Dell Latitude E4200: 3 Re-imaging Requirements when using Advanced Format HDDs

3 Re-imaging Requirements when using Advanced Format HDDs : Dell Latitude E4200

Dell Latitude Ultrabook, E-Family & Mobile Precision Reimage “How-To” Guide

3 Re-imaging Requirements when using Advanced Format HDDs

The following are the re-imaging guidelines needed to support Advanced Format HDDs. These

requirements are dependent on which Operating System will be installed and which method of

deployment will be used.

3.1 Microsoft Operating Systems Advanced Format Aware Readiness

An Operating System is Advanced Format Aware if it meets the following criteria:

o It understands the concept of physical sector vs. logical sector

o It maximizes writes using multiples of 4k bytes

o Disk partition starts at the boundary of 4k sector

Not all current Microsoft Operating Systems are Advanced Format Aware (refer to the Table below). A

system configured with an Advanced Format drive and an operating system that is not Advanced

Format aware can experience sector misalignment, resulting in performance or compatibility issues.

- Some extra steps may be required for re-imaging even with Advanced Format Aware Microsoft

Operating Systems, Install/upgrade to the latest Intel Storage driver

- Apply the applicable Microsoft KB article

- Partition alignment

such as (Please refer to section 3.2 for detailed instructions):

Operating System

Advanced Format

Aware

Microsoft Windows 7 SP1

Yes

Microsoft Windows 7

Yes

Microsoft Vista SP1

Yes

Microsoft Vista

No

Microsoft XP (all versions)

No

Microsoft Windows PE 3.0 or Later

Yes

Microsoft Windows PE older versions

No

Dell Latitude Ultrabook, E-Family & Mobile Precision Reimage “How-To” Guide

3.2 Image Installation Guidelines

3.2.1 Clean Image Installation on an Advanced Format HDD

Microsoft® OS Installation

Method

Windows 7 SP1

Windows 7

Windows Vista SP1

Windows Vista

Windows XP

Using Dell Operating

System Media

1. Install/Upgrade

Intel RST

Storage driver to

(1)

9.6 or later

1. Apply Microsoft KB

article 982018

2. Install/Upgrade Intel

RST Storage driver

(1)

to 9.6 or later

1. Apply Microsoft KB

article 2470478

2. Install/Upgrade

Intel RST Storage

driver to 9.6 or

(1)

later

(2)

1. Use Alignment Tool

to ensure

Advanced Format drive partitions

are properly aligned

2. Install/Upgrade Intel RST Storage

(1)

driver to 9.6 or higher

Using non-Dell off the shelf

Operating System Media

1. Install/Upgrade

Intel RST

Storage driver to

(1)

9.6 or later

1. Apply Microsoft KB

article 982018

2. Install/Upgrade Intel

RST Storage driver

(1)

to 9.6 or later

1. Apply Microsoft KB

article 2470478

2. Install/Upgrade

Intel RST Storage

driver to 9.6 or

(1)

later

(2)

1. Use Alignment Tool

to ensure

Advanced Format drive partitions

are properly aligned

2. Install/Upgrade Intel RST Storage

(1)

driver to 9.6 or higher

Using Windows PE 3.0 or

prior

Note: If using a Win PE

version earlier than 3.0,

apply Windows Automated

KIT

1. Install/Upgrade

Intel RST

Storage driver to

(1)

9.6 or later

1. Apply Microsoft KB

article 982018

2. Install/Upgrade Intel

RST Storage driver

(1)

to 9.6 or later

1. Apply Microsoft KB

article 2470478

2. Install/Upgrade

Intel RST Storage

driver to 9.6 or

(1)

later

1. Install/Upgrade Intel RST Storage

(1)

driver to 9.6 or higher

Using Windows PE 3.1

(1)

1. Install/Upgrade Intel RST Storage driver to 9.6 or later

- (1)

The Intel RST Driver 9.6 or higher can be found on the Dell Support website in Dell Drivers and Downloads for your system

under the SATA drivers section

- (2)

Please refer to the Partition Alignment Tools - Section 3.4

3.2.2Deploying 512B pre-installed image to an Advanced Format drive

Microsoft® OS Installation

Method

Windows 7 SP1

Windows 7

Windows Vista SP1

Windows Vista

Windows XP

Using Dell Factory Installed

Image

No actions required. Dell Factory Images include required components.

Not Available

Not Available

Using Sector-Based Utilities

(Norton Ghost, Altiris, etc.)

1. Use Alignment

(2)

Tool

to

ensure

Advanced

Format drive

partitions are

properly aligned

before re-

imaging

2. Install/Upgrade

Intel RST Storage

driver to 9.6 or

(1)

later

1. Use Alignment

(2)

Tool

to ensure

Advanced Format

drive partitions are

properly aligned

before re-imaging

2. Apply Microsoft KB

article 982018

3. Install/Upgrade Intel

RST Storage driver

(1)

to 9.6 or later

1. Use Alignment

(2)

Tool

to ensure

Advanced Format

drive partitions are

properly aligned

before re-imaging

2. Apply Microsoft KB

article 2470478

3. Install/Upgrade Intel

RST Storage driver

(1)

to 9.6 or later

(2)

1. Use Alignment Tool

to ensure

Advanced Format drive partitions

are properly aligned before re-

imaging

2. Install/Upgrade Intel RST Storage

(1)

driver to 9.6 or later

- (1)

The Intel RST Driver 9.6 or higher can be found on the Dell Support website in Dell Drivers and Downloads for your system

under the SATA drivers section

- (2)

Please refer to the Partition Alignment Tools - Section 3.4

Dell Latitude Ultrabook, E-Family & Mobile Precision Reimage “How-To” Guide

3.3 Other Partition Alignment Requirements

Environment

Action

IRRT / RAID 0,1 & 5 Configuration

(1)

Use Alignment Tools

to ensure Advanced Format drive

partitions are properly aligned

Data Protection / Encryption

(1)

Use Alignment Tools

to ensure Advanced Format drive

partitions are properly aligned before encrypting the drive.

Note:

Misaligned encrypted Advanced Format drives need

to be decrypted, then aligned and re-encrypted

(1)

Please refer to the Partition Alignment Tools - Section 3.4

3.4 Partition Alignment Options

Partition alignment is required for older operating systems and is recommended for new operating

systems in order to insure proper hard drive performance and imaging between drives of differing

sector sizes. An aligned partition is when the starting offset of the partition is divisible by 4096 Bytes

or by 8 for logical block addressing (LBA) numbers.

3.4.1 Pre-Installation of Operating System

This section lists a few options for partition alignment pre-installation of OS:

- Using Ghost:

Ghost 11.5 will maintain the alignment state of the Gold/Master image. If the disk image is

built and aligned on a 512e/Advanced Format drive, the clones of that image will remain

aligned. If the image is built on a 512B, Ghost command line switch {-align=1MB} can be

used to ensure alignment when deployed to any drive.

- Using DISKPART:

Dell Latitude Ultrabook, E-Family & Mobile Precision Reimage “How-To” Guide

DISKPART may be used to enable storage configuration or create a partition at an explicit

disk offset from a script, a remote session, or another command prompt.

Dell recommends using WinPE's (3.0 or greater) Diskpart.exe from Windows Vista or

Windows 7 to create the partitions for Windows XP installation. This will create a partition

that is Advanced Format aligned. Without PE, starting with Windows Vista or Windows 7 DVD

to create the partition for the Windows XP will create correct partitioning. On how to use

DISKPART utility and how to divide the offset value of the selected partition, refer to

Microsoft KB Article 300415

3.4.2 Post-Installation of Operating System

The Paragon Alignment Tool (PAT) is a hardware agnostic tool available for download from the

Dell Support website in Dell Drivers and Downloads for your system under the

SATA Drives

section. This tool can be used after an Operating System is installed to align the partitions of

an Advanced Format drive.