cheat sheet

diskpart

Create, delete, format, extend, shrink, and assign drive letters to disk partitions from the Windows command prompt using an interactive or scripted REPL interface.

updated 05-26-2026

diskpart — Disk Partition Manager

What it is

diskpart is a built-in Windows command-line tool for managing disks, partitions, and volumes. It operates as an interactive REPL: you enter diskpart, then issue commands at its DISKPART> prompt to list disks, select a target, and perform operations like creating or deleting partitions, formatting volumes, assigning drive letters, or converting disk types (MBR↔GPT). It can also run unattended from a script file passed via a pipe or < redirection. Requires elevation (Run as Administrator). The PowerShell equivalent is the Storage module (Get-Disk, New-Partition, Format-Volume).

Availability

diskpart ships as C:\Windows\System32\diskpart.exe on Windows XP and later. Must be run as Administrator.

cmd

diskpart /?

Output:

css

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.22621.1

DISKPART> help

  ACTIVE      - Mark the selected partition as active.
  ADD         - Add a mirror to a simple volume.
  ASSIGN      - Assign a drive letter or mount point to the selected volume.
  ...

Syntax

Interactive mode: enter commands at the DISKPART> prompt. Script mode: diskpart /s script.txt.

cmd

diskpart

Output:

graphql

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.22621.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: MYHOST

DISKPART>

Essential commands

Command	Meaning
`list disk`	Show all physical disks
`list volume`	Show all volumes (drive letters)
`list partition`	Show partitions on the selected disk
`select disk N`	Set focus to disk N
`select volume N`	Set focus to volume N
`select partition N`	Set focus to partition N on the selected disk
`detail disk`	Show details about the selected disk
`detail volume`	Show details about the selected volume
`create partition primary [size=MB]`	Create a primary partition
`create partition extended [size=MB]`	Create an extended partition
`create partition logical [size=MB]`	Create a logical partition inside extended
`format fs=ntfs quick [label="Name"]`	Quick-format selected volume
`assign letter=X`	Assign drive letter X
`remove letter=X`	Remove drive letter assignment
`delete partition [override]`	Delete the selected partition
`delete volume`	Delete the selected volume
`extend [size=MB]`	Extend volume into available contiguous space
`shrink desired=MB`	Shrink volume by specified amount
`clean`	Remove all partition info from selected disk (destructive)
`convert gpt`	Convert MBR disk to GPT
`convert mbr`	Convert GPT disk to MBR
`active`	Mark partition as active (bootable)
`exit`	Quit diskpart

Listing disks and volumes

list disk and list volume are always the first commands to run — they show available targets and their current state.

cmd

diskpart

Output:

shell

DISKPART>

cmd

list disk

Output:

sql


  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          476 GB      0 B        *
  Disk 1    Online         1863 GB   500 GB        *

cmd

list volume

Output:

sql


  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     C   System       NTFS   Partition    475 GB  Healthy    Boot
  Volume 1     D   Data         NTFS   Partition   1363 GB  Healthy
  Volume 2         EFI          FAT32  Partition    100 MB  Healthy    System

Selecting a target

Before any operation, select the disk, volume, or partition you want to act on. The * marker in list output shows the currently selected item.

cmd

select disk 1

Output:

csharp

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

cmd

list partition

Output:

sql


  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    Primary           1363 GB  1024 KB

Creating a partition and formatting

To initialise a new disk: select it, clean it (removes all partition tables), create a partition, format it, and assign a letter.

cmd

select disk 1

Output:

csharp

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

cmd

clean

Output:

code

DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.

cmd

create partition primary

Output:

code

DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.

cmd

format fs=ntfs label="Data" quick

Output:

sql

  100 percent completed

DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.

cmd

assign letter=E

Output:

arduino

DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

Extending a volume

extend grows the selected volume into contiguous unallocated space on the same disk. If no size is specified, all available space is consumed.

cmd

select volume 1

Output:

csharp

Volume 1 is the selected volume.

cmd

extend size=10240

Output:

code

DiskPart successfully extended the volume.

Shrinking a volume

shrink reduces the selected volume by the requested amount, creating unallocated space that can then be used for a new partition. Actual shrinkage may be less than requested if unmovable data (page file, system files) occupies the end of the volume.

cmd

select volume 0

Output:

csharp

Volume 0 is the selected volume.

cmd

shrink desired=20480

Output:

csharp

DiskPart successfully shrunk the volume by:  20480 MB

Converting MBR to GPT

convert gpt rewrites the partition table format. The disk must have no partitions (run clean first, or use the non-destructive mbr2gpt tool). Required for disks over 2 TB and for UEFI booting.

cmd

select disk 1

Output:

csharp

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

cmd

convert gpt

Output:

css

DiskPart successfully converted the selected disk to GPT format.

Running diskpart from a script

diskpart /s script.txt reads commands line by line without the interactive prompt — essential for unattended imaging and deployment.

cmd

diskpart /s format_usb.txt

Output:

arduino

DiskPart successfully cleaned the disk.
DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.
DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.
DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

Example format_usb.txt:

ini

select disk 1
clean
create partition primary
format fs=fat32 label="USB" quick
assign letter=F
exit

Output: (embedded in the script content above — no separate output block needed)

Complete command reference

Every documented command. Most apply to one of three "focus" levels — disk, partition, or volume — and require selecting the target first.

Command	Focus needed	Notes
`active`	partition	Mark partition active (BIOS/MBR boot).
`add disk=N`	volume	Add a mirror to a simple volume (Dynamic disks).
`assign letter=X [mount=path]`	volume / partition	Assign drive letter or mount-point path.
`attributes disk [set	clear] [readonly]`	disk
`attributes volume [set	clear] [hidden	readonly
`automount [enable	disable	scrub]`
`break disk=N [nokeep]`	volume	Break a mirror.
`clean [all]`	disk	Wipe partition table; `all` zeroes every sector.
`compact vdisk`	vdisk	Compact a dynamically expanding VHD.
`convert [mbr	gpt	dynamic
`create partition [primary	extended	logical
`create volume [simple	stripe	raid
`create vdisk file="path" [type=expandable	fixed] [maximum=MB] [parent=path]`	none
`delete disk [noerr] [override]`	disk	Remove a missing dynamic disk.
`delete partition [override] [noerr]`	partition	Delete partition; `override` allows protected partitions.
`delete volume`	volume	Delete a volume.
`detach vdisk`	vdisk	Detach (close) a VHD.
`detail [disk	partition	volume
`exit`	none	Quit diskpart.
`expand vdisk maximum=MB`	vdisk	Grow a VHD's maximum size.
`extend [size=N] [disk=N] [noerr] [filesystem]`	partition / volume	Extend by N MB or all free space; `filesystem` also grows NTFS.
`filesystems`	volume	List supported file systems for the volume.
`format [fs=fat32	ntfs	exfat
`gpt attributes=hex`	partition (GPT)	Set GPT partition attribute bits.
`help [command]`	none	Show help; `help <command>` shows command-specific help.
`import`	disk	Import a foreign dynamic disk.
`inactive`	partition	Clear active flag.
`list [disk	partition	volume
`merge vdisk depth=N`	vdisk	Merge differencing VHD up `N` levels.
`offline disk`	disk	Take a disk offline.
`offline volume`	volume	Take a volume offline.
`online disk [noerr]`	disk	Bring a disk online.
`online volume`	volume	Bring a volume online.
`recover`	disk	Refresh state of a Dynamic disk pack.
`rem`	none	Comment (script files).
`remove [letter=X	mount=path	all
`repair disk=N`	volume	Replace a failed mirror member.
`rescan`	none	Rescan the storage stack for added/removed disks.
`retain`	volume	Reserve a partition entry for a simple volume (boot).
`san [policy=onlineall	offlineall	offlineshared
`select [disk	partition	volume
`set id=GUID	hex [override]`	partition
`setid=GUID	hex`	partition
`shrink [desired=N] [minimum=N] [nowait] [noerr]`	volume / partition	Shrink by up to N MB.
`uniqueid disk [id=hex	GUID]`	disk

Launching diskpart in script mode

Script mode is the unattended workhorse — perfect for OS deployment, automated re-imaging, and bulk USB key prep. Each line of the script is a single diskpart command; comments use rem.

cmd

diskpart /s D:\Scripts\format_usb.txt

Output:

python

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.26100.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: MYHOST

DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.
DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.
DiskPart marked the current partition as active.
DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.
DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

Wrap the script in retry logic and tee the log to a dated file:

cmd

@echo off
set LOG=C:\Logs\diskpart_%COMPUTERNAME%_%DATE:~10,4%%DATE:~4,2%%DATE:~7,2%.log
echo Running %~dp0format_usb.txt > %LOG%
diskpart /s %~dp0format_usb.txt >> %LOG% 2>&1
if errorlevel 1 (
    echo DISKPART FAILED — see %LOG%
    exit /b 1
)
echo Success.

Output:

code

Success.

GPT partition types

set id= changes the partition type GUID on a GPT disk. The well-known GUIDs let you create partitions that Windows / WinPE / OEM tools will recognize on inspection.

Role	GPT GUID
Microsoft Basic Data (default for NTFS/FAT)	`ebd0a0a2-b9e5-4433-87c0-68b6b72699c7`
EFI System Partition (ESP)	`c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b`
Microsoft Reserved (MSR)	`e3c9e316-0b5c-4db8-817d-f92df00215ae`
Windows Recovery Environment	`de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac`
Linux filesystem	`0fc63daf-8483-4772-8e79-3d69d8477de4`
Linux LVM	`e6d6d379-f507-44c2-a23c-238f2a3df928`
BIOS Boot (GRUB)	`21686148-6449-6e6f-744e-656564454649`

bash

select disk 0
select partition 1
set id=c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b

Output:

sql

DiskPart successfully set the partition ID.

On MBR disks set id= takes a 2-digit hex value: 07 for IFS/NTFS, 0c for FAT32 LBA, 27 for hidden NTFS, 83 for Linux, 82 for Linux swap.

Building a UEFI/GPT system layout from scratch

A standard Windows 11 UEFI install lays out four partitions: an EFI System Partition, a Microsoft Reserved partition, the primary OS partition, and a recovery partition at the end. The following script reproduces it on a target disk and is the same recipe used by Windows Setup under the hood.

ini

rem File: setup_uefi.txt — run from WinPE
select disk 0
clean
convert gpt

rem 1. EFI System Partition — 260 MB, FAT32, hidden
create partition efi size=260
format fs=fat32 quick label="System"
assign letter=S

rem 2. Microsoft Reserved — 16 MB, no file system
create partition msr size=16

rem 3. Windows OS partition — the rest minus 1 GB recovery
create partition primary
shrink minimum=1024
format fs=ntfs quick label="Windows"
assign letter=W

rem 4. Recovery partition at the tail
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick label="Recovery"
assign letter=R
set id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac
gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
exit

Output:

python

DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.
DiskPart successfully converted the selected disk to GPT format.
DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.
  100 percent completed
DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.
DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.
DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.
DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.
DiskPart successfully shrunk the volume by:  1024 MB
  100 percent completed
DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.
DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.
DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.
  100 percent completed
DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.
DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.
DiskPart successfully set the partition ID.
DiskPart successfully assigned the attributes.

VHD/VHDX management

diskpart natively creates, attaches, expands, compacts, and merges VHD/VHDX files — useful for sandboxing, golden-image work, and Hyper-V parent disks.

ini

create vdisk file="C:\VMs\lab.vhdx" maximum=51200 type=expandable
attach vdisk
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick label="Lab"
assign letter=Q
exit

Output:

arduino

  100 percent completed
DiskPart successfully created the virtual disk file.
DiskPart successfully attached the virtual disk file.
DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.
  100 percent completed
DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.
DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

csharp

rem Compact (only effective on dynamically expanding VHDs that contain freed space)
select vdisk file="C:\VMs\lab.vhdx"
attach vdisk readonly
compact vdisk
detach vdisk

Output:

csharp

DiskPart successfully attached the virtual disk file.
  100 percent completed
DiskPart successfully compacted the virtual disk file.
DiskPart successfully detached the virtual disk file.

ini

rem Expand the maximum size of an existing VHD
select vdisk file="C:\VMs\lab.vhdx"
expand vdisk maximum=102400
attach vdisk
select partition 1
extend filesystem
detach vdisk

Output:

csharp

  100 percent completed
DiskPart successfully expanded the virtual disk file.
DiskPart successfully attached the virtual disk file.
DiskPart successfully extended the file system on the volume.
DiskPart successfully detached the virtual disk file.

PowerShell equivalents — the Storage module

PowerShell's Storage module exposes the same plumbing through real cmdlets — they return objects, integrate with pipelines, and use named parameters instead of focus-and-act state. Prefer them in scripts.

powershell

# Inventory: disks, partitions, volumes
Get-Disk
Get-Partition
Get-Volume

Output:

javascript

Number Friendly Name           Serial Number     HealthStatus  OperationalStatus Total Size Partition Style
------ -------------           -------------     ------------  ----------------- ---------- ---------------
     0 Samsung SSD 990 PRO     S5K8NS0R012345    Healthy       Online              476.94 GB GPT
     1 WDC WD40EFRX-68N32N0    WD-WCC7K1234567   Healthy       Online             3725.91 GB GPT

powershell

# Initialize a new disk as GPT, single NTFS partition, drive letter G:
Initialize-Disk -Number 1 -PartitionStyle GPT -PassThru |
    New-Partition -UseMaximumSize -DriveLetter G |
    Format-Volume -FileSystem NTFS -NewFileSystemLabel 'Data' -Confirm:$false

Output:

css

DriveLetter       FileSystemLabel  FileSystemType DriveType HealthStatus OperationalStatus SizeRemaining       Size
-----------       ---------------  -------------- --------- ------------ ----------------- -------------       ----
G                 Data             NTFS           Fixed     Healthy      OK                3.62 TB             3.63 TB

powershell

# Resize partitions — both directions
Resize-Partition -DriveLetter G -Size 1TB
Resize-Partition -DriveLetter G -Size ((Get-PartitionSupportedSize -DriveLetter G).SizeMax)

Output:

csharp

(no output on success)

powershell

# Set / change a drive letter
Set-Partition -DriveLetter G -NewDriveLetter H

# Hide a partition (no drive letter)
Get-Partition -DriveLetter G | Remove-PartitionAccessPath -AccessPath 'G:\'

Output:

csharp

(no output on success)

powershell

# Eject (offline) a disk safely before unplugging
Get-Disk -Number 2 | Set-Disk -IsOffline $true

Output:

csharp

(no output on success)

powershell

# Mount a VHD
Mount-DiskImage -ImagePath C:\VMs\lab.vhdx -StorageType VHDX -PassThru |
    Get-Disk |
    Get-Partition |
    Where-Object Type -eq 'Basic'

Output:

yaml

DiskPath        : \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE2
Attached        : True
ImagePath       : C:\VMs\lab.vhdx
Number          : 2
...

   DiskNumber Partition Number DriveLetter Offset                Size Type
   ---------- ---------------- -----------                  ---- ----
            2                1           Q  16777216           50 GB Basic

powershell

# Dismount the VHD
Dismount-DiskImage -ImagePath C:\VMs\lab.vhdx

Output:

yaml

Attached  : False
ImagePath : C:\VMs\lab.vhdx

Storage Spaces from the command line

For modern pooled storage Microsoft has moved away from diskpart's legacy "Dynamic Disks" toward Storage Spaces — pools of physical disks carved into resilient virtual disks. Manage them with the Storage PowerShell module.

powershell

# Inventory pool-eligible disks
Get-PhysicalDisk -CanPool $true |
    Select FriendlyName, MediaType, Size, BusType, HealthStatus

Output:

diff

FriendlyName             MediaType          Size BusType HealthStatus
------------             ---------          ---- ------- ------------
WDC WD40EFRX-68N32N0     HDD       4000787030016 SATA    Healthy
WDC WD40EFRX-68N32N0     HDD       4000787030016 SATA    Healthy
Samsung SSD 870 EVO 1TB  SSD       1000204886016 SATA    Healthy

powershell

# Create a storage pool from those disks
New-StoragePool -FriendlyName 'FleetPool' `
                -StorageSubSystemFriendlyName 'Windows Storage*' `
                -PhysicalDisks (Get-PhysicalDisk -CanPool $true)

# Create a mirrored virtual disk on top
New-VirtualDisk -StoragePoolFriendlyName FleetPool `
                -FriendlyName Mirror1 `
                -ResiliencySettingName Mirror `
                -Size 1TB |
    Get-Disk |
    Initialize-Disk -PartitionStyle GPT -PassThru |
    New-Partition -UseMaximumSize -DriveLetter S |
    Format-Volume -FileSystem ReFS -NewFileSystemLabel 'StoragePool' -Confirm:$false

Output:

arduino

FriendlyName Size Status HealthStatus FileSystem DriveLetter
------------ ---- ------ ------------ ---------- -----------
Mirror1      1TB  OK     Healthy      ReFS       S

powershell

# Tear it back down
Remove-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName Mirror1 -Confirm:$false
Remove-StoragePool -FriendlyName FleetPool -Confirm:$false

Output:

csharp

(no output on success)

NTFS vs ReFS at format time

diskpart format and Format-Volume both accept fs=refs (or fs=ntfs, fs=fat32, fs=exfat). Pick one based on the workload — there is no in-place conversion between NTFS and ReFS.

Property	NTFS	ReFS
Max volume size	256 TB (4k clusters) / 8 PB (64k)	4.7 ZB (theoretical)
Max file size	256 TB / 8 PB	16 EB
Bootable	Yes	No
Shadow Copies / VSS	Yes	Limited
BitLocker	Yes	Yes
Compression	Yes (NTFS LZX/Xpress)	No
Encryption (EFS)	Yes	No
Sparse files	Yes	Yes
Hard links	Yes	Yes
Block clone	No	Yes (`COW`)
Integrity streams	No	Yes
Auto-repair	Offline (`chkdsk`)	Online (`Repair-FileIntegrity`)
Dedup	Yes	Yes (Server only)
Quotas	Yes	No

csharp

rem ReFS format from diskpart (Windows Server / Pro for Workstations)
select volume 4
format fs=refs label="DataLake" quick

Output:

sql

  100 percent completed
DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.

powershell

# ReFS with integrity streams enforced and 64k clusters (best for large files)
Format-Volume -DriveLetter R -FileSystem ReFS -AllocationUnitSize 65536 `
              -SetIntegrityStreams $true -NewFileSystemLabel 'DataLake' -Confirm:$false

Output:

scss

DriveLetter FileSystemLabel  FileSystemType DriveType HealthStatus OperationalStatus SizeRemaining   Size
----------- ---------------  -------------- --------- ------------ ----------------- -------------   ----
R           DataLake         ReFS           Fixed     Healthy      OK                3.99 TB         4.00 TB

SAN policy for new disks

On Server SKUs the SAN policy controls whether newly-presented disks come up Online (and read/write) or Offline. Misconfiguration here is a common cluster footgun.

code

diskpart
san

Output:

vbnet

SAN Policy  : Offline Shared

arduino

rem Force every new disk online (laptop / desktop default)
san policy=onlineall

Output:

rust

DiskPart successfully changed the SAN policy for the current operating system.

vbnet

rem Server best practice — keep shared SAN disks offline until explicitly claimed
san policy=offlineshared

Output:

rust

DiskPart successfully changed the SAN policy for the current operating system.

powershell

# PowerShell equivalent
Get-StorageSetting | Select NewDiskPolicy
Set-StorageSetting -NewDiskPolicy OfflineShared

Output:

markdown

NewDiskPolicy
-------------
OfflineShared

Recovering boot/EFI partitions

When the BCD or EFI System Partition is damaged, diskpart is the staging tool: assign a letter to the ESP so bcdboot can rewrite the loader files.

sql

rem Run from WinRE / WinPE
select disk 0
list partition
select partition 1   rem the EFI System Partition
assign letter=S
exit

Output:

arduino

DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

cmd

rem Rewrite the boot files for the Windows install on C:
bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI

Output:

code

Boot files successfully created.

For the full BCD edit flow see sections/windows/bcdedit.

Common pitfalls

clean is irreversible — it destroys all partition tables on the selected disk; always triple-check list disk and select disk before running clean.
Operating on the wrong disk — diskpart numbers disks dynamically; a disk that was Disk 1 yesterday may be Disk 2 after a reboot if disks were added/removed. Always verify with list disk and detail disk.
extend requires contiguous free space — the unallocated space must be immediately after the partition on the same disk; non-contiguous free space requires third-party tools.
shrink may not shrink as much as requested — immovable files (hibernation file, VSS snapshots) at the end of the volume limit how much can be reclaimed; disable hiberfil.sys (powercfg /h off) first.
GPT conversion requires no partitions — convert gpt fails if the disk has partitions; back up data, run clean, convert, then recreate partitions.
Requires elevation — all diskpart commands require Administrator privileges; launch cmd.exe as Administrator before starting diskpart.
Focus is not persistent across instances — every new diskpart invocation starts with no focus; scripts must re-select before each operation.
format defaults to a slow full format — always add quick unless you specifically want a surface scan.
set id= on EFI/MSR partitions can break boot — only change partition type GUIDs on data partitions; the EFI System Partition and Microsoft Reserved GUIDs are required by Windows.
MBR disks cap at 2 TB — beyond 2 TB the extra space is unaddressable; convert to GPT (requires clean disk) before partitioning.
Dynamic Disks are legacy — use Storage Spaces for new resilient layouts; convert dynamic is mostly maintained for upgrade scenarios.
compact vdisk requires the VHD to be attached read-only and not in use — attaching the VHD read-write and then compacting fails; the VHD must also have been zeroed out first (use sdelete -z inside the guest) for compaction to reclaim space.
SAN policy persists — changing the SAN policy on a server affects every new disk discovery, including hot-add scenarios; document the policy in the build manifest.
format fs=refs on the boot disk fails — ReFS is not bootable; only NTFS is supported for the OS partition.
BitLocker-protected volumes cannot be resized without unlocking — shrink and extend return errors; suspend BitLocker (manage-bde -protectors -disable) or unlock the volume before resizing.

Sources

References consulted while writing this article. Links open in a new tab.

Microsoft Learn — diskpart command reference — Authoritative flag list and parameter semantics used to build the Essential options table.
SS64 — diskpart — Cross-version comparison and historical syntax notes.

Real-world recipes

Initialise a new data disk end-to-end

sql

select disk 2
clean
convert gpt
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs label="Backup" quick
assign letter=G
exit

Output:

python

DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.
DiskPart successfully converted the selected disk to GPT format.
DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.
DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.
DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

Remove a drive letter assignment

cmd

diskpart

Output:

shell

DISKPART>

cmd

select volume 3

Output:

csharp

Volume 3 is the selected volume.

cmd

remove letter=H

Output:

arduino

DiskPart successfully removed the drive letter or mount point.

USB installer prep in one script

A reusable script for turning a USB stick into a UEFI-bootable Windows installer.

ini

rem File: make_winusb.txt
list disk
select disk 2
clean
convert gpt
create partition primary size=512
format fs=fat32 quick label="WINSETUP"
assign letter=U
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick label="WINIMAGE"
assign letter=W
exit

cmd

diskpart /s C:\Scripts\make_winusb.txt
robocopy D:\ U:\ /E /XD sources
mkdir U:\sources
copy /b D:\sources\boot.wim U:\sources\
robocopy D:\sources W:\sources /E

Output:

yaml

DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.
DiskPart successfully converted the selected disk to GPT format.
...
DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

   ROBOCOPY     ::     Robust File Copy for Windows
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Total    Copied   Skipped  Mismatch    FAILED    Extras
    Dirs :        8         8         0         0         0         0
   Files :     1438      1438         0         0         0         0

Full PowerShell setup of a new data drive

End-to-end provisioning of a disk: initialize, partition, format, assign letter — without ever entering the diskpart REPL.

powershell

$diskNumber = 2
$letter     = 'E'
$label      = 'Backup'

Get-Disk $diskNumber | Where-Object PartitionStyle -eq 'RAW' |
    Initialize-Disk -PartitionStyle GPT -PassThru |
    New-Partition -UseMaximumSize -DriveLetter $letter |
    Format-Volume -FileSystem NTFS -NewFileSystemLabel $label -AllocationUnitSize 4096 -Confirm:$false

Get-Volume -DriveLetter $letter | Format-List DriveLetter, FileSystemLabel, FileSystemType, SizeRemaining, Size

Output:

yaml

DriveLetter      : E
FileSystemLabel  : Backup
FileSystemType   : NTFS
SizeRemaining    : 3.62 TB
Size             : 3.63 TB

Online → offline → physically remove → online again

The supported eject sequence for a hot-swap drive without unmounting through the GUI.

powershell

# Take the disk offline (safe for hot removal)
Set-Disk -Number 2 -IsOffline $true

# ... physically swap or reseat the disk ...

# Rescan to pick up the change
Update-HostStorageCache

# Bring back online
Set-Disk -Number 2 -IsOffline $false

Output:

csharp

(no output on success)

Mount an ISO/VHD without the GUI

Mount-DiskImage is the supported one-shot for both ISO and VHD/VHDX files.

powershell

$img = Mount-DiskImage -ImagePath D:\ISOs\Windows.iso -PassThru
($img | Get-Volume).DriveLetter

Output:

code

powershell

# Dismount when done
Dismount-DiskImage -ImagePath D:\ISOs\Windows.iso

Output:

yaml

Attached  : False
ImagePath : D:\ISOs\Windows.iso