Chapter 9 Introduction to the Server
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Chapter 9
Laboratory Activity
Using the DiskPart Command
Interpreter
After completing this laboratory activity, you will be able to:
■ Use the DiskPart command interpreter.
■ Use common DiskPart commands to retrieve information about the number
of disks installed in a system and about disk partitions or volumes.
■ Use DiskPart
help
command to reveal a list of DiskPart commands.
Introduction
Disk management is usually performed in the Disk Management utility. The
DiskPart command interpreter is an alternative way to manage disks and partitions.
At times, the DiskPart command interpreter may be the only alternative for
inspecting and manipulating the master boot record (MBR) and partition table
should the GUI fail. Also, certain tasks can be performed using the DiskPart
command interpreter that cannot be performed using the Disk Management utility.
For example, you must use the DiskPart command interpreter to convert a dynamic
disk to a basic disk and to delete or replace the MBR in the active partition. The Disk
Management utility does not allow the performance of these tasks because it is
designed to protect the integrity of the disk structure from accidental deletion.
You can think of the DiskPart command interpreter as an updated version of the
fdisk
command. Windows XP no longer supports the
fdisk
command. The DiskPart
utility is used in place of
fdisk
to inspect, create, and delete partitions or volumes
on a disk drive.
The DiskPart command interpreter will not make changes to removable
media such as a USB drive and an IEEE-1394 drive. These types of media are
identifi ed as a “super fl oppy” by the DiskPart utility rather than as a hard disk
drive.
In this laboratory activity, you will perform some basic DiskPart operations
to become familiar with this utility. While you most likely will never need to
use the full capability of this utility, more information can be obtained at the
Microsoft Tech Support Web site.
Look at the following screen capture. Notice that the
detail disk
command
has been entered at the DiskPart command line. The
detail disk
command
reveals details about the selected disk, such as the hard disk drive manufacturer
and type. It also shows that the hard disk drive has two partitions or volumes.
Volume 1 is assigned letter C and volume 2 is assigned letter D. Notice that both
volumes are indicated as healthy.