Preparing Advanced Format hard drives for Microsoft Windows installations on HP Business Notebook PCs and desktop PCs - White Paper (Rev 3)

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E You should first install the image and then run the Paragon Partition Alignment Tool to align sectors.
Note: If you are downgrading your PC to Windows XP or Windows Vista, you are impacted since these
OSs are not Advanced Format-aware.
F Before beginning the re-imaging, ensure that the partitions on your Advanced Format drive have
appropriate offset values (see Validating partition alignment
).
To optimize performance with Windows 7 or WinPE, apply
Microsoft Knowledge Base article 982018.
Important tips
Installing Windows Vista (prior to SP1), Windows XP or Windows 2000
If you are planning to install Windows Vista (prior to SP1), Windows XP or Windows 2000 on an
Advanced Format drive, you should first install the image and then run the Paragon Partition
Alignment Tool to align sectors.
Extending the partition in Windows XP mini-setup
You may receive errors if you attempt to extend the partition in Windows XP mini-setup (unattend file
setting). This issue occurs because DISKPART cannot accommodate the new MBR partition structure.
The solution is to change the value of the ExtendOemPartition parameter from 1 to 0. For more
information, refer to Microsoft Knowledge Base article 240126
.
Encrypting drives
For optimal data protection, you should ensure that encrypted Advanced Format drives are suitably
aligned. Thus, before encrypting an Advanced Format drive, you should run the Paragon Partition
Alignment Tool on this drive.
An encrypted drive that is misaligned should be decrypted, aligned and then re-encrypted.
Aligning drives in a RAID configuration
If two or more Advanced Format drives have been configured for RAID, running the Paragon Partition
Alignment Tool on these drives aligns partitions at 2,048 sectors. Since a starting offset of 2,048
supports most stripe-unit sizes, performance would be enhanced
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due to the elimination of redundant
disk operations.
Running the Paragon Partition Alignment Tool ensures support for the stripe-unit sizes associated with
most RAID configurations, including RAID 0, 1, and 5.
Using third-party deployment tools
Platforms that are Advanced Format-aware may experience alignment issues when used in
conjunction with third-party deployment tools. Contact the particular vendor for requirements for
running their deployment tool.
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Compared to a scenario with misaligned drives