Advanced format hard drive 512e and WDS deployment.

Question

Hi, I have a Dell Latitude E6420 that has all our applications and software installed. The hard drive is an advanced format drive. The C: partition and the dell recovery partition is aligned. For my deployment process, I sysprep the PC, capture the C: image through WDS. I have a WDSUnattend answer file that I use during my deployment process. The answer file is set to wipe the drive, format the drive with NTFS and then install the captured image on Disk ID = 0, Partition = 1. After the image is deployed to all the new machines, when we look at the C: drive for alignment, it says that the drive is MISALIGNED. During the process of capturing and deploying the image, the c: drive partition gets misaligned. Is there anything in the answer file that could be set so that when it formats the drive, it still keeps the partition on c: drive aligned. Please advise. Thanks!!

DELL-Warren B · Accepted Answer

There is an update to WinPE that corrects the diskpart function so that it accurately detects AFHDD's and always creates the partitions with the correct offset/alignment. Using Windows 7 SP1 media might be enough, or you may have to get the latest version of WAIK

The link to the TechCenter AFHDD page is below.

en.community.dell.com/.../deploying-dell-systems-with-advanced-format-hard-drives.aspx

The Microsoft information is at

support.microsoft.com/.../2510009

DELL-Warren B · Answer

The capture process does not cause the mis-alignment.  You need to verify that the method for deploying the image is creating the partition correctly.  I would expect that your boot media needs to be updated to support Advanced Format drives.  Also ensure that you do not have 'ExtendOEMPartition=1' in your sysprep.inf or answer file.

rmshah50 · Answer

Hi Warren - I do not have 'ExtendOEMPartition=1' component in my answer file. How do I change my boot media to support Advanced Format drives?? The boot.wim file was created using Microsoft windows 7 CD. Please advise. Thanks!!

rmshah50 · Answer

I added the boot image using the Windows 7 SP1 cd. It worked like a charm. After the deployment, the C: drive was aligned. Warren - Thanks !! a lot for all your help. I really appreciate it.

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