diff --git a/README.Windows b/README.Windows new file mode 100644 index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a88d29d9610b7fae9656032ed1e9db2d940eef95 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.Windows @@ -0,0 +1,96 @@ +GPT fdisk (aka gdisk) + +by Roderick W. Smith, rodsmith@rodsbooks.com + +******************************** IMPORTANT ******************************** +Most versions of Windows cannot boot from a GPT disk, and most varieties +prior to Vista cannot read GPT disks. GPT fdisk is a partition editor for +GPT disks, and it will *AUTOMATICALLY CONVERT* MBR disks to GPT form. +Therefore, you should **NOT** use GPT fdisk on a Windows system unless you +fully understand what you're doing! If you accidentally use GPT fdisk on +your boot disk, or perhaps even on a data disk, you may find recovery to be +very difficult! +*************************************************************************** + +Read the main README file for general information on the program, and read +the gdisk.html document (the Linux man page converted to HTML format) for +detailed use information. My GPT fdisk Web page, +http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/, provides a more tutorial introduction to +the software. + +Windows Use Notes +----------------- + +The Windows version of GPT fdisk was added with version 0.6.2 of the +package. The Windows binary package includes the gdisk.exe interactive +text-mode program file but no equivalent to the sgdisk program that's +available with Linux, FreeBSD, and OS X builds. In theory, an sgdisk.exe +for Windows could be built if the popt library were installed. I've not +attempted to do this myself, though. If you care to try, check +http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/popt.htm for information on popt +for Windows. + +To install the program, copy the gdisk.exe program file to any directory on +your path, such as C:\Windows. Alternatively, you can change to the +program's directory or type its complete path whenever you use it. + +To use the program, first launch a Command Prompt as the Administrator. To +do this, locate the Command Prompt program icon, right-click it, and select +"Run as Administrator." If you use a non-Administrator Command Prompt, you +won't be able to edit hard disk partition tables, although you will be able +to edit raw disk image files. + +The program requires a hard disk identifier as an option. You can specify +this in either of two forms. The first way is as a number followed by a +colon, as in: + +gdisk 0: + +Disks are numbered starting from 0, so the preceding command launches gdisk +on the first disk. The second way to specify a disk device is via a +harder-to-remember name: + +gdisk \\.\physicaldrive0 + +This command is equivalent to the earlier one -- it edits the partition +table on the first physical disk. Change the number at the end of the +device name to change the disk edited. + +If you pass the "-l" option in addition to the disk identifier, the program +displays the current partition table information and then exits. This use +entails no risk to MBR disks, since the program never writes data back to +the disk when used in this way. + +As noted above, editing the first disk with GPT fdisk is usually a Bad +Idea. An exception would be if your system uses an Extensible Firmware +Interface (EFI) and already boots from a GPT disk. It's safer to edit +non-boot disks, which usually have numbers of 1 and above, but only if you +run a version of Windows with GPT support. For more information on Windows' +support of GPT, see Microsoft's Web page on the topic: + +http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/GPT_FAQ.mspx + +Source Code and Compilation Issues +---------------------------------- + +As of version 0.6.2, I haven't been able to get the code to detect the disk +sector size to work under Windows, so the Windows binary always assumes a +512-byte sector size. If you use a disk with another sector size, you'll +have to change this assumption in the source code (in diskio-windows.cc), +use a version for another platform, or use a different partitioning tool +altogether. + +I compiled gdisk.exe using MinGW (http://www.mingw.org), and in particular +its Linux-hosted cross-compiler. I have not tested the compilability of the +source code under more mainstream Windows compilers, or even on the +Windows-hosted MinGW variant. MinGW was designed for porting Unix +applications to Windows, so it's entirely possible that it will work where +other compilers won't. + +Under Ubuntu Linux, the Makefile.mingw file enables compilation of the +software. (Type "make -f Makefile.mingw" to compile the software.) If you +try to compile using another compiler or even using MinGW under Windows or +another Linux variety, you may need to adjust the Makefile.mingw options. + +If you modify GPT fdisk to get it to compile under another compiler, I +welcome submission of patches.