Windows 10: W 10 trouble with arranging partitions after conversion to GPT

Windows 10 Pro N, v.1909 (build from OS 18363.836)

I own a Dell Latitude E6530 laptop since 2012, of which I have exchanged the 550 GB HDD with a Samsung EVO 850 SSD of 500GB by the end of last year. All without a hitch.
At the time of this swap, the experts advised me to use this moment as the perfect opportunity to transfer from MBR to GPT, for which I had to convert the booting method from BIOS to UEFI. I did as I was told and after this exercise, the SDD stucture looked as follows:
(For the sake of clarification: the bold & Italics text is derived from Macrium Reflect 7.2, being my external back-up utility. The other data was generated with slbk, a Linux routine.)

/dev/sda1:
LABEL="Recovery"
UUID="2EB69276B6923E71"
TYPE="ntfs" 436.3MB/529.0MB – START/ENDSECTOR= 2.048 – 1.085.439
PARTLABEL="Basic data partition"
PARTUUID="112b4181-2c61-4478-b41e-369bc0babb37"

/dev/sda2:
UUID="5892-FB56"
TYPE="vfat" FAT32(LBA) 26.3MB/100.0MB - START/ENDSECTOR= 1.085.440 – 1.299.239
PARTLABEL="EFI system partition"
PARTUUID="e286a124-db15-440f-b7de-da1b832539b0"

/dev/sda3: ("MACRIUM REFLECT 7.2 RECOVERY ENVIRONMENT")
PARTLABEL="Microsoft reserved partition"
TYPE="UNFORMATTED" 16.0MB/16.0MB - START/ENDSECTOR= 1.299.240 – 1.323.007
PARTUUID="0c6346ae-1718-4962-8dcb-7c234376b5eb"

/dev/sda4: ("WINDOWS OS")
UUID="AA5094ED5094C18D"
TYPE="ntfs" 38.69GB/106.73GB - START/ENDSECTOR= 1.323.008 – 225.175.119
PARTLABEL="Basic data partition"
PARTUUID="687e75f2-e879-45da-8695-6ae08df00c4e"

/dev/sda5:
LABEL="DATA"
UUID="22ECC7B5ECC78211"
TYPE="ntfs" 142.3MB/39.60GB - START/ENDSECTOR= 225.175.120 – 307.177.119
PARTLABEL="Basic data partition"
PARTUUID="08e1a929-4af3-4172-bdb5-57305945e08b"

So far, so good, but I wasn't happy about the above dimensioned partition sizes, which were created by Windows 10 pro as default dimensions while migrating the set-up from HDD to SSD. Since I wasn't happy at all with a Microsoft-generated recovery-partition, I decided to bin it. Macrium does all I ever like or wanted, so this was a total waste of space to me. And now the fun really started, but please bear in mind that my previous experience with UEFI/GPT can best be described as "Zilch"...
My intention was to relocate the Microsoft Reserved partition into the freed-up space and also extend it to 128 MB, which seems the new standard. The current size is 16 MB which is used to the brim. Since I have run into enough overfilled partitions in the past , I try to stay clear of such, as far as I can help it. The remaining space of 401 MB, I intended to relocate my EFI Systems Partition to, and extend it to the available maximum. Further, and since there is an abundance of unused space on both my OS parttition and my data partition, I intended to taylor those down to 80 GB and 30 GB respectively.

From the website < https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...rtition-typeid > I took the following script, which was advertised as THE tool to set up your GPT partitions to your own liking, with the use of DiskPart, through command DiskPart* /s F:\CreatePartitions-UEFI.txt.

rem == CreatePartitions-UEFI.txt ==
rem == These commands are used with DiskPart to
rem create four partitions
rem for a UEFI/GPT-based PC.
rem Adjust the partition sizes to fill the drive
rem as necessary. ==
select disk 0
clean
rem == convert gpt - already done
rem == 1. System partition =========================
create partition efi size=401
rem ** NOTE: For Advanced Format 4Kn drives,
rem change this value to size = 260 **
format quick fs=fat32 label="ESP" info=”system”
assign letter="S"
rem == 2. Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partition =======
create partition msr size=128
label="MSR" info=”MS reserved”
rem == 3. Windows partition ========================
rem == a. Create the Windows partition ==========
create partition primary size=80000
rem == b. Create space for the recovery tools ===
rem ** Update this size to match the size of
rem the recovery tools (winre.wim)
rem plus some free space.
rem shrink minimum=650
rem == c. Prepare the Windows partition =========
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows" info=”boot”
assign letter="W"
rem === 4. Recovery tools partition ================
create partition primary size=30000
format quick fs=ntfs label="Data"
assign letter="D"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
rem gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
list volume
exit

After above running above script, the partition list according to DiskPart looks as follows:
DISKPART> list disk
Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
--------- ------- --------- ------- ---- -----
Disk 0 Online 465 GB 349 GB *

DISKPART> sel disk 0
Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list part
Partition ### Type Size Offset
---------- --- ------- ----------- ------------
Partition 1 System 100 MB 530 MB
Partition 2 Reserved 16 MB 630 MB
Partition 3 Primary 77 GB 646 MB
Partition 4 Primary 39 GB 107 GB

DISKPART> list vol
Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
--------------- --- ------- ------- ------------- -------- ------------ --------
Volume 0 E DVD-ROM 0 B No Media
Volume 1 C NTFS Partition 77 GB Healthy Boot
Volume 2 D DATA NTFS Partition 39 GB Healthy
Volume 3 FAT32 Partition 100 MB Healthy System

I still have the following questions:
1
In front of volume 1 (partition 3), there is now a void of 530 MB. I would like to place the MSR there.
How can this be achieved?

2
I am aware that LBA 0 is reserved for the protective MBR and I understand its size is 1024 KB. Is this correct?

3
With reference to 1 and 2: I expect the size of the protective MBR included in the 530MB offset.

4
Is there an explanation why the ranking of the volumes is not identical to the ranking of the partitions? Is the physical ranking still corresponding with the graphical representation in the Windows GPT?

5
With reference to 4: the GPT shows consequitively: 530 MB – Not allocated; 100 MB - ESP;
77.44 GB - OS; 29.30 GB – Not allocated; 39.06GB – Data; 319.34 GB – Not allocated;
(please note that the 16 MB- MSR partition remains hidden. I think I have to change a flag that is currently set to “hidden”, if I want it (temporarily) to be shown.)

If I want to move the DATA partition (to occupy the currently vacant 29.30 GB). The easiest way forward will be to delete the entire partition after back-up of its contents, and re-create the partition. It will be automatically be located adjacent to the OS partition. Am I correct?

6
With reference to 5: I understood from various Microsoft documents that the preferred structure is: first the ESP (Systems)-partition, second the MSR-partition and third the OS-partition.
About the ESP Partition, Diskpart reveals:

DISKPART> det part

Partition 1
Type : c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b
Hidden : Yes
Required: No
Attrib : 0X8000000000000000
Offset in Bytes: 555745280

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ---- ------- -------- ------------ --------- --------- ------------
* Volume 3 FAT32 Partition 100 MB Healthy System <End of info>

About the MSR partition, DiskPart further reveals:

Partition 2 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> det part

Partition 2
Type : e3c9e316-0b5c-4db8-817d-f92df00215ae
Hidden : Yes
Required: No
Attrib : 0X8000000000000000
Offset in Bytes: 660602880

There is no volume associated with this partition. <End of info>

I tried to achieve this preferred sequencing of partitions with help of the above script, but I am still at a loss concerning the sizes of the various partitions. Any ideas where or how I missed the bus?

7
In hindsight: I learned that command “gpt attributes=0x8.000.000.000.000.001” (Without the interpunction; that was just to count the correct nr of zero’s.) activates write protection.
I have commented it out in the script, but could this write protection still be active from the initial conversion from MBR to GPT? And is there a way to revoke this?

8
I am still poundering on using the above script again, but this time with “clean /all” instead of just “clean” as command in the second active line.

9
Is it required or beneficial to set as type, a GUID for each volume or partition, or will this be set during (re) install of Windows

10
For information, manipulation of the SSD through GParted was not successful.
====
Thank you all in advance for any comment – much appreciated.
Rob

:)

 

W 10 trouble with arranging partitions after conversion to GPT

What I would do/would have done:

1. Create a Macrium Backup of the entire drive.
2. Clean Install Windows 10 with the latest available ISO. This will get you the current preferred partition layout



3. Restore C: from the Macrium backup to C: on the 500GB SSD.

reboot and you're done.

 

W 10 trouble with arranging partitions after conversion to GPT

Windows 10 Pro N, v.1909 (build from OS 18363.836)

I own a Dell Latitude E6530 laptop since 2012, of which I have exchanged the 550 GB HDD with a Samsung EVO 850 SSD of 500GB by the end of last year. All without a hitch.
At the time of this swap, the experts advised me to use this moment as the perfect opportunity to transfer from MBR to GPT, for which I had to convert the booting method from BIOS to UEFI. I did as I was told and after this exercise, the SDD stucture looked as follows:
(For the sake of clarification: the bold & Italics text is derived from Macrium Reflect 7.2, being my external back-up utility. The other data was generated with slbk, a Linux routine.)

/dev/sda1:
LABEL="Recovery"
UUID="2EB69276B6923E71"
TYPE="ntfs" 436.3MB/529.0MB – START/ENDSECTOR= 2.048 – 1.085.439
PARTLABEL="Basic data partition"
PARTUUID="112b4181-2c61-4478-b41e-369bc0babb37"

/dev/sda2:
UUID="5892-FB56"
TYPE="vfat" FAT32(LBA) 26.3MB/100.0MB - START/ENDSECTOR= 1.085.440 – 1.299.239
PARTLABEL="EFI system partition"
PARTUUID="e286a124-db15-440f-b7de-da1b832539b0"

/dev/sda3: ("MACRIUM REFLECT 7.2 RECOVERY ENVIRONMENT")
PARTLABEL="Microsoft reserved partition"
TYPE="UNFORMATTED" 16.0MB/16.0MB - START/ENDSECTOR= 1.299.240 – 1.323.007
PARTUUID="0c6346ae-1718-4962-8dcb-7c234376b5eb"

/dev/sda4: ("WINDOWS OS")
UUID="AA5094ED5094C18D"
TYPE="ntfs" 38.69GB/106.73GB - START/ENDSECTOR= 1.323.008 – 225.175.119
PARTLABEL="Basic data partition"
PARTUUID="687e75f2-e879-45da-8695-6ae08df00c4e"

/dev/sda5:
LABEL="DATA"
UUID="22ECC7B5ECC78211"
TYPE="ntfs" 142.3MB/39.60GB - START/ENDSECTOR= 225.175.120 – 307.177.119
PARTLABEL="Basic data partition"
PARTUUID="08e1a929-4af3-4172-bdb5-57305945e08b"

So far, so good, but I wasn't happy about the above dimensioned partition sizes, which were created by Windows 10 pro as default dimensions while migrating the set-up from HDD to SSD. Since I wasn't happy at all with a Microsoft-generated recovery-partition, I decided to bin it. Macrium does all I ever like or wanted, so this was a total waste of space to me. And now the fun really started, but please bear in mind that my previous experience with UEFI/GPT can best be described as "Zilch"...
My intention was to relocate the Microsoft Reserved partition into the freed-up space and also extend it to 128 MB, which seems the new standard. The current size is 16 MB which is used to the brim. Since I have run into enough overfilled partitions in the past , I try to stay clear of such, as far as I can help it. The remaining space of 401 MB, I intended to relocate my EFI Systems Partition to, and extend it to the available maximum. Further, and since there is an abundance of unused space on both my OS parttition and my data partition, I intended to taylor those down to 80 GB and 30 GB respectively.

From the website < https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...rtition-typeid > I took the following script, which was advertised as THE tool to set up your GPT partitions to your own liking, with the use of DiskPart, through command DiskPart* /s F:\CreatePartitions-UEFI.txt.

rem == CreatePartitions-UEFI.txt ==
rem == These commands are used with DiskPart to
rem create four partitions
rem for a UEFI/GPT-based PC.
rem Adjust the partition sizes to fill the drive
rem as necessary. ==
select disk 0
clean
rem == convert gpt - already done
rem == 1. System partition =========================
create partition efi size=401
rem ** NOTE: For Advanced Format 4Kn drives,
rem change this value to size = 260 **
format quick fs=fat32 label="ESP" info=”system”
assign letter="S"
rem == 2. Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partition =======
create partition msr size=128
label="MSR" info=”MS reserved”
rem == 3. Windows partition ========================
rem == a. Create the Windows partition ==========
create partition primary size=80000
rem == b. Create space for the recovery tools ===
rem ** Update this size to match the size of
rem the recovery tools (winre.wim)
rem plus some free space.
rem shrink minimum=650
rem == c. Prepare the Windows partition =========
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows" info=”boot”
assign letter="W"
rem === 4. Recovery tools partition ================
create partition primary size=30000
format quick fs=ntfs label="Data"
assign letter="D"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
rem gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
list volume
exit

After above running above script, the partition list according to DiskPart looks as follows:
DISKPART> list disk
Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
--------- ------- --------- ------- ---- -----
Disk 0 Online 465 GB 349 GB *

DISKPART> sel disk 0
Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list part
Partition ### Type Size Offset
---------- --- ------- ----------- ------------
Partition 1 System 100 MB 530 MB
Partition 2 Reserved 16 MB 630 MB
Partition 3 Primary 77 GB 646 MB
Partition 4 Primary 39 GB 107 GB

DISKPART> list vol
Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
--------------- --- ------- ------- ------------- -------- ------------ --------
Volume 0 E DVD-ROM 0 B No Media
Volume 1 C NTFS Partition 77 GB Healthy Boot
Volume 2 D DATA NTFS Partition 39 GB Healthy
Volume 3 FAT32 Partition 100 MB Healthy System

I still have the following questions:
1
In front of volume 1 (partition 3), there is now a void of 530 MB. I would like to place the MSR there.
How can this be achieved?

2
I am aware that LBA 0 is reserved for the protective MBR and I understand its size is 1024 KB. Is this correct?

3
With reference to 1 and 2: I expect the size of the protective MBR included in the 530MB offset.

4
Is there an explanation why the ranking of the volumes is not identical to the ranking of the partitions? Is the physical ranking still corresponding with the graphical representation in the Windows GPT?

5
With reference to 4: the GPT shows consequitively: 530 MB – Not allocated; 100 MB - ESP;
77.44 GB - OS; 29.30 GB – Not allocated; 39.06GB – Data; 319.34 GB – Not allocated;
(please note that the 16 MB- MSR partition remains hidden. I think I have to change a flag that is currently set to “hidden”, if I want it (temporarily) to be shown.)

If I want to move the DATA partition (to occupy the currently vacant 29.30 GB). The easiest way forward will be to delete the entire partition after back-up of its contents, and re-create the partition. It will be automatically be located adjacent to the OS partition. Am I correct?

6
With reference to 5: I understood from various Microsoft documents that the preferred structure is: first the ESP (Systems)-partition, second the MSR-partition and third the OS-partition.
About the ESP Partition, Diskpart reveals:

DISKPART> det part

Partition 1
Type : c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b
Hidden : Yes
Required: No
Attrib : 0X8000000000000000
Offset in Bytes: 555745280

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ---- ------- -------- ------------ --------- --------- ------------
* Volume 3 FAT32 Partition 100 MB Healthy System <End of info>

About the MSR partition, DiskPart further reveals:

Partition 2 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> det part

Partition 2
Type : e3c9e316-0b5c-4db8-817d-f92df00215ae
Hidden : Yes
Required: No
Attrib : 0X8000000000000000
Offset in Bytes: 660602880

There is no volume associated with this partition. <End of info>

I tried to achieve this preferred sequencing of partitions with help of the above script, but I am still at a loss concerning the sizes of the various partitions. Any ideas where or how I missed the bus?

7
In hindsight: I learned that command “gpt attributes=0x8.000.000.000.000.001” (Without the interpunction; that was just to count the correct nr of zero’s.) activates write protection.
I have commented it out in the script, but could this write protection still be active from the initial conversion from MBR to GPT? And is there a way to revoke this?

8
I am still poundering on using the above script again, but this time with “clean /all” instead of just “clean” as command in the second active line.

9
Is it required or beneficial to set as type, a GUID for each volume or partition, or will this be set during (re) install of Windows

10
For information, manipulation of the SSD through GParted was not successful.
====
Thank you all in advance for any comment – much appreciated.
Rob

 

W 10 trouble with arranging partitions after conversion to GPT

Just some observations:
Types of drives

• Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA)
• Serial ATA (SATA)
• Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)
• Solid State Drives (SSD)

The commonly-described IDE drive is now referred to as PATA/Parallel ATA to distinguish from SSD/Serial ATA. They both use an IDE/Integrated Device Electronics circuit board attached to the drive with cables to the motherboard. The PATA drive uses a 40-pin/80-conductor data cable with 3 plugs, one to board, other end to a Master and middle to a Slave. SATA drives use only a single data cable to a single port on the board. The next difference in SATA drives is between the traditional spinner/platter/disk HDD and the newer SSD which has no moving parts.

I've been fortunate in not having to deal with SCSI drives or the even older MFM/RLL drives, didn't start building computer til late '94.

As for the GPARTED issue, the program was developed in the PATA/HDD drives era, I haven't yet had a need to try it on an SSD and not sure the same settings for HDDs will be retained on an SSD. My most frequent use of GPARTED LiveCD or the same program included on Linux using a drive dock is in wiping a drive completely before installing an OS, seems to do a great job of deleting any embedded/rootkit infections.

For a clean install on drives at 2TB or smaller I've not come across a noticeable performance difference between MBR and GPT. I let the OS read the BIOS and install accordingly to what it supports. If needing more frequent reboots when changing hardware for whatever purpose the MBR can be easier.