However, if utility or data partitions are required, they should be placed either before the Windows partition or after the Windows RE partition.

The recommended partition layout doesn't include utility or data partitions. For example, NTFS may reserve 5-15MB or more on a 750MB partition.

The file system itself can take up additional space.

The recovery image, winre.wim, is typically between 250-300MB, depending on what drivers, languages, and customizations you add.

A minimum of 52 MB is required but 250 MB is recommended, to accomodate future updates, especially with custom partition layouts.

The Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) tools require additional free space: This allows Windows to modify and recreate the partition later if future updates require a larger recovery image. We recommend that you place this partition in a separate partition, immediately after the Windows partition. Software tools to extend the visible partition space beyond 2 TB are not supported on BIOS because they can interfere with software solutions for application compatibility and recovery.Ĭreate a separate recovery partition to support automatic failover and to support booting Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption-encrypted partitions.

This partition can have a maximum of 2 terabytes (TB) of space.

The Windows partition must have 16 GB of free space after the user has completed the Out Of Box Experience (OOBE) and Automatic Maintenance has completed.

The Windows partition must be formatted using the NTFS file format.

This partition must have at least 20 gigabytes (GB) of drive space for 64-bit versions, or 16 GB for 32-bit versions.

The minimum size of this partition is 100 MB. The system partition must be configured as the active partition. System partitionĮach bootable drive must contain a system partition. For information about how to create additional partitions beyond this limit, see Configure More than Four Partitions on a BIOS/MBR-Based Hard Disk. Typically, these standard partitions are designated as primary partitions. Windows does not support the GUID partition table (GPT) file system on BIOS-based computers.Īn MBR drive can have up to four standard partitions. When you deploy Windows to a BIOS-based device, you must format hard drives by using an MBR file system. If you use a custom partition layout on Windows 10 or Windows 11 for desktop editions (Home, Pro, Enterprise, and Education), update the Push-button reset recovery script so the recovery tools can recreate the custom partition layout when needed.

Make windows partition bootable