Microsoft KB Archive/923076

= An updated version of the Disk Partition tool for Windows Server 2003 is available =

Article ID: 923076

Article Last Modified on 11/15/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition (32-Bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition (32-Bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems

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INTRODUCTION
An updated version of the Disk Partition tool (Diskpart.exe) for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is available. This version of the Diskpart.exe tool is required to execute performance optimization as described in the &quot;Manual Optimizations&quot; section of OEM Guide to Windows Storage Server 2003 R2.



MORE INFORMATION
Disk alignment is a required optimization and must be applied by OEMs during Setup. Disk alignment provides a significant increase in system performance. Failure to perform disk alignment can decrease performance by 10 to 15 percent in RAID array systems.

The updated Disk Management service together with the Diskpart.exe partitioning utility lets you use the Create Partition Primary command together with the align=  and size=  parameters to align any or all primary partitions (0-3) on a boundary. Earlier versions of the tool let you align only the first partition on a boundary.

Note Align= is the number of kilobytes (KB) from the beginning of the disk to the closest alignment boundary. Size=N is specified in megabytes (MB). If no size is given, the partition continues until there is no more unallocated space in the current region. For example, &quot;align=32 size=1000&quot; is the same as aligning 32 KB of I/O for a partition size of 1000 MB (1GB).

Example of aligning by using 32 KB of I/O
Assume that you use the following command. Diskpart Select disk 0 Create partition primary align=32 size=10000 Create partition primary align=32 size=10000 Create partition primary align=32 size=40000 Create partition primary align=32 In this case, all four partitions are correctly aligned to a 32-KB boundary. If you assume a 512-byte sector size, &quot;align= &quot; results in the following: Align=32 (partition starting offset evenly divisible by 64 sectors) Align=64 (partition starting offset evenly divisible by 128 sectors) Align=128 (partition starting offset evenly divisible by 256 sectors) Align=256 (partition starting offset evenly divisible by 512 sectors) Align=512 (partition starting offset evenly divisible by 1024 sectors) Align=1024 (partition starting offset evenly divisible by 2048 sectors)

Service pack information
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows Server 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

889100 How to obtain the latest service pack for Windows Server 2003

Prerequisites
To apply this update, the computer must be running one of the following operating systems:
 * A 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
 * An Itanium-based version of Windows Server 2003 with SP1
 * An x64-based version of Windows Server 2003.
 * An R2 version of Windows Server 2003.

Restart requirement
You do not have to restart the computer after you apply this update.

File information
The English version of this update has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Windows Server 2003, Itanium-based versions
For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates

How to apply an update to a Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) .iso image
 Download the appropriate update package for the Windows PE image that you are creating. Extract the package to a folder by using the /x command-line switch. For example, to extract the x86 version of update 923076 to the C:\923076 folder, type the following at a command prompt:

WindowsServer2003-KB923076-x86-ENU.exe –x

When you are prompted, provide a destination path, such as C:\923076. Re-create the Windows PE image by following the steps that are listed in the Windows PE documentation. However, when you run the Mkimg.cmd command, do not include the option to create an *.iso image. For example, type mkimg.cmd %sourcedir% %destination_dir% . When the Mkimg.cmd command has finished, locate the destination folder where the command has put the newly created Windows PE image flat. For example, the destination folder may be C:\Winpe_temp. Copy all the files from the folder that you created in step 2 to the newly created Windows PE image flat folder. For example, copy the files from C:\923076 to C:\Winpe_temp.

After the process has finished, run the OSCDimg.exe utility to create the .iso image. For information about how to use the OSCDimg.exe program, see the Windows PE documentation.

Technical support for Windows x64 editions
Your hardware manufacturer provides technical support and assistance for Microsoft Windows x64 editions. Your hardware manufacturer provides support because a Windows x64 edition was included with your hardware. Your hardware manufacturer might have customized the Windows x64 edition installation with unique components. Unique components might include specific device drivers or might include optional settings to maximize the performance of the hardware. Microsoft will provide reasonable-effort assistance if you need technical help with your Windows x64 edition. However, you might have to contact your manufacturer directly. Your manufacturer is best qualified to support the software that your manufacturer installed on the hardware.

For product information about Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/default.mspx

For product information about Microsoft Windows Server 2003 x64 editions, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/64bit/x64/default.mspx



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the &quot;Applies to&quot; section. This problem was first corrected in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2.

Additional query words: Winx64 Windowsx64 64bit 64-bit diskpart

Keywords: kbwinserv2003sp2fix kbwinserv2003presp2fix kbhotfixserver kbqfe kbexpertiseadvanced KB923076

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