What is diskpart

When the volume is successfully created, it is automatically focused. Create a mirror volume using two dynamic disks. The disks must be specified by number with disk , e.

The size of the partition is n megabytes if size is specified, otherwise it uses the remaining free space on the smaller disk, and an equal amount of space on the other.

If align is specified, volume boundaries are rounded to a multiple of n kilobytes, which can improve performance in hardware RAID configurations that use LUNs. Create a virtual disk file. The destination file name is specified with the required file parameter, where destfile is the complete path and file name of the destination virtual disk file, e. The maximum parameter sets the maximum disk space exposed by the virtual disk to n megabytes. The type parameter specifies if the disk size is fixed size can never be changed, default or expandable free space in the disk file can be expanded or compacted later.

If source is specified, the new virtual disk is populated with data from existing virtual disk sourcefile. If parent is specified, the virtual disk is created as a Hyper-V differencing disk, containing only the block data altered from parentfile , an existing virtual disk of the same size. The security descriptor of the virtual disk is set to match the parent directory of the destination file, or to the SDDL format string sddl-string if sd is specified.

For details about valid SDDL strings, run help create vdisk. Delete the focused missing dynamic disk from the disk list. If override is specified, DiskPart deletes 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.

An override fails if the disk is a member of a RAID-5 volume. Delete the focused basic disk partition. If it's a system partition, boot partition, or if it contains an active paging file or crash dump file, it cannot be deleted.

Partitions on dynamic disks cannot be deleted. Delete the focused volume. If it's a system volume, boot volume, or contains an active paging file or crash dump file, it cannot be deleted. Extend the focused volume or partition, and optionally its file system, into unallocated space on a disk. The volume is expanded by n megabytes if size is specified, otherwise all available space is used. If disk is specified, and the focused volume or partition is a dynamic disk, the extension occurs on disk number n ; otherwise, it occurs on the original disk.

On basic disks, the expansion must always occur on the same disk, in space immediately following the original. On dynamic disks with simple or spanned volumes, a volume can be extended to any free space on any dynamic disk. Mirrored, RAID-5, and striped volumes cannot be extended. If the partition was previously formatted with NTFS, expand fails, and make no changes. Extend the file system of an expanded volume or partition.

Run this after the original expand command to expand the file system as well. Expand the maximum size available on the focused virtual disk. The required maximum parameter sets the new total size to n megabytes.

Display information about the file system of the selected volume, and a list of supported file systems that can format it. Format the focused volume. The file system fstype is used if fs is specified, otherwise the default file system listed by the filesystems command is used. If a specific revision of the file system is desired, it can be specified with revision. If label is specified, the volume label is set to label. If unit is specified, the default allocation unit size is overridden and set to n bytes.

If quick is specified, a quick format is performed. If override is specified, DiskPart attempts to force unmount the volume before formatting. If nowait is specified, the command returns to the prompt immediately, and performs the format in the background. For detailed information about valid hexadecimal values of n , run help gpt. Display a list of commands and subcommands with the syntax and descriptions. For example, help , help help , help create , or help create partition efi.

Import all disks in the same disk group as the focused foreign disk into the local computer's online disk group. A "foreign disk" is any dynamic disk installed locally that was previously used on another computer, or another version of Windows.

After import, the dynamic disk volumes become visible and accessible. Mark the focused partition of a basic MBR disk as inactive. Note, if the partition is a system or boot partition, the computer may not be able to boot until the disk is marked active again. Display a list of disks that can be accessed by DiskPart, and information about them. Display a list of accessible partitions on the focused disk. On dynamic disks, partitions listed may not exactly correspond to the dynamic volumes on the disk.

Partitions cannot be created or deleted on a dynamic disk. Display a list of virtual disks. The disk type is listed as "unknown" until the disk is attached.

Merge the focused child Hyper-V differencing disk with its parent virtual disk. The depth parameter may be used if the disk has multiple parents, to specify how deeply the child should be merged.

If not specified, the default depth is 1 , which merges the child with its parent. Bring the focused offline disk in offline SAN mode online. If the disk is dynamic, read-only, and offline, and you want to bring it online in read-write mode, first enable read-write mode, then bring the disk online.

An offline read-only dynamic disk will report an error if brought online, because the operation requires writing to the dynamic disk database on the disk.

Take the focused online disk in online SAN mode offline. Refreshes the state of all disks in the pack which contains the selected dynamic disk. Here, "disk pack" refers to a set of dynamic disks used in a mirroring or RAID-5 configuration. The recover command attempts to resynchronize any volumes in the pack that have stale plex or parity data.

Does nothing. Use rem to include comments in a DiskPart script. Remove mount points of the focused volume, and optionally dismount unmount the volume.

If letter is specified, the drive letter d is removed, or if mount is specified, the mounted pathname path is removed. If all is specified, all mount points are removed for the volume. The dismount option attempts to unmount the volume, which is only possible if all mount points are removed. Mount points for system or boot volumes, or volumes containing an active paging file, cannot be removed. Attempt to repair the focused RAID-5 volume containing a failed disk, by replacing the failed disk with another, specified disk.

The required parameter disk specifies the disk number, n , which is to replace the failed disk. The replacement disk must have free space greater than or equal to the size of the failed disk. If the align parameter is specified, volume extents are aligned to a multiple of n kilobytes, which can increase performance in hardware RAID configurations that use LUNs.

When you have found the disk, choose 'select disk' followed by the corresponding number to select the correct one. For example, if the correct disk is the second in the list, type in 'select disk 2' to highlight it and start the partition process.

Again, you will use commands to carry out actions. The 'Extend' command will extend a disk's partition to any unused volume left on the hard drive, while the 'Shrink' command will do the opposite. You can also use 'Clear' to remove all information from a disk, or 'Create' to make a new partition. When creating a new partition in a drive you will need to ensure you make it active and assign a letter to it using listed commands.

It is worth getting familiar with the command prompts before diving into DiskPart, and the utility is best reserved for IT administrators and people familiar with in-depth hard drive formatting.

For those willing to delve into the command-line interface DiskPart should prove to be a powerful hard drive management tool native to Windows. Explore why the most efficient way forward is data-driven.

Critical vulnerabilities in Philips EMR system could risk patient data. Why the financial industry is turning to the cloud. Contents Exit focus mode. Important You must be in your local Administrators group, or a group with similar permissions, to run diskpart.

Is this page helpful? Yes No. Any additional feedback? Skip Submit. Submit and view feedback for This product This page. View all page feedback. Attaches sometimes called mounts or surfaces a virtual hard disk VHD so that it appears on the host computer as a local hard disk drive. Stops the selected virtual hard disk VHD from appearing as a local hard disk drive on the host computer.

Extends the volume or partition with focus, along with its file system, into free unallocated space on a disk. Displays information about the current file system of the volume with focus and lists the file systems that are supported for formatting the volume.