Partition operations

You can execute the following operations on the partitions of a disk:

Creating a new partition

To create a new partition proceed as follows:

Select OS Deployment > Your OSD Manager > Disk Configuration > Your Disk in the left window pane.
Select the Partition Setup tab in the right window pane.
Select Edit > Create Partition

Enter the necessary data for the parameters in the Create a new partition window:

Parameters	Description
Name	The name of the defined partition.
Partition Number	The unique physical partition number on the disk the currently selected entry belongs to, 1 is the first partition, 2 the second, and so on.
Description	This field is a free text field and can contain some descriptive text or necessary information about the object.
Extend	This parameter is of interest if the defined disk partitions do not completely use up the available disk space. Possible values are Yes, extend partition, in this case the size fixed for the disk will be ignored and the remaining disk space will be added to the respective partition. If you select No, do not extend the partition, the remaining disk space cannot be used. Only one partition per disk can be extended. As FAT-32 disks cannot be larger than 32 GB, extending it over this limit will generate an error.
Format	This parameter indicates the format of the partition, possible values being NTFS, FAT-32 or Do Not Format, if the disk is not to be formatted but to use the current configuration, such as to keep another partition type for Linux or to keep partitions with existing data.
Label	The unique name of the partition, for example, SYSTEM, DATA or BACKUP).
Drive Letter	The logical drive letter from C to Z assigned to the drive, each letter can only be assigned once.
Size (GB)	This value displays the total size of the respective disk partition in GB. FAT-32 disks cannot be larger than 32 GB. The specified size is adjusted to the cylinder snap and can therefore be somewhat smaller or larger than the defined value.
Active Partition	This parameter defines if a partition is active, that is, if it is potentially bootable. This partition must be used to install the operating system on, which is to be booted. Only one partition can be active per disk.
Type	This parameter defines the type of the partition, that is, if it is a primary, extended or logical partition.
Order	This parameter specifies the order in which the partitions will be modified, if there is more than one partition, 1 indicating the first partition, and so on.
Creation Date	The date and time the currently selected partition was created for the first time.
Last Modification Date	The date and time in the user specified format at which the last modification occurred to the selected object.
Notes	This free text field can contain more information about the selected object.

WinPE has a number of limitations as described on the Microsoft website ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc507857.aspx ) such as the fact that drive letter assignments are not persistent between sessions. This means that no matter which drive you assigned specific drive letter in the disk configuration of an OS deployment, the drive letter assignments will be in the default order after WinPE is restarted.

Click OK to confirm the data for the new partition.

A new partition with the specified data is created.

Duplicating a Partition

To duplicate an existing partition proceed as follows:

Select OS Deployment > Your OSD Manager > Disk Configuration > Your Disk in the left window pane.
Select the Partition Setup tab in the right window pane.
Select the partition to be duplicated in the right window pane.
Select Edit > Duplicate
The Edit Disk window appears.
Enter a name for the new partition.
In CM two partitions with the same name cannot co-exist.
Make any other required changes to the new partition.
Click OK to confirm the new partition.

The new partition will be created under the node of the selected disk configuration with the same assigned objects as the original.

Modifying a Partition

To modify the parameters of a partition proceed as follows:

Select OS Deployment > Your OSD Manager > Disk Configuration > Your Disk > Your Partition in the left window pane.
Select Edit > Properties

Modify the necessary parameters in the Properties window:

Parameters	Description
Name	The name of the defined partition.
Partition Number	The unique physical partition number on the disk the currently selected entry belongs to, 1 is the first partition, 2 the second, and so on.
Description	This field is a free text field and can contain some descriptive text or necessary information about the object.
Extend	This parameter is of interest if the defined disk partitions do not completely use up the available disk space. Possible values are Yes, extend partition, in this case the size fixed for the disk will be ignored and the remaining disk space will be added to the respective partition. If you select No, do not extend the partition, the remaining disk space cannot be used. Only one partition per disk can be extended. As FAT-32 disks cannot be larger than 32 GB, extending it over this limit will generate an error.
Format	This parameter indicates the format of the partition, possible values being NTFS, FAT-32 or Do Not Format, if the disk is not to be formatted but to use the current configuration, such as to keep another partition type for Linux or to keep partitions with existing data.
Label	The unique name of the partition, for example, SYSTEM, DATA or BACKUP).
Drive Letter	The logical drive letter from C to Z assigned to the drive, each letter can only be assigned once.
Size (GB)	This value displays the total size of the respective disk partition in GB. FAT-32 disks cannot be larger than 32 GB. The specified size is adjusted to the cylinder snap and can therefore be somewhat smaller or larger than the defined value.
Active Partition	This parameter defines if a partition is active, that is, if it is potentially bootable. This partition must be used to install the operating system on, which is to be booted. Only one partition can be active per disk.
Type	This parameter defines the type of the partition, that is, if it is a primary, extended or logical partition.
Order	This parameter specifies the order in which the partitions will be modified, if there is more than one partition, 1 indicating the first partition, and so on.
Creation Date	The date and time the currently selected partition was created for the first time.
Last Modification Date	The date and time in the user specified format at which the last modification occurred to the selected object.
Notes	This free text field can contain more information about the selected object.

Click OK to confirm the modifications.

Your modifications of the parameters were saved and applied to the selected partition.

Moving a Partition Up or Down

To move a partition up or down in the list proceed as follows:

Select OS Deployment > Your OSD Manager > Disk Configuration > Your Disk in the left window pane.
Select the Partition Setup tab in the right window pane.
Select the partition to be moved in the right window pane.
Select Edit > Move Up or Move Down

The selected partition was moved up or down in the list of partitions.

Repeat step 4 until the partition is at the desired position.

Deleting a Partition

To delete a partition proceed as follows:

Select OS Deployment > Your OSD Manager > Disk Configuration > Your Disk in the left window pane.
Select the Partition Setup tab in the right window pane.
Select the partition to be deleted in the right window pane.
Select Edit > Delete

The selected object will be deleted immediately.

Partition operations