Compatibility and profile matrix

This project is a fresh-install partitioning engine for ConfigMgr WinPE. It does not claim that every firmware, storage controller, operating system, or OEM image is interchangeable. The exact boot image, storage drivers, firmware settings and OS image must be tested together.

Supported layout profiles

Profile	Invocation	Layout	Intended use	Status
Modern UEFI	-RequireUEFI	GPT: EFI, MSR, Windows, Recovery	Windows 10/11 and current UEFI deployments	Supported baseline; field validation required
Automatic dual-mode	no firmware requirement	GPT in UEFI, MBR in BIOS	A task sequence that genuinely supports both modes	Supported baseline; image compatibility is the administrator’s responsibility
Legacy BIOS	-RequireBIOS	MBR: active System, Windows, Recovery	Legacy BIOS/CSM and older OS images	Supported baseline on 512-byte-sector disks up to 2 TB
Fixed Windows plus Data	-WindowsSizeGiB N -CreateDataPartition	Standard layout plus a final NTFS Data partition	OEM, kiosk, lab and split-OS/data profiles	Supported with four-primary-partition and MBR2GPT caveats
Approved virtual machine	-AllowVirtualDisk -TargetBusType Virtual	Firmware-appropriate standard layout	Lab and virtual-machine deployment	Explicit opt-in; validate the hypervisor
Surface Storage Spaces	-AllowSurfaceStorageSpaces ...	Firmware-appropriate layout on the verified virtual disk	Affected Surface 1-TB configurations	Explicit opt-in; hardware validation required

The standard profile is deliberately conservative. It supports custom target selection and sizing, but not arbitrary partition types, arbitrary filesystem commands, or caller-supplied DiskPart text. A custom deployment should use a new, versioned profile with its own planner, postconditions and tests rather than bypassing the safety checks.

Storage and firmware coverage

Environment	Default policy	Required validation
NVMe, SATA or ATA internal disk	Eligible when healthy and uniquely selected	Confirm the disk is visible in the exact WinPE image
Intel VMD/RST/RAID	No universal driver assumption	Inject the OEM-approved WinPE storage driver and test the firmware storage mode
SAS/SCSI	Explicit target rule required	Prove that attached storage cannot be selected accidentally
USB, SD/MMC or removable media	Rejected	Do not override this with a generic bus rule
USB4/Thunderbolt NVMe enclosure	Bus type may be misleading	Use a tested positive identity rule; never rely on bus type alone
4Kn disk	UEFI/GPT only	Test WinPE, DiskPart, image application, WinRE and BitLocker
BIOS/MBR	512n/512e and no more than 2 TB decimal	Test active System, boot files, image application and first boot
UEFI/GPT	Current recommended path	Test Secure Boot, TPM, WinRE and OS-image architecture
Storage Spaces, VROC or hardware RAID	Not selected automatically	Treat the exposed virtual disk and its driver mapping as a separate hardware profile

If the intended disk is absent from WinPE, stop and fix the boot image or firmware storage configuration. A disk-selection script cannot safely select a device that the operating system does not enumerate.

Operating-system generations

• Current Windows 11: use UEFI boot, GPT and -RequireUEFI. Validate TPM, Secure Boot capability, supported CPU, image architecture, ADK/ConfigMgr support and storage drivers separately.
• Windows 10 and other current UEFI-capable images: use the Modern UEFI profile unless the image and hardware policy intentionally permits BIOS.
• Older BIOS-based Windows images: use -RequireBIOS and the MBR profile. The disk must satisfy the 512-byte-sector and 2-TB checks.
• Older UEFI images: test the image’s boot files and WinPE pairing. A GPT layout alone does not prove that an older image can boot on the target.
• Existing installations and BIOS-to-UEFI conversion: do not use this destructive fresh-install script. Use a separate MBR2GPT workflow with BitLocker, partition-count, BCD and firmware-transition validation.
• WinRE repair or resizing: use a separate repair workflow. This script creates a correctly typed partition but does not populate or register winre.wim.

Older x86 WinPE and older ConfigMgr sites may work when PowerShell 5.1, Storage WMI, ConfigMgr task-sequence COM support, DiskPart and the required storage drivers are present, but they are not certified by this project. PowerShell 2/3/4 is outside the current compatibility boundary because the script requires Windows PowerShell 5.1.

Custom configuration contract

The following are safe customizations of the standard profile:

• target serial, disk model, computer model and bus filters;
• minimum and maximum disk-size policy;
• EFI, BIOS System, Recovery and Windows partition sizes;
• optional fixed-size NTFS Data partition;
• task-sequence variable names for the selected disk and Windows partition;
• explicit UEFI-only, BIOS-only or dual-mode policy.

The following require a separate profile and must not be emulated by editing the generated command file:

• arbitrary partition counts or order;
• custom GPT/MBR type identifiers;
• dynamic disks, extended/logical MBR partitions or Storage Spaces pool members;
• non-NTFS Windows/Recovery/Data filesystems;
• repartitioning an existing installation;
• automatic drive-letter policy beyond the temporary W:/S: hand-off.

Every future profile should provide:

1. a documented parameter contract;
2. a pure planning function;
3. fail-closed target and firmware checks;
4. generated commands with no raw command injection;
5. post-DiskPart type, size, order, identity and filesystem checks;
6. synthetic tests plus disposable-hardware validation evidence.

OEM validation set

Before calling a profile production-ready, test at least one representative device and the exact boot image for each deployed family:

• Dell Command Configure/driver-pack-managed systems;
• Lenovo SCCM/MDT driver-pack systems;
• HP Image Assistant/SoftPaq-managed systems;
• Microsoft Surface, including affected Storage Spaces models;
• Intel NUC and current Intel VMD/RST platforms;
• ASUS or other OEM systems used by the organization.

Record firmware mode, Secure Boot state, TPM state, storage mode, logical sector size, visible disks, selected disk identity, partition postconditions, Apply Operating System behavior, first boot and reagentc /info. After adding WinPE drivers or optional components, update and redistribute the boot image and recreate affected media before retesting.