Preparing Advanced Format hard drives for Microsoft Windows installations on HP Business Notebook PCs, Workstations, and Desktop PCs

4
Note
Because the Paragon Partition Alignment Tool reports that a correctly
aligned 4 KB partition is misaligned, you should use the Unattended
Advanced Format Hard Disk Information Tool to verify alignment.
Performance optimization
Tables 1 and 2 outline a number of scenarios involving the use of Advanced Format-aware drives and
recommends actions you should take to optimize the performance of your HP system.
Table 1. Links to information on optimizing performance in various scenarios involving the use of an Advanced Format drive
Scenario
Windows 7
Windows Vista SP1 or later
Windows Vista prior to SP1
Windows XP
POSReady 2009 or WEPOS
You are installing a preinstalled
image you received directly from HP
A
A
A
A
A
You are installing your own image
using WinPE
C
C
C
C
B
You are installing your own image;
you are not using WinPE
D
D
D
D
D
You are installing off-the-shelf
(that is, non-HP) media
A
A
B
E
B
You are installing HP restore media
A
A
B
E
B
You are installing an HP F11 restore
image
A
A
B
B
B
You are using Symantec Ghost to re-
image the drive
F
F
F
F
F