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How to set boot disk flag with diskpart
My Windows Server 2008 R2 won't start and stops with Stop 7B, so I start the recovery console and use diskpart to check the disk. There are to partitions one of Type 17 and one of type 07, the detail disk command show me that the disk is not a boot disk. How can I set this boot flag with diskpart? Or is this flag only set true if the MBR works fine. I try following commands:
the last command show me the number of OS is 0, so how can I set this flag to true?

- windows-server-2008-r2
- you should detail how you fixed it, so that others can benefit. And if you can't remember then you should have detailed how you fixed it so that others could benefit – barlop Dec 20, 2015 at 1:37
- 2 As I mentioned in the Comments of your answer it was a issue with the driver signature. After deactivate the signature verification while startup I can start the system reinstall the driver and everything works well. So the solution was to recreate the MBR and start without driver verification. – kockiren Dec 20, 2015 at 5:26
- 1 To clarify: Bugcheck 0x7b (INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE) means that Windows did indeed begin booting, but was unable to find a driver for accessing its partition after switching to direct storage access. – Daniel B Dec 30, 2015 at 11:55
- Note: As I understand it, "Boot disk" in diskpart only means that this is the disk from which the Windows has booted. Not that the disk is bootable from the BIOS. In addition, use "list volumes" to see which is the "System" volume, which contains the Windows OS currently running. (These might be in different disks.) – Shalom Craimer Oct 19, 2022 at 6:33
6 Answers 6
The diskpart in recovery console doesn't allow you to make a partition active(bootable).
Use Gparted Live.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diskpart "On the Recovery Console, which is included in all Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, there is a diskpart command which is significantly different from the one included in the actual operating system. It only provides functionality for adding and deleting partitions, but not for setting an active partition. The utility is also provided in the Windows Recovery Environment, the successor of the original Recovery Console"
- I boot from a live-Linux and start gparted. The Bootflag is set but the detail disk show me "boot disk" no – kockiren May 18, 2013 at 11:14
- 1 @kockiren there are some more commands you can try social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserversetup/thread/… like sfc (with some parameters like sfc /SCANNOW /OFFBOOTDIR=d:\ /OFFWINDIR=d:\windows where d is your windows drive) and startrep.exe and if both those fail then you might have to reinstall windows. As windows server 2008 apparently has no repair installation w7 has no repair installation either! xp does. – barlop May 18, 2013 at 11:47
- 1 also if you just made it active/bootable when it those commands can't see windows, then you're not likely to be able to even start getting into windows. if you can reach a stage where those commands can see windows, particularly the rebuildbcd command which found 0 Oss, if running those other commands leads it to find the Os then great, if not, then maybe that's a basic problem that leads diskpart to not see that it's bootable when gparted set it to bootable. – barlop May 18, 2013 at 11:51
- I run sfc and startrep but it dosent help. No bootrec /rebuild find a Installation but the System won't start correctly. It stops with 7B and now Dumpfile was create :-( – kockiren May 18, 2013 at 12:00
- 1 I didnt need a fresh install, Windows won't start with Drivererrors, after I fix it windows start correctly and then the Boot Disk flag is set. – kockiren May 18, 2013 at 18:54
I have successfully restored an VHD GPT-disk from a Windows 8.1 PC combining information from this and other threads on another windows 8.1 Hyper-V-Server.
- Rip the disk using Disk2vhd from Microsoft Sysinternals .
- Mount the vhd in the file system of the Hyper-v-host. (i.e dubble click the vhd).
- Download and install AOMEI Partition Assistant .
- Start AOMEI Partition Assistant and select the VHD-disk which appear as an ordinary disk. Mark the disk av select to convert disk to MBR-disk from the Disk-menu.
- Remove all partitions that contains recovery disks and other non Windows partitions.
- Detach VHD from HOST (Restart may be necessary).
- Create a new Virtual Machine in Hyper-V Manager and use your modified VHD.
- Boot VM from Windows Installation disk an go to recovery console and select command prompt.
- DISKPART (to open the partition utility),
- LIST DISK (disk number(s) will be shown),
- SELECT DISK n (where n is the number of the disk - probably 0),
- LIST PARTITION (partition number(s) will be shown),
- SELECT PARTITION n (where n is the number of the Primary partition you wish to make Active),
- ACTIVE (the selected partition on the selected disk will be made Active),
- EXIT (to exit DiskPart),
- EXIT (to exit the Command Prompt),
Restart computer.
- bootrec /fixboot ,
- bootrec /fixmbr ,
- bootrec /rebuildbcd .
- Exit command prompt.
- Use Recovery options to restore windows system files (Both partial recovery and advanced recovery options may me used).
- Repeat 13 until VM boots from your VHD.
- 1 Thank you for an answer, but please review "Mark the disk av" and try to provide better quality answer next time. – g2mk Dec 30, 2015 at 12:26
- 1 What does "13. Repeat 13 until VM boots from your VHD" mean? Evidently there is a problem with the step numbers, but I can't tell what step must actually be meant. – Reg Edit Feb 6, 2021 at 18:43
DISKPART (to open the partition utility)
LIST DISK (disk number(s) will be shown)
SELECT DISK n (where n is the number of the disk - probably 0)
LIST PARTITION (partition number(s) will be shown)
SELECT PARTITION n (where n is the number of the Primary partition you wish to make Active)
ACTIVE (the selected partition on the selected disk will be made Active)
EXIT (to exit DiskPart)
EXIT (to exit the Command Prompt)
- 7 The the Partition is marked as active but not as Boot Disk. There is a flag called "Boot Disk" and has value no but in well working systems this flag is always set to yes. – kockiren May 18, 2013 at 5:30
- add a screenshot for detail partition, that would say active or not. – barlop May 18, 2013 at 12:00
I realize that this is an old thread, however . . .
Steps 9 and 10 above by g2mk worked for me when I needed to slide a Win81 partition to the unallocated space at the front of the drive, because . . .
I originally had XP in partition0, then I installed Win81 (aka Dual Boot) and it installed Win81 to partition1. Btw, there's a procedure to remove the old Microsoft partition0 OS elsewhere on the web (says for Win7)(btw,you can use gparted to set Win81 as Boot, which equals Active via Diskpart). Then I used Gparted to slide the Win81 partition over the unallocated space. Then I needed to use Steps 9 and 10 above to get rid of 0xc000025 on winload.exe and be able to boot into Win81 on the HDD.
Btw, unless I'm missing something, everyone should note that as written, these procedures are for Windows installed on a MBR disk (ie. not for Windows installed onto a GPT disk on UEFI hardware).
Regards . . .
- Welcome to Super User! On this Q&A site we try to provide good answers to questions people post. Part of a good answer is including all the steps required to making your answer work. Referencing to someone else's answer by saying 'above' isn't enough because the order of answers on Stack Overflow is not fixed. Please include the steps you are referring to in your own post. Providing credit by linking to the answer you're referring to is never a problem, of course! – Cas Oct 10, 2016 at 13:43
- This bit of your answer is why I upvoted it: " everyone should note that as written, these procedures are for Windows installed on a MBR disk (ie. not for Windows installed onto a GPT disk on UEFI hardware). " Indeed, even the answer mentioning "VHD GPT-disk" first converts VHD to MBR as there is no way that DISKPART will let you make any partition "Active" on a GPT-disk. When you have a GPT disk, follow the steps in superuser.com/a/1444266/14061 by @Nathan2055 – Jeroen Wiert Pluimers Dec 29, 2022 at 18:09
While attempting to load Windows Server 2003 on a new drive of my Windows 7 machine, I somehow wiped out the boot on the Windows 7 drive.
Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem
After three days of poking around, I was able to use the following steps to correct the issue:
- Boot from Windows 7 Install Disk
- Select "Repair" Option
- Select "Startup Repair" (this will run but not find any issues)
- Select Advanced Options to get to "Command Prompt"
- bootsect /nt60 SYS
- Restart the computer normally

- This is an answer to a different question ... – DavidPostill ♦ Nov 19, 2016 at 11:05
The only solution for me was to write the Minitool Partition Wizard BootCD (or Gparted ) to USB using MultiBootUSB (or YUMI ) utility.

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How to Use Diskpart to Set Boot Partition in Windows 10 [2023 New Guide]

Sherly updated on Feb 22, 2023 | Home > Computer Instruction
Diskpart, a command-line disc management utility bundled into Windows, allows users to add the active marker to the hard drive partition. Therefore, the following section will cover a manual technique with the help of the software EaseUS Partition Master for Diskpart set boot partition Windows 10.
Can Diskpart Set Boot Partition in Windows 10
Yes, Diskpart can set the boot partition in Windows 10. A Diskpart command interpreter is a tool that assists you in managing the devices on your computer (disks, partitions, volumes, or virtual hard disks).
To utilize the Diskpart commands, you must first list the objects on the disc and then select one of those objects to make it the active partition . Any Diskpart commands you type will operate on the currently-focused thing once it has been given the focus.
However, do you know how to use Diskpart commands to set an active partition? Don't worry. The next section will guide you step-by-step on how to set a bootable partition via Diskpart.
There is a link for you to learn more about an active partition before setting the partition active.

Is Primary and Active Partition the Same [Beginner's Guide]
An active partition is the partition the computer boots from and starts the operating system. It is possible for a primary partition also to be active, but this is only sometimes the case.

Diskpart Set Boot Partition in Windows 10 - [Step-by-Step Guide]
Herein, you will learn how to perform the process to make a hard drive partition bootable in Windows 10, 8, and 7 via the Command Prompt and Diskpart.
Follow the procedures below to make the partition bootable at the command prompt:
Step 1. Right-click the Windows icon, select "Search," and type " command prompt " into the search bar.
Step 2. Select "Run as administrator" by right-clicking Command Prompt .

Step 3. Type " diskpart " in the Command Prompt and click Enter.
Step 4. Type the following command lines in Diskpart and press Enter each time:
- select disk 0 (Replace 0 with your disc number)
- list volume
- select volume 3 (Replace 3 with the volume number of the target partition)

Step 5. Type exit and click Enter to close the software.
This is a comprehensive guide to setting an active partition using Diskpart's rapid commands. EaseUS Partition Master, on the other hand, can make the partition bootable without requiring any commands.
Alternative to Diskpart Set Boot Partition in Windows 10
You can use EaseUS Partition Master Free as an alternative to Diskpart. It aims to make managing your hard drives less chore. Its "set active" feature can make a partition active without requiring any commands, making it friendly to even beginners. Besides, it supports almost popular Windows versions, like Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10/11. Now, download it and follow the guide below.
Windows 11/10/8/7 100% Secure
Step 1. Run EaseUS partition manager software. On the disk map, right-click the target partition and choose "Advanced".
Step 2. Then, select "Set Active" from the drop-down menu. Click "Yes". And choose "Execute 1 Task(s)" and click "Apply".
Besides, to manage your disk partition well, EaseUS Partition Master has the following features:
- Hard drive defragmentation
- Remove active flag from partition
- Set partition active/inactive effortlessly
- Clone SD card /hard drive and make it bootable
- Create/resize/format/erase hard drive partitions without difficulty
- Change the file system types and set the cluster size, like exFAT allocation unit size
Try the reliable bootable partition manager instead of the Diskpart if you're having trouble with it. Just get EaseUS Partition Master now. It is easier to use. Try it now!
In this article, we went through a step-by-step approach that can be used to Diskpart set the boot partition in Windows 10 manually and with the assistance of the software EaseUS Partition Master. This software can make the partition bootable without requiring any commands to be entered by the user.
By the way, there are some other links related to the active partition you may be concerned about. Click the following links if you are facing similar problems.
Diskpart Set Boot Partition Windows 10 FAQs
If you still have some confusion, you can go through the frequently asked question to avoid confusion.
1. How to create a boot partition using Diskpart?
Follow these steps, and you can create a boot partition using Diskpart:
Step 1. Search "command prompt" in the search box and run it as administrator.
Step 2. Then type diskpart and press the Enter key.
Step 3. Type these commands below, and press Enter each time:
- select disk 1 (Replace 1 with the correct disk number)
- select volume 1 (Replace 1 with the correct partition number)
2. How do I change the boot drive?
You can turn to EaseUS Partition Master. It is a trustworthy utility to change the boot drive. Follow the steps here:
Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master on your PC.
Step 2. Right-click on the new boot partition and choose "Advanced."
Step 3. Click "Set active."
3. Should I use GPT or MBR for the boot drive?
It depends on the partition numbers and the OS requirements. GPT allows users to have up to 128 primary partitions, while MBR can only create 4 primary partitions. Besides, you can't use MBR as the primary disk in Windows 11.
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How to Make a Partition Bootable With DiskPart

Even if a partition contains bootable data, your computer might sometimes fail to detect it as a suitable bootable partition. This is usually due to the fact that, to be recognized by your computer as a bootable partition, a partition does not only need to contain a bootable environment, it also needs to be specifically marked as an active system partition. You can add that active marker to a hard drive partition by using Diskpart, a command-line disk management application that is built into Windows.
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Open the Windows Start screen and type "cmd." Right-click on the "Command-Line Prompt" shortcut and select "Run as administrator."
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Type "diskpart" and press the "Return" key. Diskpart will now launch. While Diskpart is active, the traditional command-line prompt will be replaced by a Diskpart prompt, indicating that any command you enter will be processed by that application.
Enter "list disk" and press the "Return" key. Note the number assigned to the drive which contains the partition you wish to make bootable. You can find that number in the first column.
Type "select disk X", replacing "X" with the number assigned to the relevant drive. Press the "Enter" key.
Enter "list partition" and press the "Return" key. Note the number assigned to the partition you want to make bootable.
Type "select partition X", replacing "X" with the number of the partition you want to select. Press the "Enter" key.
Enter "active" and press the "Return" key to instruct Diskpart to mark that partition as an active, bootable partition.
Type "exit," followed by the "Return" key, to exit Diskpart. Close the Command-Line Prompt window.
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- PARTITION MAGIC GUIDE
- Set Active Partition From Command Prompt
Set Active Partition with Diskpart Command Line
Set active partition from command prompt is often used when you have multiple system in one disk, you can set active partition in Windows 2008, in Windows 2003, and the latest Windows 10, by setting one partition active is to make this partition bootable, at the meantime you set other partition not active

Before we go to detailed steps, there are some information we shall know
- Active partition : active partition must be primary partition
- Primary partition : OS can only runs in Primary Partitions
- Boot sector : created by the operating system, located at the beginning of the active partition
- Boot loader : Find Operating System boot files
Steps to set active partition in command line with diskpart
1. press WIN+R to open RUN box, type diskpart
2. in the opened window type list disk

3. diskpart will list all the disks you have installed, type select disk ###
4. type list partition
5. type select partition ###
6. type active
Now you set this partition active, when you reboot, you can switch to another Windows system.
Set Active Partition in Disk Management
Set active partition in Disk management is another way to make partition bootable, Server 2008, Windows 10, and other Windows Systems can share steps as follow to set active partition:
1. Press shortcut key WIN+R to open RUN box, type diskmgmt.msc , or you can just right-click on Start bottom and select Disk Management in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2008
2. right-click on the partition you want to set active, choose Mark partition as active,

Set Active Partition in Partition Expert
1. Run Partition Expert, Right-click on one partition to Set Active

2. Then there is an alert: Setting this partition as active partition will set the other partition as inactive, Are you sure you want to set the partition as active?

3. Click YES to continue, > Commit .
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Set Active Partition BIOS
1. Reboot your computer, when you say the message Press F# to enter setup , Press the bottom, and you will see BIOS interface.
2. Go into each menu and find terms with BOOT, may be BOOT ORDER, FIRST BOOT DEVICE, things like that, my pc shows Advance BIOS Features: First Boot Device, Second Boot Device, Third Boot Device. > Press Enter
3. Use up and down arrow key to choose between: HDD (hard drive), Floppy, CDROM, or Network; or between: CD-ROM Drive; Removable Devices; Hard Drive; Network boot. BIOS differs.
4. Exit and YES to Save changes
- Resize a Partition in Windows 7
- Free Download Partition Magic Portable
- Move Free Space from One to Another
Make Partition Bootable in Windows 10, 8, 7 Using Diskpart OR CMD
In any case, the partition contains bootable data, sometimes the system may fail to detect it as a suitable partition. This is owing to the fact that, to be recognized by the PC as a bootable partition, the partition does not require a bootable environment, it only needs to be marked as an active system partition.

Users can add the active marker to the hard drive partition using Diskpart, a command-line disk management application built into Windows. Therefore, in the upcoming section, we are going to discuss a manual procedure to understand how do I make a partition bootable in Windows 10. Before that, let us know about the boot partition in a clear way.
Notes:- Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing Up in Disk Management in Windows 10
What is a Boot Partition?
For Windows OS including XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, or 10, a boot partition is a partition that holds necessary files. In fact, the boot partition is also considered a boot volume. Whenever users install other Operating systems, for e.g., Windows Vista if they already have Windows XP installed or next Ubuntu already installed Windows Vista, then they must have to contain two partitions, i.e., dual-boot or multi-boot configuration.
Extra Tips: We all are aware of the importance of data, So it is highly recommend that first sucre your data and then perform steps to make partition bootable. Download computer data recovery software . Download Now Buy Now
Also, read this: Enable the Disk’s Controller in BIOS menu
Manual Methods to Make Boot Partition in Windows 10
Perform the methods to make HDD partition bootable in Windows 10, 8, and 7 either using the command prompt (CMD) or diskpart.
Method 1: – Make Partition Bootable Using Diskpart
Before executing the steps, first, you have to install Windows 7 and use Disk Management from Windows 7 for creating a boot partition and after that, install Windows 10. Also, you can use Disk Management for Windows 8 to install Windows 10 OS on a new partition. Follow the below steps to make the boot partition in Windows 10:
- First of all, boot into Windows 10
- Open Start Menu and type diskmgmt.msc to access Disk Management
- Click the OK button or press Enter key
- Check if you have the unallocated space on the hard disk. If so, then right-click on unallocated space and click the New Simple Volume . In case, if you do not have any unallocated space, you can shrink the volume Windows 8 already uses. For this, right-click on volume and click the Shrink Volume .
- Continue with instructions to accomplish the process
Also Read this:- Recover Files from A Hard Drive That Won’t Boot Windows 10
Method 2: – Make HDD Partition Bootable in Windows Using CMD
Go through the following steps to make the partition bootable using the command prompt:
- Open the Windows screen and after that, type cmd . Right-click on Command-Line Prompt and choose Run as administrator
- Now, type diskpart and press the Return key . Now, the Diskpart will launch. When the Diskpart is active, the traditional command prompt will be replaced by Diskpart prompt, identifying a command you enter will be processed by an application
- Enter list disk and again, press the Return key. You have noticed that the number assigned to a drive that contains partition you want to make bootable . You can find that particular number in the first column
- Mark select disk X , replacing X with the number assigned to a suitable drive. Now, press Enter key
- Type list partition and press Return key. Consider the number assigned to a partition that you wish to make bootable
- Enter the select partition X , replacing X with a total number of the partition you wish to select. Press Enter key.
- Type active and press Return key to require Diskpart to mark that bootable partition as active
- In the end, select Exit followed by Return key, to close the Diskpart. Now, you can close the Command Prompt window

Note:- What is Taking Up So Much Space On Hard Drive Windows 10
Time to Conclude
In this blog, we have discussed a step-by-step procedure to make partitions bootable in Windows 10 manually. But before implementing the manual solution to make the HDD partition bootable. First, secure your data.

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[How to] Make partition Active or Inactive using DISKPART
The system will boot from the partition only if it has Active flag set.
To make partition Active:
- Run Command Prompt as Administrator
select disk #
list partition
select partition #
To remove Active flag:
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Answered by:
Use diskpart to swap drives for booting.
I have a new SSD that I have cloned my C: to. Now I need to make the SSD the C:.
I have created a bootable USB using Windows 10 . I can get to the command prompt from there. I just need to know how to use diskpart to configure the disks.
The following is what diskpart shows for "list disk":
Disk 0 is the original hard drive with two partitions (two drive letters). The second partition is nearly empty. Disk 1 is the SSD.
The following is what diskpart shows for "list volume":
I see that the volumes are shown (and the numbers are assigned) with the partitions with letters first (in sequence by position) followed by the other partitions in sequence by position. For the partitons, the sequence was confusing until I realized that the offset is shown either in KB, MB or GB depending on what is relevant. Also, reserved partitions are not volumes (they are just empty space).
The following is what diskpart shows for the partitions of disk 0 (the hard drive):
The following is what diskpart shows for the partitions of disk 1 (the SSD):
So do I need to do the following?:
- Remove the System attribute for volume 4
- Set volume 4 Hidden
- Set the drive letter for volume 1 to "D" (from "C")
- Set the drive letter for volume 6 to "C" (from "H")
- Remove the Hidden attribute for volume 8
- Set the System attribute for volume 8
- Set volume 6 active
Do I need to also remove the active attribute for volume 1? Diskpart does not show that attribute so I am not sure.
I hope I can convert those requirements to diskpart commands.
Sam Hobbs SimpleSamples.Info
- Edited by Simple Samples Sunday, February 21, 2016 8:46 AM
What you would like to achieve here, to just change the drive letter, or together with the boot configuration?
If you just want to change the drive letter, use diskpart to select volume 1, then follow:
Using a command line
- Open Command Prompt.
- Type: diskpart
- At the DISKPART prompt, type: list volume Make note of the number of the simple volume whose drive letter you want to assign, change, or remove.
- At the DISKPART prompt, type: select volume n Select the volume, where n is the volume's number, whose drive letter you want to assign, change, or remove.
- assign letter= L Where L is the drive letter you want to assign or change.
- remove letter= L Where L is the drive letter you want to remove.
Reference: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc757491%28v=ws.10%29.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396
Assign volume 1 to another Letter, then assign the C Letter to the main partition on SSD.
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help, and unmark the answers if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact [email protected]
- Proposed as answer by Michael_LS Monday, February 29, 2016 9:03 AM
- Marked as answer by Simple Samples Wednesday, March 2, 2016 1:19 PM
I am sorry I did not reply sooner. Michael, I do not know if your procedure could have helped.
What happened is that when I did the clone the first time I ignored the warning from the Samsung Data Migration software to turn off the antivirus. When I did the clone again with McAfee turned off then everything fell into place. The SSD boots and is C: when it is booted. If I remove the SSD then the hard drive boots and is C:. So everything works as I wanted it to.
- Proposed as answer by Michael_LS Wednesday, March 2, 2016 9:57 AM
- Marked as answer by Simple Samples Wednesday, March 2, 2016 1:18 PM
All replies
Thanks for the update.
If any further issues regarding using Windows 10, please feel free to ask in TechNet.
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Establish and boot to GPT mirrors in 64-bit Windows
- 20 minutes to read
- 2 contributors
This article describes how to successfully set up dynamic boot partition mirroring on GUID Partition Table (GPT) disks.
Applies to: Windows Server 2012 R2 Original KB number: 814070
Unlike Master Boot Record (MBR) mirrors in 32-bit Windows, there are more steps to successfully create and boot to mirrored boot volumes on GPT disks. This article also describes how to recover after a primary disk failure if the shadow disk did not already have an EFI partition established. The disk must have an EFI partition to boot.
You must have the built-in Diskpart.exe and Bootcfg.exe utilities to create bootable mirror volumes on GPT disks. You can do some of these steps with the Disk Management console, but others you can do only with the built-in Diskpart.exe utility.
For consistency and ease of use, this article uses the Diskpart.exe utility to perform the steps. For help with any Diskpart.exe commands, start Diskmgmt.msc, and then open the help topics on the Help menu.
The steps are performed with real examples. The steps show the expected results returned from each command. Disk 0 is the primary system and boot drive. Disk 1 is the shadow drive.
Prepare the shadow drive for mirroring
Before you set up boot volume mirroring, it is a good idea have another GPT disk in the computer that contains an Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) partition. The EFI partition contains the system files used to boot the operating system. If the primary system drive (disk-0) fails, you can use the EFI partition on the shadow drive (disk-1) to boot. This step creates and prepares new EFI and Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partitions on the shadow drive. You can use only the Diskpart.exe utility to create the required EFI and MSR partitions. You cannot use the Disk Management console to create or mirror EFI or MSR partitions.
Before you start, make sure that you have another BASIC disk with all unallocated free space of equal or greater capacity than the primary disks system and boot partitions. If you already converted the spare drive to dynamic, revert it back to basic before you follow these steps.
At a command prompt, run the Diskpart.exe utility.
This starts the diskpart console. After it is initialized, DISKPART> is displayed. It waits for your input commands.
Select the disk that you want to be the shadow drive, and then convert the drive to GPT. In this example, disk 1 is used for the mirror (shadow) drive.
- The disk that you select must not contain any data partitions and must be a raw basic disk with only unallocated space of equal or greater capacity than the primary system disk.
- The following are the commands that you type at the command prompt.
DISKPART> Select disk 1
Disk 1 is now the selected disk.
DISKPART> Convert GPT
Diskpart successfully converted the selected disk to GPT format.
DISKPART> List partition
Partition ### Type Size Offset Partition 1 Reserved 32 MB 17 KB
If you show more than one partition at this point, you have either selected the wrong drive, or you did not start with a raw drive. Correct this before you continue, or data loss may occur.
Select partition 1 on disk 1, then delete it - you must use the override command to delete the Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partition. You will re-create a new MSR partition after you create the required EFI partition.
DISKPART> Select partition 1
Partition 1 is now the selected partition.
DISKPART> Delete partition override
Diskpart successfully deleted the selected partition.
Select disk-0, and then list the partitions on disk-0. With the output of the list command, create new EFI and MSR partitions on disk 1 that are the same sizes as those on disk 0.
DISKPART> Select disk 0
Disk 0 is now the selected disk.
Partition ### Type Size Offset Partition 1 System 204 MB 32 KB <---- EFI PARTITION Partition 2 Primary 4996 MB 204 MB Partition 3 Reserved 32 MB 9 GB <---- MSR PARTITION
DISKPART> select disk 1
DISKPART> create partition efi size=204
Diskpart succeeded in creating the specified partition.
DISKPART> create partition msr size=32
DISKPART> list partition
Partition ### Type Size Offset Partition 1 System 204 MB 17 KB <---- NEW EFI PARTITION ON SHADOW *Partition 2 Reserved 32 MB 204 MB <---- NEW MSR PARTITION ON SHADOW
Select the EFI partition on the shadow drive, and then assign a letter to the EFI partition so it can be formatted. In this example, the drive letter S is assigned to the shadow EFI partition. You can use any available drive letter for this step.
DISKPART> Assign letter=S
Diskpart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.
Open a new command prompt, and then use the format utility to format the EFI partition (S:) with the FAT file system. You must do this so that you can copy the system files from the primary EFI partition to this new EFI partition. Do not format with NTFS. The system cannot boot from an EFI partition unless it is formatted with the FAT file system.
C:\> format s: /fs:fat /q /y
The type of the file system is RAW. The new file system is FAT. QuickFormatting 204M Initializing the File Allocation Table (FAT)... Format complete. 213,680,128 bytes total disk space. 213,680,128 bytes available on disk. 4,096 bytes in each allocation unit. 52,168 allocation units available on disk. 16 bits in each FAT entry. Volume Serial Number is EA34-03C7
Press ALT+TAB to return to the diskpart command window. Select the EFI partition on the primary drive (disk-0), and then assign a drive letter to that EFI partition. In this example, the drive letter P is assigned to the primary EFI partition on disk-0. You can use any available drive letter for this step.
DISKPART> Assign letter=P
Press ALT+TAB again to return to the other command prompt. Use the xcopy command to copy the system files from the primary EFI partition (P:) to the Shadow EFI partition (S:). You must do this to make sure that the shadow drive can boot the system if disk-0 fails. Make sure that you use the correct drive letters if you used different letters for your EFI partitions.
C:\> xcopy p:\*.* s: /s /h
p:\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\Boot0003 p:\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\ia64ldr.efi p:\EFI\Microsoft\EFIDrivers\fpswa.efi p:\MSUtil\diskpart.efi p:\MSUtil\fdisk.efi p:\MSUtil\format.efi p:\MSUtil\nvrboot.efi 7 File(s) copied
Remove the drive letters assigned to both EFI partitions. This step is optional, because after a reboot they will not be re-assigned.
DISKPART> Select volume P
Volume P is the selected volume.
DISKPART> Remove
Diskpart successfully removed the drive letter or mount point.
Repeat the steps for the S volume.
Convert the primary and shadow drives to Dynamic
Before you can establish a mirror, both the primary (source) drive (Disk-0) and the shadow (destination) drive (Disk-1) must be converted to Dynamic. After the disks are Dynamic (after a reboot), you can then establish the mirror. You can do this step with either the Disk Management console or the Diskpart.exe utility.
With Diskpart.exe, select the disk that you want to convert to dynamic, and then convert it to dynamic. Perform this on both the shadow and primary GPT disks. Start with the shadow disk.
Disk 1 is now the selected disk
DISKPART> Convert dynamic
Diskpart successfully converted the selected disk to Dynamic format.
Disk 0 is now the selected disk
You must reboot your computer to complete this operation.
DISKPART> Exit
Leaving Diskpart...
Shut down and restart your computer to complete the conversion of the system drive (disk-0) to dynamic. This may require two reboots.
Establish a mirror from the boot drive to the shadow drive
After both the primary (disk-0) and shadow (disk-1) drives are dynamic, you can then establish the mirror of the boot volume to the shadow drive. You can do this step with either the Disk management console or the Diskpart.exe utility.
With Diskpart.exe, select the boot volume (C:), and then mirror the volume to the shadow disk (disk-1).
DISKPART> Select volume C
Volume 1 is the selected volume.
DISKPART> add disk=1
Diskpart succeeded in adding a mirror to the volume.
Wait for the volume synchronization to complete, and then quit Diskpart.
Use Bootcfg.exe to add new EFI partition boot entries to NVRAM
Now that you have successfully established the boot mirror, a new boot entry was automatically added to NVRAM so that you can boot to the shadow drive. This new entry is displayed as Boot Mirror C: - secondary plex on the boot menu. If you select it, it will boot into the operating system on the shadow drive. However, if something were to happen to any of the system files or the EFI partition itself on disk-0 or if disk-0 failed completely, you would have to boot from the EFI partition on disk-1. Before this will work, you have to add boot entries into NVRAM with the Bootcfg.exe utility.
At a command prompt, run the Bootcfg.exe utility to display the current boot entries. You have one boot entry for the main operating system (boot entry id:1), and one boot entry for the Mirror (shadow) drive (boot entry id:5).
C:> bootcfg
Boot Options Timeout: 30 Default: \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\PhysicalDmVolumes\BlockVolume1\WINDO CurrentBootEntryID: 5 Boot Entries Boot entry ID: 1 OS Friendly Name: Windows 2003 Server, Enterprise OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume1\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\ia64ldr.efi OsFilePath: \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\PhysicalDmVolumes\BlockVolume1\WINDOWS Boot entry ID: 2 OS Friendly Name: LS120 Boot entry ID: 3 OS Friendly Name: CDROM Boot entry ID: 4 OS Friendly Name: EFI Shell Boot entry ID: 5 OS Friendly Name: Boot Mirror C: - secondary plex OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume1\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\ia64ldr.efi OsFilePath: \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\PhysicalDmVolumes\BlockVolume1\WINDOWS
Before you can add the new entries for the EFI partition and boot partition on the shadow drive to NVRAM, you have to list the existing partitions on disk-0 so that you can extract partition GUID information about the current EFI partition. Use the bootcfg /list command against disk-0 to display all the partitions:
C:\> bootcfg /list 0
Partition table info for Disk: 0 Partition No: 1 Partition Style: GPT Starting offset: 32,256 Partition length: 213,825,024 Partition GUID: {68d298c0-1b6a-01c1-507b-9e5f8078f531} GUID type: {c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b} Partition name: EFI system partition Partition No: 2 Partition Style: GPT Starting offset: 213,857,280 Partition length: 5,142,056,960 Partition GUID: {68d298c0-1b6a-01c1-f1b3-12714f758821} GUID type: {af9b60a0-1431-4f62-bc68-3311714a69ad} Partition name: LDM data partition Partition No: 3 Partition Style: GPT Starting offset: 9,153,031,680 Partition length: 1,048,576 Partition GUID: {73e47280-0d38-11d7-b47f-806e6f6e6963} GUID type: {5808c8aa-7e8f-42e0-85d2-e1e90434cfb3} Partition name: LDM metadata partition Partition No: 4 Partition Style: GPT Starting offset: 9,154,080,256 Partition length: 32,505,856 Partition GUID: {1ca4672d-a37c-4e12-bacb-c5ae97924965} GUID type: {e3c9e316-0b5c-4db8-817d-f92df00215ae} Partition name: Microsoft reserved partition
Make a note of the EFI partition GUID. {________-____-____-____-____________} This will be used as the SOURCE GUID in a later command.
In this example, the value is {68d298c0-1b6a-01c1-507b-9e5f8078f531} and will be used in a later command.
Use the bootcfg /list command against disk-1 to display all of its partitions:
C:\> bootcfg /list 1
Partition table info for Disk: 1 Partition No: 1 Partition Style: GPT Starting offset: 17,408 Partition length: 213,909,504 Partition GUID: {476688c5-8ebf-47d2-80e7-cf9d065edb81} GUID type: {c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b} Partition name: EFI system partition Partition No: 2 Partition Style: GPT Starting offset: 213,926,912 Partition length: 1,048,576 Partition GUID: {b72d10f6-e94e-4a4d-bb8e-4da985cc1679} GUID type: {5808c8aa-7e8f-42e0-85d2-e1e90434cfb3} Partition name: LDM metadata partition Partition No: 3 Partition Style: GPT Starting offset: 214,975,488 Partition length: 32,505,856 Partition GUID: {824858f3-b8d5-4b4d-a3c7-18aac4442b7e} GUID type: {e3c9e316-0b5c-4db8-817d-f92df00215ae} Partition name: Microsoft reserved partition Partition No: 4 Partition Style: GPT Starting offset: 247,481,344 Partition length: 5,142,056,960 Partition GUID: {f3d11286-2582-4d76-889c-b82c346be44e} GUID type: {af9b60a0-1431-4f62-bc68-3311714a69ad} Partition name: LDM data partition
Make a note of the EFI partition GUID. {________-____-____-____-____________} This will be used as the TARGET GUID in a later command.
In this example, the value is {476688c5-8ebf-47d2-80e7-cf9d065edb81} and will be used in a later command.
Now you have the SOURCE and TARGET EFI GUID values that you have to clone the boot entries in NVRAM. The new entries use the new EFI partition GUID on the shadow drive to boot the system if disk-0 fails in any way. Use the bootcfg /clone command to add new NVRAM boot entries with your source and target GUID values recorded in steps 2 and 3.
C:>bootcfg /clone /sg {68d298c0-1b6a-01c1-507b-9e5f8078f531} /tg {476688c5-8ebf-47d2-80e7-cf9d06 5edb81} /d+ Cloned_Entry
INFO: Boot entry whose id is '1' successfully cloned. INFO: Boot entry whose id is '5' successfully cloned. SUCCESS: The operation completed successfully.
To see the new Cloned entries added to NVRAM, use the bootcfg command and notice you now have seven entries instead of five. The bottom two entries are the cloned entries and will use the EFI partition on the shadow drive (disk-1) to boot.
C:\>bootcfg
Boot Options Timeout: 30 Default: \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\PhysicalDmVolumes\BlockVolume1\WINDOWS CurrentBootEntryID: 5 Boot Entries Boot entry ID: 1 OS Friendly Name: Windows 2003 Server, Enterprise OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume1\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\ia64ldr.efi OsFilePath: \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\PhysicalDmVolumes\BlockVolume1\WINDOWS Boot entry ID: 2 OS Friendly Name: LS120 Boot entry ID: 3 OS Friendly Name: CDROM Boot entry ID: 4 OS Friendly Name: EFI Shell Boot entry ID: 5 OS Friendly Name: Boot Mirror C: - secondary plex OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume1\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\ia64ldr.efi OsFilePath: \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\PhysicalDmVolumes\BlockVolume1\WINDOWS Boot entry ID: 6 OS Friendly Name: Windows 2003 Server, Enterprise Cloned_Entry OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume3\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\ia64ldr.efi OsFilePath: \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\PhysicalDmVolumes\BlockVolume1\WINDOWS Boot entry ID: 7 OS Friendly Name: Boot Mirror C: - secondary plex Cloned_Entry OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume3\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\ia64ldr.efi OsFilePath: \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\PhysicalDmVolumes\BlockVolume1\WINDOWS
Test-boot the shadow drive with the new boot entries
After you have created the new boot entries in NVRAM, test the entries to make sure that the system can boot to the shadow drive if disk-0 fails.
- Perform a graceful shutdown and restart of Windows.
- On the boot menu, select the boot entry named Boot Mirror C: - secondary plex Cloned_Entry to boot to the shadow drive. The EFI partition on the shadow drive will be used to boot the Windows operating system. Although you do not have to, you can also turn off the computer, remove disk-0, and then redo the test to make sure that the system will be bootable if the original system disk really fails and is removed.
Recover a shadow boot drive with missing or damaged EFI partition
If the original Windows operating system was software mirrored to a Dynamic GPT disk that did not contain an EFI partition, or the EFI partition becomes damaged, or if the primary system disk (disk-0) fails, you may receive the following error message when you try to boot to the shadow disk:
LOADING.: Boot Mirror C: - Secondary plex Load of Boot Mirror c: - secondary plex failed: Not Found Paused - press any key to continue.
You must now use the following procedure to recover the original operating system (shadow) drive. These following steps show you the whole process. The process includes replacing the failed disk-0, re-installing Windows on the new replacement disk, which creates a new EFI system partition, and then adding new boot entries into NVRAM so that you can boot back into the original operating system on the shadow disk-1.
Remove the failed system drive (disk-0) and replace it with a good disk. See your hardware manuals for the correct way to replace the failed disk. The replacement disk does not have to be partitioned or formatted. It can be a brand new disk.
Insert the Windows 2003 Server installation CD into the computer's CD-ROM drive, then power on the system.
When the system boot options menu is displayed, select to boot from CD-ROM. When you are prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
This starts Windows 2003 Server setup.
On the Welcome to Windows Setup screen, press ENTER to install and allow Setup to automatically create the new system partition.
You must do this to boot and allow Setup to continue.
After the new EFI and MSR partitions are created, select the free space on disk-0 and create a new partition large enough to install Windows and hold a page file.
Select the newly created partition to install Windows on, and then select the format option that you want to format the partition. Setup continues. Answer all appropriate questions that you are prompted with, and then let Setup finish.
After Setup is complete, log on the console as Administrator.
At a command prompt, run the bootcfg command to display the current boot menu items from NVRAM.
Boot Options Timeout: 5 Default: \Device\HarddiskVolume3\WINDOWS CurrentBootEntryID: 1 Boot Entries Boot entry ID: 1 OS Friendly Name: Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume1\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\ia64ldr.efi OsFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume3\WINDOWS Boot entry ID: 2 OS Friendly Name: Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: (null) OsFilePath: (null) Boot entry ID: 3 OS Friendly Name: LS120 Boot entry ID: 4 OS Friendly Name: CDROM Boot entry ID: 5 OS Friendly Name: EFI Shell Boot entry ID: 6 OS Friendly Name: Boot Mirror C: - secondary plex OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: (null) OsFilePath: (null)
Use the bootcfg /list command to display all of the partitions on the shadow disk (disk-1). Locate the original Windows boot partition. It has the name of LDM data partition and has a partition length the same size as the original boot partition.
In this example, the boot partition is entry No: 3 with the GUID of {9aee294a-fa7d-4d4a-8a47-51a1dd1f9867}
C:\bootcfg /list 1
Partition table info for Disk: 1 Partition No: 1 Partition Style: GPT Starting offset: 17,408 Partition length: 1,048,576 Partition GUID: {646091f1-b826-47e8-a72c-f22072e9a769} GUID type: {5808c8aa-7e8f-42e0-85d2-e1e90434cfb3} Partition name: LDM metadata partition Partition No: 2 Partition Style: GPT Starting offset: 1,065,984 Partition length: 32,505,856 Partition GUID: {afb1e6b9-d8a6-456d-8df1-31327f94f3fe} GUID type: {e3c9e316-0b5c-4db8-817d-f92df00215ae} Partition name: Microsoft reserved partition Partition No: 3 Partition Style: GPT Starting offset: 33,571,840 Partition length: 3,142,056,960 Partition GUID: {9aee294a-fa7d-4d4a-8a47-51a1dd1f9867} GUID type: {af9b60a0-1431-4f62-bc68-3311714a69ad} Partition name: LDM data partition Partition No: 4 Partition Style: GPT Starting offset: 3,175,628,800 Partition length: 1,174,758,912 Partition GUID: {ab104fde-0782-4810-842e-0fb291e385ad} GUID type: {af9b60a0-1431-4f62-bc68-3311714a69ad} Partition name: LDM data partition
Use the bootcfg /mirror command to add a boot entry into NVRAM for the shadow disks boot partition and give it a meaningful description. Use the Partition GUID from the boot partition extracted earlier.
C:\>bootcfg /mirror /add {9aee294a-fa7d-4d4a-8a47-51a1dd1f9867} /D "Original Shadow drive"
SUCCESS: The mirrored boot entry has been added.
Use bootcfg to display the boot menu items again. Notice the new entry was added to the bottom of the list. You can now use this entry to boot to the original Windows operating system.
- C:\>bootcfg
Boot Options Timeout: 5 Default: \Device\HarddiskVolume3\WINDOWS CurrentBootEntryID: 1 Boot Entries Boot entry ID: 1 OS Friendly Name: Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume1\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\ia64ldr.efi OsFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume3\WINDOWS Boot entry ID: 2 OS Friendly Name: Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: (null) OsFilePath: (null) Boot entry ID: 3 OS Friendly Name: LS120 Boot entry ID: 4 OS Friendly Name: CDROM Boot entry ID: 5 OS Friendly Name: EFI Shell Boot entry ID: 6 OS Friendly Name: Boot Mirror C: - secondary plex OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: (null) OsFilePath: (null) Boot entry ID: 7 OS Friendly Name: Original Shadow drive OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume1\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\ia64ldr.efi OsFilePath: (null)
Shut down the computer, and then restart it. Select the boot menu item Original Shadow Drive to boot into the original operating system. This brings the server back into production. To fix the mirroring so that you can use the new disk-0 as your primary operating system drive and again be in a fault tolerant environment, continue with the following steps.
Re-establish the primary boot drive mirror
While booted into the shadow drive (disk-1), you must "remove" the broken mirror, and then delete the missing disk. You can do this with either the Disk Management console or the Diskpart.exe utility.
If there were additional volumes on the original failed dynamic disk-0, they must also be deleted before you are permitted to delete the missing disk.
With Diskpart.exe, list the volumes, and then make a note of the volume number (Volume #) of the failed mirror. Select the mirror volume (volume #), and then view the details to see what missing disk (m#) you need to break the mirror from. In this example, you are working with volume 0 on missing disk m0.
DISKPART> list volume
Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info Volume 0 C PRIMARY NTFS Mirror 2996 MB Failed Rd Boot Volume 1 D CD-ROM 0 B Healthy Volume 2 Partition 2996 MB Healthy Volume 3 Partition 102 MB Healthy System
DISKPART> select volume 0
Volume 0 is the selected volume.
DISKPART> detail volume
Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt Disk M0 Missing 2996 MB 0 B * Disk 1 Online 4149 MB 1120 MB **
Break the mirror by specifying the missing disk (m0), and then use the no keep option to remove the plex (partition) from the missing disk. List the volumes to make sure the mirror is gone and the volume is now listed as a simple volume.
DISKPART> break disk=m0 nokeep
The service did not update the boot file. Diskpart successfully broke the mirror volume.
Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info Volume 0 C PRIMARY NTFS Simple 2996 MB Healthy Boot Volume 1 D CD-ROM 0 B Healthy Volume 2 Partition 2996 MB Healthy Volume 3 Partition 102 MB Healthy System
Select the missing disk (m0), and then delete it.
DISKPART> select disk m0
Disk M0 is now the selected disk.
DISKPART> delete disk
Diskpart successfully deleted the missing disk.
Delete the new Windows Server operating system partition on disk-0, because it is no longer required. This makes room to re-mirror back to disk-0.
This step is optional if you have sufficient free space on disk-0 to re-establish the mirror.
DISKPART> select disk 0
Partition ### Type Size Offset Partition 1 System 102 MB 32 KB Partition 2 Reserved 31 MB 102 MB Partition 3 Primary 2996 MB 133 MB
DISKPART> select partition 3
Partition 3 is now the selected partition.
DISKPART> delete partition
Convert disk-0 to Dynamic, and then select the operating system volume on disk-1 and re-establish the mirror back to disk-0. This puts the computer back into a fault tolerant environment, and after the mirror is healthy you can boot back into disk-0 with the new boot option that was automatically added to the NVRAM.
DISKPART> convert dynamic
Diskpart successfully converted the selected disk to dynamic format.
Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info Volume 0 C PRIMARY NTFS Simple 2996 MB Healthy Boot Volume 1 D CD-ROM 0 B Healthy Volume 3 Partition 102 MB Healthy System
DISKPART> add disk=0
Wait for the mirror status to become healthy. You can use the list volume command repeatedly until the status changes from Rebuild to Healthy. Quit the Diskpart utility.
Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info Volume 0 C PRIMARY NTFS Mirror 2996 MB Healthy Boot
DISKPART> exit
Use the bootcfg command to view the new boot option that was added to the NVRAM. This new entry is named Boot Mirror C: - secondary plex and is most likely menu item ID 1. You can now clean up the original boot entries for the original operating system and the original secondary plex with the bootcfg /delete /ID # command.
Boot Options Timeout: 30 Default: (null) CurrentBootEntryID: 7 Boot Entries Boot entry ID: 1 OS Friendly Name: Boot Mirror C: - secondary plex OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume1\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\ia64ldr.efi OsFilePath: (null) Boot entry ID: 2 OS Friendly Name: Windows Server 2003, Enterprise OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: (null) OsFilePath: \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\PhysicalDmVolumes\BlockVolume1\WINDOWS Boot entry ID: 3 OS Friendly Name: LS120 Boot entry ID: 4 OS Friendly Name: CDROM Boot entry ID: 5 OS Friendly Name: EFI Shell Boot entry ID: 6 OS Friendly Name: Boot Mirror C: - Secondary Plex OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: (null) OsFilePath: \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\PhysicalDmVolumes\BlockVolume1\WINDOWS Boot entry ID: 7 OS Friendly Name: original shadow system OsLoadOptions: N/A BootFilePath: \Device\HarddiskVolume1\EFI\Microsoft\WINNT50\ia64ldr.efi OsFilePath: \Device\HarddiskDmVolumes\PhysicalDmVolumes\BlockVolume1\WINDOWS
C:\>bootcfg /delete /ID 6
SUCCESS: Specified boot entry has been deleted.
C:\>bootcfg /delete /ID 2
This concludes this procedure and the remaining boot entries in the boot menu are all valid boot entries to boot to both the primary and shadow drives.
GPT mirroring in Windows Server 2008
If you are using Windows Server 2008, visit the following article to set up a GPT mirror:
How to set up dynamic boot partition mirroring on GUID partition table (GPT) disks in Windows Server 2008
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Do you need to change the boot drive in windows 10 here you will know how to do this task in different ways; also, if you’re experiencing problems with a drive, you’ll learn to restore your information using professional software..

Dec 23, 2022 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions
Sometimes users need to change their boot drive, however, not everyone knows how to go through this process. Although the most common method of changing the boot device is through your computer's firmware, it is important to know that it is not the only way to do it. Changing the boot drive may be a requirement to run some installation, diagnostic, and recovery tools. In this post, I will explain everything you need to know to change the boot device in just a few minutes.
Part 1: Change the Boot Drive in Windows 10
Part 2: when you want to change boot drive in windows 10, part 3: how to change boot drive in windows 10.
A boot drive is a storage device used to start the computer, even without the need for an operating system. The boot drive is the one that has the operating system installed, but it can be changed when deemed necessary. Boot drives can be hard drives, solid-state drives, optical drives (CD / DVD), removable storage media (flash drives, SD cards), or even floppies in the past.
Depending on the purpose for which you want the boot drive, the adequate storage capacity for antivirus and security programs is of 1 GB, to install Windows you will need 8 GB and if you need to recover your information, many GB may be required.
As mentioned, generally the boot drive is one that has the operating system installed since the most common is that users are used to enjoying Windows and the applications that are required; however, sometimes it is necessary to change the boot drive order, so your UEFI or BIOS will look for another device to start the computer. Below I will describe some reasons why it is necessary to change the boot drive in Windows 10.
Install Windows after formatting a disk: If you want to install Windows to a reformatted disk, the only way to do it is through a bootable drive, since the disk is empty and lacks an operating system, so you will not be able to use any program, not even an installer. Then, Windows must be installed in a "bootable" way, this means that you must have a drive with a stored Windows installer and choose it as the boot drive to activate the installation.
Use a recovery drive: You can designate a drive as a recovery drive, a process that is done using a Windows tool. This device will be able to troubleshoot or reset the system even if the computer does not start. This means that it will be enough to boot your computer with your recovery drive to use it.
Use bootable antivirus: Sometimes viruses and malware that affect your operating system are filtered, which means that you cannot make use of Windows and applications in the worst case. There are bootable antiviruses, so many users, as a prevention measure, have one stored on a drive, in this way they will be able to use that antivirus without the presence of Windows and thus be able to combat malicious software without it interfering.
Use data destruction software: This type of software can be stored for use with your boot drive. These applications are used to permanently erase the information from your computer since even when you empty Recycle Bin, the files are not completely deleted. If you want to erase a trace of any file that has a virus or is suspicious, thanks to this software you can ensure that it is completely removed from your disk.
Before trying to change your boot drive, if you are having problems with booting, such as denied access, I will recommend two methods to fix them.
Method 1. Use Diskpart to fix UEFI boot error in Windows 10 / 8 / 7:
You can use the diskpart command via CMD to try to fix the boot error. Please note that this procedure only works with UEFI, if you boot with BIOS this cannot be performed. If you make sure your system boots with UEFI, then you have to follow these steps:
Step 1: Open options

You have to boot from the disk or USB which has the Windows installation package. Then click on "Next" in the first Window and in this one click on "Repair your computer."
Step 2: Open CMD

Click on "Troubleshoot" and in "Advanced options" select "Command Prompt."
Step 3: Type commands

Type these commands (press enter after writing each one):
- select disk 0
As you can see, CMD will list the volumes of your disk. You must confirm which is the UEFI volume, generally it is the one that has the words "System Reset" or "boot" in the "Label" column. In this case, is "Volume 1."
Step 4: Type fixing commands and finish process

Now type these commands:
- select vol 1 (remember that number 1 is because the UEFI volume is volume 1).
- assign letter=V: (you may change "V" for another letter different to the other volumes if you see the "Ltr" column, then you can confirm which letters you cannot use, in this case, you are not allowed to use F, C, E or D)
- V: (the same letter you assigned)
- MD \efi \microsoft \boot\
- cd /d V:\efi\microsoft\boot\
- bootrec /fixboot
- bcdboot c:\windows /l en-us /s V: /f all ("us" is for localization, in this case, the US; you may change these letters depending on your country, for example, "GB" is for UK or "fr" for France, if you have doubts about your country letters, you can check the official list in the ISO 3166 1 Alpha 2 letter country codes).
This process should correct boot errors, if that's not the case you may follow the next method.
Method 2. Use Automatic Repair to Repair Windows 10 / 8 / 7 UEFI:
There is a tool that will help you to fix boot problems. Like Method 1, this only works with UEFI. Follow these steps to perform this task:

Step 2: Open Start-up Repair

Click on "Troubleshoot" and in "Advanced options" click on "Start-up Repair." Windows will do everything to try to fix boot problems.
Method 3. Change the Boot Order in Windows 10 via System Configuration:
You can change your boot drive order through your System Configuration, you must go to your BIOS settings or UEFI firmware, to access, you just have to press a function key (F1, F2, F3…), ESC or DEL. Now you have entered, just follow the next steps:
Step 1: Go to the Startup menu

With your arrow keys, go to Startup (or "Boot" in some cases).
Step 2: Select "Boot"

Press "Enter" to open the "Boot" submenu.
Step 3: Change boot order

Navigate with the arrow keys to select the disks or drives. Press the "+" key to move the device up and "-" to move the device down.
Step 4: Save changes and confirm

Once you finished ordering boot devices, press the "F10" key to save your configuration. Then select "Yes" and press "Enter" to confirm the process and exit. Now your computer will be booted with the device that you selected.
Method 4. Change the Boot Order in Windows 10 via Advanced Options:
If you couldn't access your UEFI firmware through the keys, there is another way to do it. You can enter UEFI firmware through Advanced Options, just do the following:
Step 1: Go to settings

Open settings clicking the gear icon in the Windows menu.
Step 2: Open Update & Security options

Click on "Update & Security" in the Windows Settings window.
Step 3: Restart your PC

In this window, click on "Recovery" on the left list and then click on "Restart now." Your PC will restart immediately.
Step 4: Click the options to open UEFI Firmware Settings

Now click on "Troubleshoot," then on "Advanced options" and finally select "UEFI Firmware Settings."
Restore your data
If for some reason you changed the boot drive to install Windows or to delete some information with malware, you should bear in mind that you have to make a backup, however, sometimes it can be forgotten or we simply do not take it into account. Whatever the reason there will always be a solution, this is Recoverit, reliable, professional, and safe software that will help you rescue your files, even after formatting your disk. You can download it at https://recoverit.wondershare.com/ and to use it, a few simple clicks are enough as you will see below:
Step 1: Choose a drive to scan

Once you've installed and opened the software, select the drive where the deleted data was located
Step 2: Select the files to recover/restore

Now all you have to do is select the folder or folders you want to recover/restore and click on "Recover".
Changing your boot drive in Windows gives you many advantages to be able to carry out some definitive and essential processes so that your computer can continue to function, although many applications can be restricted without using your operating system, using bootable programs can be enough to fix and benefit to your PC. In addition to this, you can also resort to Recoverit if your information was deleted by a virus or after reformatting your drive.
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