Hard Drives and Partitions

Applies To: Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2

In this section, you will learn methods to deploy Windows® 8 to different drive configurations, including hard drives, solid-state drives (SSDs), or virtual hard drives (VHDs). You will also learn about factors that you must consider when you deploy Windows 8.

In This Section

Hard Drives and Partitions Overview

Contains an overview of hard drives and partition topics in this section.

Configure Multiple Hard Drives

Describes how to deploy Windows® to a computer that has multiple hard drives.

Configure UEFI/GPT-Based Hard Drive Partitions

Describes how to configure hard disk partitions for UEFI-based computers when you deploy Windows.

Configure BIOS/MBR-Based Hard Drive Partitions

Describes how to configure hard disk partitions for BIOS-based computers when you deploy Windows.

Configure More than Four Partitions on a BIOS/MBR-Based Hard Disk

Describes how to configure more than four hard disk partitions on a BIOS-based computer when you deploy Windows by using extended and logical partitions.

Capture and Apply Windows, System, and Recovery Partitions

Describes how to deploy Windows by capturing and applying images.

Two methods are shown: capturing only the Windows partition, and capturing each partition separately.

Factory Encrypted Drives

Describes how to deploy Windows to factory-encrypted drives.

BitLocker Drive Encryption

Describes requirements for deploying a Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption solution.

Solid State Drive Deployment

Lists considerations for deploying Windows on computers that have limited hard disk drive space, such as Solid State drives.

Hard Disk Location Path Format

Describes the hard disk location-path format, which Windows uses to identify each disk in the DiskPart tool by using the location path.

Example location path: PCIROOT(0)#PCI(0100)#ATA(C01T03L00)

Internal and External SATA Port Configuration

Describes how to configure internal and external serial attached ATA (SATA) ports, including configuring hardware controllers, how Windows and drivers identify internal and external SATA ports, and how to work with link power management (LPM).

See Also

Concepts

BCDboot Command-Line Options

Other Resources

UEFI Firmware
Windows Deployment Options