Home > Commands A-M > Commands Da-Dr

DISKPART

Description | Syntax | Parameters | Switches | Related | Notes | Examples | Errorlevels | Availability

Text-mode command interpreter that enables you to manage objects (disks, partitions, or volumes) by using scripts or direct input from a command prompt.

Syntax

DISKPART /?

DISKPART [/s script_file]

Commands to run at the DISKPART prompt:

Parameters
all (NTXP)
Clean: Specifies that each and every sector on the disk is zeroed, which completely deletes all data contained on the disk.
Remove: Removes all current drive letters and mount points.
active (NTXP)
On basic disks, marks the partition with focus as active. This informs the basic input/output system (BIOS) or Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) that the partition or volume is a valid system partition or system volume.
Only partitions can be marked as active.
Important: Verifies only that the partition is capable of containing an operating system's startup files. Does not check the contents of the partition. If you mistakenly mark a partition as "active" and it does not contain the operating system's startup files, your computer might not start.
add (NTXP)
Mirrors the simple volume with focus to the specified disk.
assign (NTXP)
Assigns a drive letter or mount point to the volume with focus. If no drive letter or mount point is specified, then the next available drive letter is assigned. If the drive letter or mount point is already in use, an error is generated.
By using the assign command, you can change the drive letter associated with a removable drive.
You cannot assign drive letters to system volumes, boot volumes, or volumes that contain the paging file. In addition, you cannot assign a drive letter to an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partition or any GUID Partition Table (GPT) partition other than a basic MSDATA partition.
automount (NT2003)
When enabled (the default), Windows automatically mounts the file system for a new basic volume when it is added to the system and then assigns a drive letter to the volume. In system area network configurations, disabling automount prevents Windows from automatically mounting or assigning drive letters to any new basic volumes that are added to the system.
break (NTXP)
Applies to dynamic disks only. Breaks the mirrored volume with focus into two simple volumes. One simple volume retains the drive letter and any mount points of the mirrored volume, while the other simple volume receives the focus so you can assign it a drive letter.
By default, the contents of both halves of the mirror are retained. Each half becomes a simple volume. By using the nokeep parameter, you retain only one half of the mirror as a simple volume, while the other half is deleted and converted to free space. Neither volume receives the focus.
clean (NTXP)
Removes any and all partition or volume formatting from the disk with focus. On master boot record (MBR) disks, only the MBR partitioning information and hidden sector information are overwritten. On GUID Partition Table (GPT) disks, the GPT partitioning information, including the Protective MBR, is overwritten. There is no hidden sector information.
convert basic (NTXP)
Converts an empty dynamic disk into a basic disk.
convert dynamic (NTXP)
Converts a basic disk into a dynamic disk.
convert gpt (NTXP)
On Itanium-based computers, converts an empty basic disk with the master boot record (MBR) partition style into a basic disk with the GUID partition table (GPT) partition style.
Important: The disk must be empty to convert it to a GPT disk. Back up your data and then delete all partitions or volumes before converting the disk.
convert mbr (NTXP)
On Itanium-based computers, converts an empty basic disk with the GUID Partition Table (GPT) partition style to a basic disk with the master boot record (MBR) partition style.
Important: The disk must be empty to convert it to an MBR disk. Back up your data and then delete all partitions or volumes before converting the disk.
(create partition efi NTXP)
On Itanium-based computers, creates an Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) system partition on a GUID Partition Table (GPT) disk. After the partition has been created, the focus is given to the new partition.
(create partition extended NTXP)
Creates an extended partition on the current drive. After the partition has been created, the focus automatically shifts to the new partition. Only one extended partition can be created per disk. This command fails if you attempt to create an extended partition within another extended partition. You must create an extended partition before you can create logical drives.
(create partition logical NTXP)
Creates a logical drive in the extended partition. After the partition has been created, the focus automatically shifts to the new logical drive.
If you specify size=, it must be smaller than the extended partition.
(create partition msr NTXP)
On Itanium-based computers, creates a Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partition on a GUID Partition Table (GPT) disk.
Caution: Be very careful when using the create partition msr command. Because GPT disks require a specific partition layout, creating Microsoft reserved partitions could cause the disk to become unreadable. On GPT disks that are used to start Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, the EFI System partition is the first partition on the disk, followed by the Microsoft Reserved partition. GPT disks used only for data storage do not have an EFI System partition; the Microsoft Reserved partition is the first partition.
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition does not mount Microsoft reserved partitions. You cannot store data on them and you cannot delete them.
(create partition primary NTXP)
Creates a primary partition on the current basic disk After you create the partition, the focus automatically shifts to the new partition. The partition does not receive a drive letter. You must use assign to assign a drive letter to the partition.
(create volume raid NTXP)
Creates a RAID-5 volume on the specified dynamic disks After you create the volume, the focus automatically shifts to the new volume.
(create volume simple NTXP)
Creates a simple volume After you create the volume, the focus automatically shifts to the new volume.
(create volume stripe NTXP)
Creates a striped volume on the specified disks. After you create the volume, the focus automatically shifts to the new volume.
d (NTXP)
The drive letter or mount point path of the partition/volume to receive the focus.
delete disk (NTXP)
Deletes a missing dynamic disk from the disk list.
delete partition (NTXP)
On a basic disk, deletes the partition with focus. You cannot delete the system partition, boot partition, or any partition that contains the active paging file or crash dump (memory dump).
Caution: Deleting a partition on a dynamic disk can delete all offline dynamic volumes on the disk, thus destroying any data and converting the disk to a basic disk. To delete a dynamic volume, always use delete volume instead.
Partitions can be deleted from dynamic disks, but they should not be created. Intended to allow reclamation of the space on a corrupted offline dynamic disk in an emergency situation where clean cannot be used.
delete volume (NTXP)
Deletes the selected volume. You cannot delete the system volume, boot volume, or any volume that contains the active paging file or crash dump (memory dump).
detail disk (NTXP)
Displays the properties of the selected disk and the volumes on that disk.
detail volume (NTXP)
Displays the disks on which the current volume resides.
disable | enable (NT2003)
Disables/enables Windows automatically mounting new basic volumes that are added to the system and assigning them drive letters.
disk=n (NTXP)
Specifies the disk to contain the mirror You can mirror only simple volumes. The specified disk must have unallocated space at least as large as the size of the simple volume you want to mirror.
disk=n[,n ...] (NTXP)
The dynamic disks on which to create the volume. An amount of space equal to size=n is allocated on each disk.
dismount (NT2003)
Dismounts the basic volume basic volume, when all drive letters and mount points have been removed from the volume, and takes the basic volume offline, making it unmountable. If other processes are using the volume, any open handles are closed before dismounting the volume. You can make the volume mountable by assigning it a driver letter or by creating a mount point path to the volume. Dismount will fail if used on a volume that has any remaining drive letters or mount points. Recommended scripting use: remove all dismount.
The dynamic disks on which to create the volume. each disk.
exit (NTXP)
Exits the command interpreter.
extend (NTXP)
Extends the volume with focus into next contiguous unallocated space. For basic volumes, the unallocated space must be on the same disk as, and must follow (be of higher sector offset than) the partition with focus. A dynamic simple or spanned volume can be extended to any empty space on any dynamic disk Using this command, you can extend an existing volume into newly created space.
If the partition was previously formatted with the NTFS file system, the file system is automatically extended to occupy the larger partition. No data loss occurs. If the partition was previously formatted with any file system format other than NTFS, the command fails with no change to the partition.
You cannot extend the current system or boot partitions.
gpt attributes=n (NT2003)
On basic GPT disks, assigns the GPT attribute(s) to the partition with focus. GPT partition attributes give additional information about the use of the partition. Some attributes are specific to the partition type GUID.
Important: Changing the GPT attributes might cause your basic data volumes to be unmountable or fail to be assigned drive letters. Unless you are an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or an IT professional experienced with GPT disks, do not change GPT attributes.
The hexadecimal that pertains to the attribute that you want to apply to the partition with focus. The GPT attribute field is a 64-bit field that contains two subfields. The higher field is interpreted only in the context of the partition ID, while the lower field is common to all partition IDs.
0x0000000000000001 marks the partition as required. This indicates to all disk management utilities that the partition should not be deleted. The EFI System partition contains only those binaries necessary to start the operating system. This makes it easy for OEM- or operating system-specific binaries to be placed in other partitions (all partitions have this attribute).
0x8000000000000000 prevents the partition from having a drive letter automatically assigned. By default, each partition is assigned a new drive letter. Setting this attribute ensures that when a disk is moved to a new computer, a new drive letter will not be automatically generated. Instead, the user can manually assign drive letters (basic data partitions).
Note: Other attributes can be added at any time.
help (NTXP)
Displays a list of the available commands.
ID={byte | GUID} (NTXP)
Intended for Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) use only.
Caution: Creating partitions with this parameter might cause your computer to crash or be unable to start up. Unless you are an OEM or an IT professional experienced with GPT disks, do not create partitions on GPT disks using the ID=byte | GUID parameter. Instead, always use create partition efi to create EFI System partitions, the create partition msr to create Microsoft Reserved partitions, and the create partition primary (without the ID=byte | GUID parameter) to create primary partitions on GPT disks.
For MBR disks, you can specify a partition type byte, in hexadecimal form, for the partition. If no partition type byte is specified on an MBR disk, the create partition primary creates a partition of type 0x6.
For GPT disks you can specify a partition type GUID for the partition you want to create: If no partition type GUID is specified, the create partition primary creates an MSDATA partition.
Any partition type can be specified with the ID={byte | GUID} parameter. Does not check the partition GUID for validity, nor does it perform any other checking of the ID parameter.
import (NTXP)
Imports a foreign disk group into the local computer's disk group. Imports every disk that is in the same group as the disk that has focus.
inactive (NT2003)
On basic master boot record (MBR) disks, marks the system partition system partition or boot partition with focus as inactive. The computer starts from the next option specified in the BIOS such as the CD-ROM drive or a Pre-Boot eXecution Environment (PXE)-based boot environment (such as Remote Installation Services (RIS) Remote Installation Services (RIS) when you restart the computer.
Caution: Your computer might not start without an active partition active partition. Do not mark a system or boot partition as inactive unless you are an experienced user with a thorough understanding of the Windows (Server) family of operating systems.
If you are unable to start your computer after marking the system or boot partition as inactive, insert the Setup CD in the CD-ROM drive, restart the computer, and then repair the partition using the Fixmbr and Fixboot commands in the Recovery Console.
letter=d (NTXP)
The drive letter you want to assign/remove to/from the volume.
list disk (NTXP)
Displays a list of disks and information about them, such as their size, amount of available free space, whether the disk is a basic or dynamic disk, and whether the disk uses the master boot record (MBR) or GUID partition table (GPT) partition style. The disk marked with an asterisk (*) has focus.
list partition (NTXP)
Displays the partitions listed in the partition table of the current disk. On dynamic disks, these partitions may not correspond to the dynamic volumes on the disk. This discrepancy occurs because dynamic disks contain entries in the partition table for the system volume or boot volume (if present on the disk) and a partition that occupies the remainder of the disk in order to reserve the space for use by dynamic volumes.
list volume (NTXP)
Displays a list of basic and dynamic volumes on all disks.
mount=path (NTXP)
The mount point path you want to assign/remove to/from the volume.
n (NTXP)
The disk number of the disk/partition/volume to receive focus.
noerr (NTXP)
For scripting only. When an error is encountered, specifies continue to process commands as if the error did not occur. If omitted, an error causes exit with an error code.
nokeep (NTXP)
Specifies that only one of the mirrored volumes is retained; the other simple volume is deleted and converted to free space. Neither the volume nor the free space receive the focus.
offset=n (NTXP)
Applies to master boot record (MBR) disks only. The byte offset at which to create the partition If no offset is given, the partition is placed in the first disk extent that is large enough to hold it. The offset is cylinder snapped. The offset is rounded to the closest cylinder boundary.
online (NTXP)
Brings an offline disk or volume with focus online.
override (NTXP)
Enables deletion of all simple volumes on the disk. If the disk contains half of a mirrored volume, the half of the mirror on the disk is deleted. The delete disk override command fails if the disk is a member of a RAID-5 volume.
Enables deletion of any partition regardless of type. Typically, only allowed to delete known data partitions.
rem (NTXP)
Provides a way to add comments to a script.
remove (NTXP)
Removes a drive letter or mount point from the volume with focus. If all is used, all current drive letters and mount points are removed. If no drive letter or mount point is specified, then removes the first drive letter or mount point it encounters.
Can be used to change the drive letter associated with a removable drive. You cannot remove the drive letters on system, boot, or paging volumes. In addition, you cannot remove the drive letter for an OEM partition, any GPT partition with an unrecognized GUID, or any of the special, non-data, GPT partitions such as the EFI system partition.
repair disk=n (NT2003)
Repairs the RAID-5 volume with focus by replacing the failed RAID-5 member with the specified dynamic disk. The specified dynamic disk must have free space greater than or equal to the total size of the failed RAID-5 member.
rescan (NTXP)
Locates new disks that may have been added to the computer.
retain (NTXP)
Prepares an existing dynamic simple volume to be used as a boot or system volume.
On an x86-based computer, creates a partition entry in the master boot record (MBR) on the dynamic simple volume with focus. To create an MBR partition, the dynamic simple volume must start at a cylinder aligned offset and be an integral number of cylinders in size.
On an Itanium-based computer, creates a partition entry in the GUID partition table (GPT) on the dynamic simple volume with focus.
Note: Intended for use only during Unattended Setup or by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).
scrub (NT2003)
Removes volume mount point directories and registry settings for volumes that are no longer in the system. This prevents volumes that were previously in the system from being automatically mounted and given their former volume mount point(s) when they are added back to the system.
select disk (NTXP)
Selects the specified disk and shifts the focus to it. If no disk number is specified, lists the disk that currently has the focus. You can view the numbers for all disks on the computer by using list disk.
select partition (NTXP)
Selects the specified partition and gives it focus. If no partition is specified, lists the current partition with focus. You can view the numbers of all partitions on the current disk by using list partition.
select volume (NTXP)
Selects the specified volume and shifts the focus to it. If no volume is specified, lists the current volume with focus. You can specify the volume by number, drive letter, or mount point path. On a basic disk, selecting a volume also gives the corresponding partition focus. You can view the numbers of all volumes on the computer by using list volume.
size=n (NTXP)
The size of the partition in megabytes (MB). If no size is given, then the partition continues until there is no more free space in the current region. The size is cylinder snapped. The size is rounded to the closest cylinder boundary.
Switches
/? (NTXP)
Display help.
/s script_file (NTXP)
Use DISKPART script.
Related

none.

Notes

none.

Examples

none.

Errorlevels
Availability
External
DOS
none
Windows
none
Windows NT
NTXP NT2003
Last Updated: 2003/07/28
Direct corrections or suggestions to: Rick Lively 1