ben

I am reading throught the NTFS technical reference and it says that
GPT is only for Itanium based computers. Is this really true?

I beleive I have setup a GPT partition styled disk on 32bit Small
Business Server 2003 SP1.

Here is a screenshot:

http://devel.mcpapps.net/images/basic_disk_with_gpt.jpg

Is the documentation wrong? or outdated? Where can I get better docs?

I quote the documentation here:
"In x86-based computers running Windows Server 2003, basic disks use
the same Master Boot Record (MBR) partition style "

"Itanium-based computers also support basic disks, but you can choose
from two partition styles (MBR or GPT) for each basic disk."

mathieu chateau

Hello,

They both support it, but you can only boot from GPT partition on itanium:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device...PT-on-x64.mspx

Unlike Windows support for the Intel Itanium platform, Windows x64 Edition
and Windows Server 2003 SP1 operating systems support the use of GPT drives
only as data volumes. Because the x64 and x86 architectures do not provide
support for an EFI boot partition, you cannot use a GPT drive to boot an
x64-based computer or an x86-based computer with a legacy BIOS. Therefore,
computers running these operating systems must be equipped with more than
one physical driver to allow the use of the GPT disk format.

On Intel Itanium platforms, Windows supports the use of GPT drives as boot
drives or data volumes.

--
Cordialement,
Mathieu CHATEAU
English blog: http://lordoftheping.blogspot.com
French blog: http://www.lotp.fr

ben

Thanks for the quick response and good answer.

j de boyne pollard

B> I am reading throught the NTFS technical reference and it says that
B> GPT is only for Itanium based computers. Is this really true?

No. One can use the EFI partitioning scheme with any processor. The
processor type is not a factor. The important two considerations are:
* The operating system itself (and its supporting utility softwares)
must understand the EFI partitioning scheme, so that it is capable of
making sense of what is on the disc.
* The machine must be bootable. Either the machine firmware must be
capable of bootstrapping the machine using EFI boot loaders, which you
have in an EFI System partition somewhere; or you must have another
disc that is partitioned with the MBR partitioning scheme and that
contains a bootable MBR and an operating system's VBR and other boot
loaders.

In Windows-centric terms, these are:
* The version of Windows NT that you are using must understand the EFI
partitioning scheme. It must be capable of processing that style of
partition table in order to locate disc partitions. Understanding of
this partitioning scheme was initially introduced in IA64 versions of
Windows NT (because IA64 systems use EFI firmwares and so that is how
discs on IA64 systems are partitioned as standard), but has since made
its way into the x86 versions too.
* Either the machine is an IA64 machine (which has EFI firmware as
standard) or is an x86 machine that has EFI firmware (such as an Intel
Macintosh), and the version of Windows NT that you have has an EFI
boot loader program (for the processor type); or the machine has PC98
or PC/AT firmware, and you have another disc partitioned with the MBR
partitioning scheme, where a bootable MBR and Windows NT's VBR and
secondary boot loaders are located.

<URL:http://homepages.tesco.net./~J.deBoy.../FGA/efi-boot-
process.html>
<URL:http://homepages.tesco.net./~J.deBoy.../windows-nt-6-
boot-process.html>

j de boyne pollard

B> I am reading throught the NTFS technical reference and it says that
B> GPT is only for Itanium based computers. Is this really true?

No. One can use the EFI partitioning scheme with any processor. The
processor type is not a factor. The important two considerations are:
* The operating system itself (and its supporting utility softwares)
must understand the EFI partitioning scheme, so that it is capable of
making sense of what is on the disc.
* The machine must be bootable. Either the machine firmware must be
capable of bootstrapping the machine using EFI boot loaders, which you
have in an EFI System partition somewhere; or you must have another
disc that is partitioned with the MBR partitioning scheme and that
contains a bootable MBR and an operating system's VBR and other boot
loaders.

In Windows-centric terms, these are:
* The version of Windows NT that you are using must understand the EFI
partitioning scheme. It must be capable of processing that style of
partition table in order to locate disc partitions. Understanding of
this partitioning scheme was initially introduced in IA64 versions of
Windows NT (because IA64 systems use EFI firmwares and so that is how
discs on IA64 systems are partitioned as standard), but has since made
its way into the x86 versions too.
* Either the machine is an IA64 machine (which has EFI firmware as
standard) or is an x86 machine that has EFI firmware (such as an Intel
Macintosh), and the version of Windows NT that you have has an EFI
boot loader program (for the processor type); or the machine has PC98
or PC/AT firmware, and you have another disc partitioned with the MBR
partitioning scheme, where a bootable MBR and Windows NT's VBR and
secondary boot loaders are located.

<URL:http://homepages.tesco.net./~J.deBoy.../FGA/efi-boot-
process.html>
<URL:http://homepages.tesco.net./~J.deBoy.../windows-nt-6-
boot-process.html>

ben

I have learned a lot about this topic from the pages on your site. I
feel like I have a much better understanding and at least know what to
search for in google to get further clarification.

Thanks again.