Hi,I would like to find out what it the max. size of boot partition can be for Windows 2003 and 2008? Would these OSs boot if,e.g. I have a 10T raid 5 set and assign only the supported amount of space for the boot partition?Thanks

Hi,According to the research, the maximum boot volume size depends on the hardware and version of Windows Server 2003.We can create partition greater than 2TB on Windows Server 2003, this is possible by changing from MBR disks (the default) to GPT disks. Moreover, the only way we can have a boot volume more than 2TB is only if we are running an Itanium base machine and using the Itanium version of Windows and have an EFI boot partition. Otherwise, we have the limitation to 2TB size. For more information on how to get started with GPT disks, please see the referencehttp://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/GPT-on-x64.mspx For you reference, I have included some link that will give you some general information regarding the OS and disk information. Planning Disk Partitions or Volumes for New Installations http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc737600.aspx Hope it helps. David Shen - MSFT

Hello,Hmm, not sure I agree entirely with this or the documents.Windows Server 2008 supports running on X64 EFI machines which means that we can install to and boot from GPT disks on those machines.I am not aware of any shipping X64 EFI machines and the hardware has to support EFI before we can do this.Thanks, Darrell Gorter[MSFT] This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

David Shen - MSFT said: Moreover, the only way we can have a boot volume more than 2TB is only if we are running an Itanium base machine and using the Itanium version of Windows and have an EFI boot partition. Otherwise, we have the limitation to 2TB size.We're running standard x86 here. Is this problem going to be fixed soon? Can we expect a solution in 2008 sp2, or in Windows 7?

Hello,Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 support booting from GPT disks if the hardware supports EFI today for the X64 platform. The hardware has to support EFI to be able to boot from GPT so as to get the benefits.Thanks, Darrell Gorter[MSFT] This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights