Use this page to format and configure a hard disk partition for use with operating system deployment. You can also save this configuration so that is available to use with future deployments. When you use this task sequence to apply the disk partition, all information will be erased on the target hard disk.

This page contains the following elements:

UI Element List

Partition name

Specifies a name for the new partition. The name specified will be used as the volume name when formatting the partition.
Partition type

Specifies the type of partition you want to create: Primary, Extended, Logical, or Hidden. The following restrictions apply to partition type properties:
  • If you specify an Extended or Hidden partition you cannot make this partition the boot partition or assign a task sequence variable that will assign a specific drive letter.

  • A Logical partition type will only be available if an extended partition is specified.

  • An Extended partition will not be available if an extended partition is already specified because only one extended partition can be created per logical disk.

Use a percentage of remaining free disk space

Specifies the percentage of remaining disk space that will be used to create the new partition. The percentage specified is the percentage of unused disk space not a percentage of the total disk size.
Use specific size

Specifies a particular size for the new disk partition. Use the drop-down menu to specify if the size should be measured in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB).
Make this the boot partition

Makes this partition the boot partition (i.e. the active partition). This option is not available if you specify Extended, or Hidden as the partition type. This option is also not available for use with GUID Partition Table (GPT) hard disks.
File system

Specifies the file system to use when formatting this partition; NTFS, FAT32, or None to leave the partition unformatted. This option is not available if you specify Extended or Hidden as the partition type.
Quick format

Specifies that the partition should be formatted using the quick method. If this option is not selected, a full disk format will be performed.
Note
Quick format does not check the volume for errors. If you are re-provisioning existing computers, a full hard disk format is recommended.
Variable

Configuration Manager 2007 will automatically assign the next available drive letter to this partition. To save this drive letter as a task sequence variable, enter the name of the variable here. You can use this variable in subsequent task sequence actions which run in Windows PE (for example, the Apply Operating System task sequence step) to refer to this partition. After rebooting, Windows might assign different drive letters.For more information about using task variables, see About Task Sequence Variables