot be accessed even when assigned a drive letter using DISKPART~~)

***Choice 1 (best choice, because it actually works);

***~~Use the below method~~ (~~this will create a UEFI / EFI Partition that is a "System Partition"~~, ~~will have the BCD files installed on it~~, ~~AND will be accessible when a drive letter is assigned to~~ it.

****create partition efi size=1024 offset=1

****...then format quick fs=fat32 label=”System”

****Install the Boot Files: BCDBOOT C:\Windows /l en-us /s WhatEverDriveLetter: /f ALL /v (see example and explanation in above Top Tips Section)

***Choice 2 (should work, but doesn't, included it because of an idea from https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-hardware/80762-how-sign-existing-partition-efi-partition-diskpart.html);

****Create an ordinary FAT32 Partition at the beginning of a disk using DISKPART, Windows Disk Manager GUI, EaseUS Partition Manager, AOMEI Partition Manager, etc. (Partition type will be Primary)

****Select the appropriate disk and partition in DISKPART and use this command: set id=c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b override (Partition Type will be "System", remember, Windows calls the partition where it is installed the "Boot Partition" and the place where the Computer boots up the "System Partition~~) (from https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-hardware/80762-how-sign-existing-partition-efi-partition-diskpart.html~~)

****Select the appropriate disk and partition in DISKPART and use this command: set id=c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b override (Partition Type will be "System", remember, Windows calls the partition where it is installed the "Boot Partition" and the place where the Computer boots up the "System Partition)

****Install the Boot Files: BCDBOOT C:\Windows /l en-us /s WhatEverDriveLetter: /f ALL /v (see example and explanation in above Top Tips Section)

****Assign a drive letter: Select the appropriate Disk and Partition in DISKPART: assign letter=WhatEverLetter

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=== Other Thoughts and Notes ===

===Other Thoughts and Notes===

==== MSR (Microsoft Reserved Partition): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Reserved_Partition ====

====MSR (Microsoft Reserved Partition): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Reserved_Partition<nowiki/>====

It's OK to delete if one is not using it (read above Wikipedia Article to help determine that, and read other stuff too (links not included)). The reason it is OK to delete it, is because one can create it again, thus making it possible to fix any issues deleting it causes. But, even better would be to clone the partition before deleting it, thus one can restore it exactly as it was. Acronis, EaseUs, AOEMEI, BootIce, etc, Clonezilla, GParted (I think), can all facilitate backing it up / cloning it.

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 **diskpart, select disk WhatEverDiskNumber,  ...and see the below choices (these examples assume there is available disk space at the beginning and end of disk that has a working Windows "Boot Partition" in the middle of the disk / drive);
 ***create partition efi size=1024 (don't use this one, see the next one) Thankfully, there is no way to specify which partition to create as a UEFI / EFI partition.  And also thankfully, if there is a blank partition at the beginning of a disk and at the end of a disk, DISKPART will select the partition at the end of the disk for the UEFI / EFI partition.  If you can't tell, the use of 'thankfully' is facetious.  Anyway, the only trick is to create an EFI partition at the end of a disk, then run the same command to put it on the one at the beginning.
-***create partition efi size=1024 offset=1 (don't use this one either, see the next one, because this one will create a System Partition that cannot be accessed even when assigned a drive letter using DISKPART)
+***Choice 1 (best choice, because it actually works);
-***Use the below method (this will create a UEFI / EFI Partition that is a "System Partition", will have the BCD files installed on it, AND will be accessible when a drive letter is assigned to it.
+****create partition efi size=1024 offset=1
+****...then format quick fs=fat32 label=”System”
+****Install the Boot Files: BCDBOOT C:\Windows /l en-us /s WhatEverDriveLetter: /f ALL /v (see example and explanation in above Top Tips Section)
+***Choice 2 (should work, but doesn't, included it because of an idea from https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-hardware/80762-how-sign-existing-partition-efi-partition-diskpart.html);
 ****Create an ordinary  FAT32 Partition at the beginning of a disk using DISKPART, Windows Disk Manager GUI, EaseUS Partition Manager, AOMEI Partition Manager, etc. (Partition type will be Primary)
-****Select the appropriate disk and partition in DISKPART and use this command: set id=c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b override (Partition Type will be "System", remember, Windows calls the partition where it is installed the "Boot Partition" and the place where the Computer boots up the "System Partition) (from https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-hardware/80762-how-sign-existing-partition-efi-partition-diskpart.html)
+****Select the appropriate disk and partition in DISKPART and use this command: set id=c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b override (Partition Type will be "System", remember, Windows calls the partition where it is installed the "Boot Partition" and the place where the Computer boots up the "System Partition)
 ****Install the Boot Files: BCDBOOT C:\Windows /l en-us /s WhatEverDriveLetter: /f ALL /v (see example and explanation in above Top Tips Section)
 ****Assign a drive letter: Select the appropriate Disk and Partition in DISKPART: assign letter=WhatEverLetter
@@ Line 69: / Line 72: @@
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-=== Other Thoughts and Notes ===
+===Other Thoughts and Notes===
-==== MSR (Microsoft Reserved Partition): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Reserved_Partition ====
+====MSR (Microsoft Reserved Partition): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Reserved_Partition<nowiki/>====
 It's OK to delete if one is not using it (read above Wikipedia Article to help determine that, and read other stuff too (links not included)).  The reason it is OK to delete it, is because one can create it again, thus making it possible to fix any issues deleting it causes.  But, even better would be to clone the partition before deleting it, thus one can restore it exactly as it was.  Acronis, EaseUs, AOEMEI, BootIce, etc, Clonezilla, GParted (I think), can all facilitate backing it up / cloning it.
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