GPT Hard Disk Drives for HP Business Desktops

Figure 4. Startup Menu

OS Support

32-bit Microsoft Windows™ will not provide boot support for GPT. For HP desktops,

bootable GPT drives and data storage drives will be initially supported under the

Microsoft Windows 7™ SP1 64-bit OS. Bootable GPT drives can also be supported

under the Microsoft Vista™ SP1 64-bit OS. Both of these operating systems require

a UEFI BIOS to support a bootable GPT drive. Data storage-only GPT drives will be

supported under 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows 7™ SP1 and can be

supported under 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows Vista™. At this time, there

are no immediate plans for HP Desktops to directly support GPT drives under

Linux™ (HP Workstations have separate OS plans). Table 2 summarizes current OS

support for HP Desktops.

Table 2. Summary of OS support for GPT drives by HP Desktops

Operating system GPT Boot Support? GPT Data Storage Support?

Windows 7™ SP1 64-bit Yes (requires UEFI BIOS) Yes

Windows 7™ SP1 32-bit No Yes

Windows Vista™ SP1 64-bit Yes (requires UEFI BIOS) Yes

Windows Vista™ SP1 32-bit No Yes

Linux™ No direct support from HP No direct support from HP

Storage Driver Support

Since GPT drives have capacities beyond 2.2TB, support is required through

updated storage drivers. Storage driver support can be provided with certain newer

operating systems’ AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) drivers for larger

drive capacities. For improved performance, HP Desktops support GPT hard drives

with storage device drivers from AMD™ and Intel™. These drivers will support both

single drive implementation in AHCI and RAID 0 (striped) and RAID 1 (mirrored)

formats. Expected timeframe for AHCI support is 1H 2011. Support for GPT drives

in bootable RAID configurations is expected in 2H 2011.