Windows Boot disk and other boot disks...

spapakons said:

Well usually you use the whole drive. However, in Disk Manager right-click on the large partition and select Shrink to make it smaller. Then on the unallocated part (after shrinking), you can create as many partitions as they fit.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately in ventoy formatted drives, the shrink option is greyed out in disk manager

What if you first shrink the partition and the install Ventoy? Would this work? Why would you want separate partitions anyway? Since Ventoy can also boot virtual hard disk images (VHD files), I would install any system in one and just boot it from the first partition. I don't know about Linux, but here is a guide for Windows:

Venjoy seems

spapakons said:

What if you first shrink the partition and the install Ventoy? Would this work? Why would you want separate partitions anyway? Since Ventoy can also boot virtual hard disk images (VHD files), I would install any system in one and just boot it from the first partition. I don't know about Linux, but here is a guide for Windows:

Install Windows 11 in Hyper-V (VM) and use it in Native Boot (VHDX)

Will it work? Only add: bcdboot K:\Windows on VHDX Image or?

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

Ventoy seems to take complete control of the USB. You might have missed my earlier post, but I created 2 simple partitions and formated both as simple volumes on the usb as a test (50% of total space each) and then installed ventoy. It destroyed both and just recreated it's single ventoy partition plus a 32mb fat partition. Once created disk manager can't do anything with them.

I haven't tried any other diskpart tools...I've just come to terms with having a folder on the ventoy partition called data and another folder for the ISOs.

But I'm crying anally retentive tears secretly that I don't appear to be able to
make a data partition.

It looks like the two partitions you created were in MBR partition scheme (Legacy BIOS boot), but you chose to install Ventoy in UEFI mode (GPT partition scheme). Although other applications (such as Minitool Partition Wizard) can convert an MBR disk to GPT without losing data, Ventoy takes the easy route by wiping the disk and then create the GPT partition scheme, hence the small partition which is not needed in MBR. Anyway, since Ventoy can boot many CD and hard disk image formats, including VHD and VHDX virtual hard disk images, I don't see the reason to create more than a single large partition. Use Hyper-V, VMWare or any other virtual machine application to install the desired Windows or Linux system on a VHD or VHDX file. Then copy that file on the USB flash drive so Ventoy can boot it. It doesn't have to be on a physical partition on the drive, it can be on a virtual hard disk image bootable by Ventoy. In fact many fellow posters here dual or triple boot their computers using VHDX files instead of multiple partitions or hard disks. This has the benefit to easily add/remove systems and to move them on another computer by simply copying the virtual hard disk file.

Method said:

I might have perhaps not quite given the right impression of what Im wanting to do.

I want a big USB drive to be able to perform multiple tasks...act as a W11 boot/install disk, act as a Macrium revovery disk and also act as a storage drive.....so somehow have 3 partitions on it which I can choose which it uses/ sees?

Am I asking too much here?

Click to expand...

Hi there

in command mode in run as administrator -- you can use a Windows install disk / usb drive - boot it -- choose repair syatem-->command mode.

diskpart
select disk xxx
clean
convert gpt
(optional if you want to use as boot disk create partition efi size=100 format fs=fat32) - You only need the EFI partition if you intend using the disk as a boot disk.

(If you install Windows on an external drive - needs to be done via Dism /Apply-Image etc then ensure in regedit you change the "PortableOs" key to "0" otherwise you'll have problems in applying new builds to it and if you clone to internal disk Windows will still think it's a "removable" disk !!!.

Use bcdboot on the efi partition to create the Windows 11 boot manager. Plenty of examples on how to di this in the Forums).

Now simply select the HDD and create partitions to choice -- format them ntfs,quick.

Cheers
jimbo

spapakons
It looks like the two partitions you created were in MBR partition scheme (Legacy BIOS boot), but you chose to install Ventoy in UEFI mode (GPT partition scheme).

Click to expand...

The ventoyed usb stick is mbr partition style as shown in the screenshot I posted previously in post #33

Looks like Ventoy will overwrite the USB flash drive anyway. So the only way to boot separate OSes is to use virtual hard disks images, rather than separate partitions.

Hello everyone,

I installed Ventoy on a USB and just reformatted the first partition file system as NTFS. I didn't use Ventoy so I don't know what effect that had on it.

Kind regards,

tecknot

I am not sure if this affects Ventoy. Just copy a couple of ISOs and boot to test if it works.