Connect an encrypted efi system partition. How to manually create a bootable Windows EFI partition on a GPT disk. Repairing EFI bootloader and BCD in Windows

I came across a strange hard drive, it seemed like it was Linux or MacOS. I deleted all the partitions, but one, using standard tools (Disk Utility and Disk Management) could not reach 200 meters.

In the context menu, the Delete volume... item is inactive.

You can delete an encrypted EFI partition in Windows 7 using the console program diskpart.

1. Run cmd as administrator

2. Enter in cmd – diskpart. Diskpart will launch in a new window

list disk – look at the list of disks
select disk # – select the desired disk. Instead of # we indicate the disk number
clean – removes all partitions or volumes on the disk
list partition – checks that all partitions have been deleted

4. Check the result in Disk Management.

5. All partitions have been deleted.

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System partition (EFI or ESP system partition).

The computer must contain one system partition on the disk. On EFI and UEFI based systems this partition is called the system partition EFI or ESP. This partition is usually stored on the main hard drive. The computer boots from the system partition. The minimum size of this partition is 100 MB and it must be formatted using the FAT32 file format. This partition is managed by the operating system and should not contain any other files, including Windows Recovery Environment tools. The standard disk configuration in GPT layout on a UEFI system is shown in Fig. 1.

Rice. 1.Example of disk partition configuration on a PC with UEFI.

An EFI partition (ESP) formatted in FAT32 is required for GPT partitioning on UEFI systems. The standard EFI partition size is 100 MB, but on 4K Native Enhanced Format drives (4KB sectors) it is increased to 260 MB due to FAT32 limitations. PC manufacturers may store some of their tools on this section, so its size varies depending on the manufacturer. In GPT partitioning, the EFI partition performs one of the roles assigned to the System Reserved partition in MBR partitioning. It contains the Boot Configuration CD (BCD) store and the files needed to boot the operating system.

Basic principles of construction and operation of a file system based on FAT-32.

1) Each element of the FAT table (starting from the second) corresponds to a cluster in the data area with the same number.

2) The number of the initial cluster of the file is indicated in the directory line that defines the File. This number is both a reference to the FAT table element that contains the file's next cluster number, and is a reference to the FAT table element that contains the file's next cluster number, etc.

3) A cluster is a continuous sequence of sectors (fixed size). This is an addressable "portion" of a file.

4) The code in the FAT table element can also define a free cluster, a defective cluster, and an end-of-file sign.

5) A file in a FAT partition is a sequence of clusters specified by a directory string and FAT table entries.

6) All operating systems can work with a FAT-32 partition (the main factor in using FAT-32 in ESP).

As a result of high-level formatting of a partition, writing system information into data blocks of a number of initial sectors of the partition, a logical disk (volume) of a FAT32 file system is created, which consists of three main areas (Fig. 2), located in the following order:

- “reserve” area (area of ​​reserve sectors);

- file allocation tables area (FAT1 and FAT2);

- area of ​​files and directories (data area).

The root directory is stored in the data area as a regular file and can be expanded as needed.

Updated: October 2013

Purpose: Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2

This section describes how to set up disk partitions, including hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), and other drives for BIOS-based Unified EFI Interface (UEFI) computers.

In this section

Partition configurations

This section describes the default partition configuration and the recommended partition configuration.

Default configuration: Windows Recovery Environment partition, System partition, MSR partition, and Windows partition

The default Windows installation configuration includes the Windows Recovery Environment Tools partition, the System partition, the MSR partition, and the Windows partition. This configuration is shown in the following diagram. This configuration allows you to enable BitLocker drive encryption and store the Windows Recovery Environment on a hidden system partition.

Using this configuration, utilities such as Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption and Windows Recovery Environment can be added to a custom Windows installation.

Recommended configuration: Windows Recovery Environment partition, system partition, MSR partition, Windows partition, and recovery image partition

The recommended configuration includes: Windows Recovery Environment partition, system partition, MSR partition, Windows partition, and recovery image partition. This configuration is shown in the following figure.

The Windows Recovery Environment Tools partition and the System partition are added before the Windows partition is added. The last partition to be added is the recovery image. This order of partitions will help keep the system partition and the Windows Recovery Environment partition safe during actions such as deleting the recovery image partition or resizing the Windows partition.

System and service partitions

By default, system partitions are not displayed in Explorer. This is done to prevent the user from accidentally making changes to the system partition.

Hello! Windows 8.1 won’t boot on a laptop with a UEFI BIOS and I can’t do anything. When loading, an error appears on the screen File:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD... I studied all the Internet articles on this topic, but in my case nothing helps.

What have I done?

I entered commands that were successful, but Windows did not load.

bootrec /FixMbr

bootrec /FixBoot

I don’t know what else to do or how to restore the Windows 8.1 bootloader. Maybe you can give me some advice?

Hello friends! My name is Vladimir and I will answer this question.

If your Windows 8.1 does not boot and you have used all available tools to restore the bootloader, then you can delete the 300 MB encrypted (EFI) system partition, as well as the 128 MB MSR partition, and create them again.

In Disk Management you can only see the 300 MB encrypted (EFI) system partition, the 128 MB MSR partition is visible only in the command line when you enter the “lis par” command.

Note: If you do not have experience, do not perform this operation unless necessary, use other methods from the about section first. If you want to experiment on a working laptop, then do not start working without first creating a backup copy of these partitions, but rather create a .

We will delete and recreate partitions:

1. Partition (400 MB) containing the Windows 8.1 recovery environment (you can get rid of this partition altogether and, if necessary, use the recovery environment located on the bootable media with Win 8.1).

2. Partition (300 MB), encrypted (EFI) system partition containing all Windows 8.1 boot loader files.

3. Service partition MSR (Microsoft System Reserved) 128 MB, required for GPT disk partitioning.

We boot the laptop from and in the initial system installation window press the keyboard shortcut Shift + F10,

A command line window opens, enter the commands:

diskpart

lis dis (lists physical disks).

sel dis 0 (select a 931 GB laptop hard drive, and a second 14 GB drive - a bootable USB flash drive for Windows 8.1).

lis par (shows all partitions of the selected disk, we will delete the first three partitions).

sel par 1 (select the first section

del par override (delete the partition, to delete the ESP and MSR partition or the laptop OEM partition, you must specify the override parameter)

sel par 2

del par override

sel par 3

del par override

That's it, we deleted all three hidden sections.

Now, if we select a disk and enter the lis par command, we will see only two partitions on the laptop’s hard drive:

Section 4 - installed Windows 8.1

Partition 5 is a hidden recovery partition with factory settings.

We create a new encrypted (EFI) system partition of 300 MB, as well as a 128 MB MSR partition

Enter the commands:

diskpart

lis dis (display a list of disks).

sel dis 0 (select the laptop hard drive).

create par efi size=300 (create an encrypted (EFI) system partition of 300 MB).

format fs=fat32 (format it to the FAT32 file system).

creat par msr size=128 (create a 128 MB MSR partition)

When we install Windows to empty (unlabeled) hard drive or formatted partition in the usual way - using installation media, we do not need to bother about creating EFI partitioning of the operating system. All necessary partitions, in particular the boot EFI, are created automatically if the computer is running in BIOS UEFI mode. But if you need to install Windows in a different way.

And on another hard drive with its own independent bootloader, if there is a question of restoring system functionality after removing the hard drive with the boot partition, in such non-standard situations manual work will be required.

Windows does not install on a second GPT disk connected to the computer with its own EFI-structure. During a normal installation from installation media, the bootloader of the second system is registered on the existing one. EFI-partition – the one located on the first disk.

What makes the second Windows vulnerable is that it will not be able to exist independently if the bootloader of the first system is damaged. Or if the first hard drive fails or is simply disconnected. So that the second Windows has its own independent EFI- markup, during its installation you need to make the first system invisible - disable its media in the BIOS settings, if possible, or in hardware. This is not always convenient, and sometimes even impossible in the case of laptops.

The second Windows with its own independent bootloader can be installed by programs like WinToHDD or WinToHDD that run in the environment of the current system. But they will require you to specify the bootloader EFI-chapter.

It's very easy to create one on an empty hard drive.

So, we have a medium initialized as GPT without markup and data.

Launch the command line.

Be sure to do this on behalf of the administrator.

We enter one by one:

diskpart lis disk sel disk 1 (instead of 1, indicate the number under which the hard drive you need is listed above) creat par efi size=100 format fs=FAT32

In the disk management utility we see that on the second hard drive appeared EFI-section on 100 MB. Now we can create a regular partition to indicate it to programs like or WinToHDD as a system partition WITH.

Who doesn't like the command line to create EFI-To mark up empty media, you can use a utility with a graphical interface. It is free and can be downloaded from any software portal on the Internet. In the main window, select the second hard one. Click.

Then - “Re-Partitioning”.

First of all, check the GPT box in the “Partition table type” column. Then check the box “Create ESP partition”. And at the top in the “Settings” column we remove all “Size” values except the last one. Click "Ok".

As a result, we get a disk layout with EFI-section on 128 MB and a partition that contains the rest of the disk space.

But what if the hard drive is not empty? If it has a structure and stored user data. Or we want to restore Windows that has lost its boot EFI-partition after failure or disconnection of the hard drive on which its bootloader previously existed. And there are solutions for this case. To restore a system without a bootloader, we naturally need an environment to perform certain operations. In one case, regular Windows installation media will do. In another case, we will work with a disk space manager, so we will need a functional and reliable LiveDisk WinPE. One of these is Sagittarius LiveDisk. Image download site - Sergeistrelec.Ru.

Note: The following operations cannot be performed on disks dynamic type. The disk of a Windows mirror that is left without a bootloader must first be converted to a basic type. This can only be done by third-party means.

So, we have, for example, a second Windows that has lost EFI-bootloader after the failure of the disk with the first system.

How to launch it? The easiest and fastest way is to create EFI-partition at the end of the system partition and recreate the bootloader. You don't need anything more than the command line to do this. Boot from the Windows installation media, immediately press Shift + F10. This combination will launch the command prompt. If we use LiveDisk Sagittarius, we start, accordingly, from it.

And already on board we use the command line.

In it we enter:

diskpart lis vol sel vol 1 (instead of 1, indicate the number under which your partition with the system is listed above) shrink desired=100 creat par efi format fs=FAT32

Here the specified section has shrunk to 100 MB and in the vacant place was created EFI-chapter.

Now we can recreate the bootloader.

On the command line, exit :

That's it - Windows functionality has been restored.

The boot partition usually exists at the beginning of the disk, before the system partition. It doesn't have to be this way, but it's done to speed up Windows startup. To make UEFI find the bootloader faster. On an SSD, such optimization is unlikely to be noticeable, but in the case of an HDD, you can compete even for a fraction of performance.

On board LiveDisk Sagittarius let's launch. Click on the system partition, and on the side operations panel click “Resize”.

Pull the slider on the map a little to the right so that in the column below “Unallocated space in front” several MB. Next, instead of the drawn number, we enter 105 . To make it work 105 MB. Click "Ok".

As a result, the program will release the correct amount of disk space, in our case 102.01 MB. And it will leave a small tail at the back of the section. Click.

We confirm.

Now let's launch the command line. And we create EFI-section exactly the same as described in paragraph 1 of the article.

Here EFI-the section has been created.

All that remains is to recreate the bootloader, as described at the end of paragraph 3 of the article.