Disk partitioning prior to clean install of Win 11

Tranas · Apr 3, 2025

I need to do a clean install of Win11 Pro Retail on new drives. Would like to partition the drives prior to install with 2 partitions - OS and Data. Earlier versions of Windows allowed you to partition prior to the OS install - is this still available in Win11 or do I need to do that separately?

TIA

kelper · Apr 3, 2025

yes

Tranas · Apr 3, 2025

Which partitioning software would you suggest.

kelper · Apr 3, 2025

None is needed.

Tranas · Apr 3, 2025

For some reason, the attachment was not visible. So I presume you can configure the size of the OS partition after you click Next? The pic shows only the full 80GB drive as a single partition.

kelper · Apr 3, 2025

that 80GB was just an example. You can delete all the partitions and then create two new ones for OS and Data - it's really easy.

Tranas · Apr 3, 2025

Thanks

Megahertz · Apr 3, 2025

Windows should be pointed to install on an unallocated space and it should be on the beginning of the drive.
- Create first the Windows (EFI, MSR, C: and Recovery) partition. 80G is a good size for windows and programs.
- Create the Data partition or partitions
- Delete the first partition and point to install on the unallocated space created and proceed

Megahertz · Apr 3, 2025

On BIOS
Set Disk mode to AHCI, not RAID
Select OS mode = UEFI
Disable fast boot and secure boot (you can turn it on after installation)

Windows can be installed in two ways: Legacy-MBR or UEFI-GPT
To install as Legacy-MBR you must boot the installation drive as Legacy
To install as UEFI-GPT you must boot the installation drive as UEFI.

As you have a UEFI BIOS, you should install as UEFI-GPT
Detach any other drives (SATA or Power cable) from the MB.

During POST, press F8 to launch the boot menu. You will see two options for the USB drive. USB UEFI (Name) and USB (Name). Select USB UEFI (Name) to install as UEFI-GPT.
Select the unallocated space and then proceed.
Don't enable updates or connect to the internet during installation.
If you want to use a local account What is "oobe\bypassnro"

Clean Install Windows 11

This tutorial will show you step by step on how to clean install Windows 11 at boot on your PC with or without an Internet connection and setup with a local account or Microsoft account. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes...

www.elevenforum.com

Steve311 · Apr 6, 2025

The free diskgenius app for converting mbr to gpt

Tranas · 2025-04-26T14:26:07-0400

kelper said:
that 80GB was just an example. You can delete all the partitions and then create two new ones for OS and Data - it's really easy.

Well, actually it was not really easy. The partition creation feature in Windows install does not allow you to create an OS partition at the beginning of the disk and sets up additional partitions it 'knows' are needed where it thinks they are needed. Windows install is simply not a good partitioning tool.

The solution was to use GParted Live on a bootable USB set up using Rufus. In my case, I chose to create 250GB unallocated at the beginning of the drive with the balance of the 4 TB drive used for data. After partitioning, Windows 11 was installed to the unallocated space where it created additional partitions as needed.

There is a lot of conflicting information about the appropriate size of the OS partition - generally underestimating the size needed. On this particular machine, after a clean install of Windows 11 Pro in a 250 GB partition, there is 142 GB used, most of which is System & Reserved files. See attached snips. FWIW, a Macrium image of the OS partition comes in at about 31 GB. The Hibernation file size is pretty astounding and Windows 11 appears to have issues with hibernation when installed on a desktop machine. Will post those issues in a separate thread as they seem unrelated to the partitioning issue.

zbook · 2025-04-26T14:39:32-0400

1) Please run: diskparinfo > post a share link

https://www.tenforums.com/attachments/bsod-crashes-debugging/355861d1640707960-batch-files-use-bsod-debugging-diskparinfo.bat

Batch files for use in BSOD debugging - Windows 10 Help Forums

Information This thread is for use by the BSOD team to store batch files that can be used to collect additional data, fix settings or anything else that is useful in debugging BSOD problems in Windows 10. The way I see it working is the first

www.tenforums.com

Batch files for use in BSOD debugging - Windows 10 Help Forums

Information This thread is for use by the BSOD team to store batch files that can be used to collect additional data, fix settings or anything else that is useful in debugging BSOD problems in Windows 10. The way I see it working is the first

www.tenforums.com

2) Open disk management > widen rows and columns > post images or share links

How to Post a Screenshot of Disk Management

How to Post a Screenshot of Disk Management at Ten Forums

www.tenforums.com

Tranas · 2025-04-26T14:41:26-0400

Megahertz said:
On BIOS
Set Disk mode to AHCI, not RAID
Select OS mode = UEFI
Disable fast boot and secure boot (you can turn it on after installation)

Windows can be installed in two ways: Legacy-MBR or UEFI-GPT
To install as Legacy-MBR you must boot the installation drive as Legacy
To install as UEFI-GPT you must boot the installation drive as UEFI.

As you have a UEFI BIOS, you should install as UEFI-GPT
Detach any other drives (SATA or Power cable) from the MB.

During POST, press F8 to launch the boot menu. You will see two options for the USB drive. USB UEFI (Name) and USB (Name). Select USB UEFI (Name) to install as UEFI-GPT.
Select the unallocated space and then proceed.
Don't enable updates or connect to the internet during installation.
If you want to use a local account What is "oobe\bypassnro"

Clean Install Windows 11

This tutorial will show you step by step on how to clean install Windows 11 at boot on your PC with or without an Internet connection and setup with a local account or Microsoft account. Windows 11 has all the power and security of Windows 10 with a redesigned and refreshed look. It also comes...

www.elevenforum.com

Worthwhile noting that you need to be sure that RAID is configured prior to Windows 11 install on most machines supporting Intel RAID.

Brinks clean install instruction was certainly helpful, however there seem to be errors in the instruction, specifically in the Registry instructions on how to bypass the network requirements to set up a local account.

The shutdown line in Command prompt should be: shutdown /r /f /t 0 rather than the shutdown /r /f/ t/ 0 shown in the instruction.

zbook · 2025-04-26T14:51:27-0400

Tranas said:
The shutdown line in Command prompt should be: shutdown /r /f /t 0 rather than the shutdown /r /f/ t/ 0 shown in the instruction.

It was a typo.

How were system and reserved sizes chosen / created? 116 GB?

When available post diskpar info and disk management.

The default sizes during a clean install are
System 100 MB
Reserved 15 MB

Tranas · 2025-04-26T15:22:38-0400

zbook said:
It was a typo.

How were system and reserved sizes chosen / created? 116 GB?

When available post diskpar info and disk management.

The default sizes during a clean install are
System 100 MB
Reserved 15 MB

S happens. Maybe they should fix the typo?

Windows chose all sizes for the install files. The only thing I set up were the partitions. Snip of current disk management attached.

As I mentioned, Windows has issues with hibernate. Apparently also associated with fast start. On this box, when the system hibernates, it crashes on wakeup and fills up/trashes the OS partition. See attached snip of earlier crash. Macrium to the rescue... but this fast start thing is apparently not ready for prime time.

zbook · 2025-04-26T15:32:27-0400

Please run the V2 log collector > post a share link

BSOD - Posting Instructions

BSOD - Posting Instructions This will show you how to help provide needed information about your system and dump files. It will not contain any personal or sensitive information about you or your data. To get better help with your Windows BSOD issue, please read these instructions and follow...

www.elevenforum.com

Tranas · 2025-04-26T15:44:55-0400

Log attached

zbook · 2025-04-26T17:05:17-0400

1) Some of the files were in a foreign language.

Code:

Windows Search tarnybos skirtas laikas netiketai baigesi. Tai buvo atlikta 1 karta (-us). èis koregavimo veiksmas u₧ims 30000 milisek.: Restart the service.

Please use English as the default language during the troubleshooting:

Add, Remove, and Change Display Language in Windows 10

How to Add or Remove Language Packs and Change Display Language in Windows 10

www.tenforums.com

Change Display Language in Windows 10

How to Change Display Language in Windows 10

www.tenforums.com

2) The BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 3701, 2024-06-28

Upgrade the BIOS: 3701 > 4101

Pro WS W680-ACE｜Motherboards｜ASUS USA

Intel® W680 LGA 1700 ATX motherboard, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, 2.5 Gb, SlimSAS, enhanced power and cooling solutions

www.asus.com

3) Open administrative command prompt and copy and paste:

DISM /Online /Add-Capability /CapabilityName:WMIC~~~~

Post a link.

4) Run: tuneup_plus_log > post a share link

https://www.tenforums.com/attachments/bsod-crashes-debugging/360139d1645183596-batch-files-use-bsod-debugging-tuneup_plus_log.zip

Batch files for use in BSOD debugging - Windows 10 Help Forums

Information This thread is for use by the BSOD team to store batch files that can be used to collect additional data, fix settings or anything else that is useful in debugging BSOD problems in Windows 10. The way I see it working is the first

www.tenforums.com

Batch files for use in BSOD debugging - Windows 10 Help Forums

Information This thread is for use by the BSOD team to store batch files that can be used to collect additional data, fix settings or anything else that is useful in debugging BSOD problems in Windows 10. The way I see it working is the first

www.tenforums.com

5) For new BSOD > post a new V2 share link into the newest post

Code:

Event[34]
  Log Name: System
  Source: volmgr
  Date: 2025-04-26T07:28:21.0320000Z
  Event ID: 46
  Task: None
  Level: Error
  Opcode: N/A
  Keyword: Classic,
  User: N/A
  User Name: N/A
  Computer: BX14
  Description:
Crash dump initialization failed!

Disk partitioning prior to clean install of Win 11

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