System partition efi esp. What is an EFI system or UEFI partition? Computer help at Serty. Creating an EFI partition at the end of Windows

Before the operating system starts to load, the specialized software of the computer initializes all components, checks their readiness for work, and only then transfers control to the OS loader.

Previously, a set of BIOS programs was used for these purposes, but this standard is now considered outdated, and it has been replaced by UEFI technology, which supports secure boot, has a nice graphical configuration interface and many other advantages. Most modern motherboards and laptops come with UEFI. In this article, we will look at how to install Linux on UEFI and what problems you may encounter.

This is an option for owners of UEFI boards who do not want to understand the intricacies of using this technology and agree to use their device as before with BIOS. Most motherboards allow emulation of BIOS mode. In this mode, you can install Linux without any problems and additional partitions, as it was done in the BIOS.

To enable Legasy BIOS mode, you need to enter the BIOS / UEFI settings using the F2, Del or Shift + F2 buttons and find the corresponding item there. For example, I have this item on the Boot tab. Here you need to select the boot mode UEFI or Legasy.

After saving the settings, you can install your operating system as usual. If this option does not suit you, then we will look at how to install Linux on UEFI.

Installing Linux on UEFI Boards

I will use Ubuntu as an example, but the steps are the same for other distributions. First, you need to burn the disk image to a USB flash drive. Most distributions already support UEFI booting.

Step 1. Burn Linux to UEFI USB stick in Linux

To write an image to a USB flash drive in Linux, it is better to use the Etcher utility. The program will write the media, which can be booted into both UEFI and a regular system. After starting the program, you need to select the system image:

Then the memory card and wait for the recording to complete:

You can also write the image to a USB flash drive manually. This is simpler than a regular BIOS, although it requires more steps. First, format your media to FAT32. This can be done in the standard Gnome disk management utility:

Then unzip the contents of the installation image to the root of the flash drive:

sudo mount /path/to/image.iso / mnt
sudo mount / dev / sdb1 / media / flash /
sudo cp -r / mnt / * / media / flash

Here / dev / sdb1 is the name of the partition of your flash drive. You can perform all these steps in the file manager. It is not necessary to use commands. Next, you need to install two flags on the flash drive partition where you unpacked your files - boot and lba. This can be done with Gparted. Just run the program, select your USB flash drive from the list of disks:

Right click on the partition, select Manage Flags and check the boxes against the boot and lba flags.

Whichever method you use, your flash drive is ready and you can boot from it. Most Linux images already contain an EFI bootloader and the computer's firmware will find it on the next reboot.

Step 1 (alternative). Writing Linux to UEFI stick on Windows

If you decide to burn Linux on Windows, then it is better to use the Rufus utility. It is necessary to set the following parameters in it:

• Partition scheme and system interface type: GPT for computers with UEFI;
• File system: FAT32.

All other parameters are default. After completing the recording, your USB stick is ready for use.

Step 2. Choosing the boot order

In order for your system to be able to boot from the just burned flash drive, you need to disable UEFI Secure Boot. This mode allows only signed operating systems to boot, and only Microsoft operating systems are signed. Therefore, for Linux, this mode must be disabled. I also have this setting on the Boot tab:

In addition, you need to install a USB flash drive in the first place:

After that, you can restart your computer and proceed with the installation. If you have a window like this, then everything is fine. Here you need to select "Try Ubuntu without installing", this is a prerequisite:

I will not describe all the installation steps that need to be performed, they are no different from installing a regular OS, the only difference is in installing the bootloader and partitioning the disk. We will dwell on it further.

Step 3. Partitioning the disk for UEFI

UEFI has several differences from BIOS in this regard. The first is the use of a GPT disk partition table. This is a new technology that has many advantages over MBR, including a very large number of primary partitions (there are only four in MBR), damage recovery, and much more. Read more about this in a separate article. The second difference is that the bootloader files are no longer stored in the first 512 bytes of the hard drive. They are all stored on a separate section called ESP.

Before you press "Install Ubuntu" it is advisable to prepare the disk using Gparted. Open the utility from the main menu of the image. Then select Device -\u003e Create Partition Table:

Select the GPT Partition Table from the list:

Step 4. Create the ESP section

In Gparted, we only need to create the ESP partition for UEFI. To do this, select "Unnoticed" and then right-click on it and select "New":

Select FAT32 as the file system for the partition, the size is 100 megabytes. Then press the button "Apply" to apply changes.

Then press "Manage Flags" and check the boxes next to the flags "boot" and "efi".

Step 5. Disk layout option

When the system prompts you to choose a marking method, you can let the system mark everything up automatically. But this is only if you do not already have any operating system installed. Otherwise, choose "Your own version":

Step 6. Assigning partitions

If you have chosen a different layout option, then a menu with a list of all sections will open in front of you. Find at the bottom of the window "Device for installing the bootloader" and select the EFI partition from the list.

Then click on the EFI partition in the list and select "EFI system partition":

Then you can proceed with the installation as usual. You need to create a root partition, and you can optionally create a bootloader, swap and home partition. You can read more about installing Ubuntu 18.04 at.

Step 7. Completing the installation

After all the files are unpacked and the bootloader is installed, the Linux installation on UEFI is complete, you can restart your computer and use your system as usual.

But let's take a closer look at managing menu items and EFI bootloaders.

Managing UEFI Boot Loader with eifbootmgr

When the system boots up, you can display the default UEFI settings by running the command:

Let's take a closer look at what each of the parameters means:

• BootCurrent - the loader that was used to start this operating system;
• BootOrder - the order of boot loaders, in which the boot manager will iterate over them during system startup. If the first bootloader fails, the second one will be used, and so on;
• BootNext - a loader that will be launched at the next boot;
• Timeout - timeout during which the bootloader selection menu will be displayed before it is automatically selected;
• Points 0000 - 0004 - loaders that can be used.

You can change the boot order using the -o option, for example, let's make the OS boot from the optical disk first:

sudo efibootmgr -o 0,1,2,3

And put Ubuntu back to first place:

sudo efibootmgr -o 3,0,1,2

You can change the timeout to display the system selection menu:

sudo efibootmgr -t 20

Here we have set the timeout to 20 seconds.

conclusions

In this article, we covered how to install Linux on UEFI, as well as how to manage the boot order on the installed system. Now, if you have a desire to install this operating system on your new laptop with EFI, then you already know how to do it. If you have any questions, ask in the comments!

As soon as we turn on the computer, it immediately starts running a miniature operating system that we know as BIOS. She is engaged in testing devices, memory, loading operating systems, allocating hardware resources. Many of the features in this suite of programs (usually around 256-512 KB) support older operating systems like MS-DOS, giving them many options. Since the PC / AT-8086, BIOS has changed very little, and by the time the first Pentiums were launched, its development had almost stopped. Actually, there was nothing to change in it, except for a dual BIOS, support for network facilities and the possibility of flashing. But there are many drawbacks: starting entry into the real mode of the processor, 16-bit addressing and 1 MB of available memory, the impossibility of having a "repair" console. And, of course, the eternal problem of hard drive support. Even now, drives up to 2.2 TB are guaranteed to be supported, no more.

Back in 2005, Intel decided to change the BIOS to EFI / UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). The EFI system is a more advanced base operating system. On some Unix and Windows platforms, UEFI has been around for a long time, but the massive transition has yet to take place, despite good intentions. And they are as follows:

• The presence of the notorious console for repairing system parameters and installing the OS;
• The EFI section makes it possible to perform some actions without loading the OS (watching movies, starting music);
• Login to the Internet and, therefore, the presence of installed network drivers, TCP / IP stack, etc.);
• Presence of graphics mode and custom scripts;
• Support for giant disks;
• Storing UEFI on new format (GPT) partitions;
• Full support for all hardware from the start.

UEFI can use a general-purpose runtime machine like the JVM to use device-independent code, which opens up huge horizons for creating "bootable" software.

There is also criticism of this technology. In particular, its introduction can lead to cutting off new players from the operating system market: for this there is always some kind of technological loophole in the code. Like, for example, the inability to boot Windows 98 from modern BIOS. Worse, you have to forget about the millions of MS-DOS programs and other systems that relied on BIOS functions to operate. Perhaps they will still be emulated, but there are doubts about that. And among them there are probably important programs that there will be no one to rewrite. However, all these are solvable issues - at least due to virtual operating systems. But the fact that new types of viruses will appear is for sure, and we will be able to see it pretty soon.

Updated: October 2013

Purpose: Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2

This section describes how to configure disk partitions, including hard disk drives (HDD), solid state drives (SSD), and other BIOS-based drives for Unified EFI (UEFI) computers.

In this section

Partition configurations

This section describes the default partition configuration and the recommended partition configuration.

Default configuration: Windows Recovery Environment Tools partition, System partition, MSR partition, and Windows partition

The default Windows installation configuration includes the Windows Recovery Environment Tools partition, the system partition, the MSR partition, and the Windows partition. This configuration is shown in the following diagram. This configuration enables BitLocker Drive Encryption and stores the Windows Recovery Environment on a hidden system partition.

With this configuration, utility tools such as Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption and Windows Recovery Environment can be added to a custom Windows installation.

Recommended configuration: Windows Recovery Environment partition, system partition, MSR partition, Windows partition, and recovery image partition

The recommended configuration includes: a partition with Windows Recovery Environment tools, a system partition, an MSR partition, a Windows partition, and a partition with a recovery image. This configuration is shown in the following figure.

The Windows Recovery Environment partition and the system partition are added before adding the Windows partition. The last to be added is the recovery image partition. This order of the partitions will help keep the system partition and the Windows Recovery Environment partition safe during actions such as deleting the recovery image partition or resizing the Windows partition.

When installing / reinstalling the Windows operating system, many may have noticed one or several small partitions (from 100 to 500 MB) located among the familiar and familiar local drives C, D, etc. Typically, these are the System Reserved, Recovery and MSR Reserved sections. When partitioning a hard disk into local partitions during OS installation, you can note that they are created automatically.

In this article, we'll take a closer look at the MSR (Reserved) section. You will learn what it is, what it is for, when it is created and whether it can be deleted.

Section purpose

Today under Windows there are two main standards for file partitioning of hard drives. These are MBR and GPT. We are talking about them in the previous articles. So the MSR section (reserved) is found only on GPT.

It is a hidden system reserved area of \u200b\u200bthe hard drive that can be used for the various needs of the operating system and its file storage. For example, to convert a simple volume to dynamic.

Many people mistakenly believe that the MSR partition contains the Windows bootloader / boot record (by analogy with the hidden "" partition on the MBR markup). But this is not the case.

How did it come about?

MSR (Reserved) is created automatically when a hard disk is partitioned into local partitions in the standard Windows installer. But only if you booted in EFI / UEFI mode from the media,.

Automatic creation of hidden partitions when partitioning the hard disk using the standard Windows Installer tool

Can I delete?

Despite the fact that this hidden system partition does not contain an operating system bootloader, and if you delete it, Windows will still start normally, we highly do not recommend doing this. This is due to the fact that it is possible in the future, when you need to do something with your local disks, for example, or vice versa, compress any of them, because of the missing MSR (reserved) this may not work.

And what's the point of deleting it, if in the "Computer" window it is not displayed among the local disks (that is, it does not interfere in any way), and its size is no more than 500 megabytes, by releasing which you will gain practically nothing.

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Hello! Windows 8.1 does not boot on a laptop with UEFI BIOS and I can't do anything. When loading, an error appears on the File: \\ EFI \\ Microsoft \\ Boot \\ BCD screen ... I studied all the Internet articles on this topic, but in my case nothing helps.

What has been undertaken by me!

1. Loaded from the Windows 8.1 installation disk and searched for the installed operating system with the command bootrec / RebuildBcd, an error occurred " Scanning for installed Windows systems completed successfully. Total Windows systems detected: 0»
2. Deleted a partition (300 MB), an encrypted (EFI) system partition containing all Windows 8.1 bootloader files with the command del vol, then applied Automatic Boot Repair, the system recreates this partition, but does not boot. Making this section active on the command line didn't help either.

I entered commands that are successful, but Windows does not boot.

bootrec / FixMbr

bootrec / FixBoot

3. Also formatted the same partition (300 MB), Encrypted (EFI) with the command format fs \u003d FAT3 and recreated it.
4. Tried writing a new boot store for Windows 8.1 with the command bcdboot.exe C: \\ Windows, where (C :) is the partition with the installed Windows 8.1 operating system and I get an error againFailed to copy download files.

I don't know what else to do and how to restore the Windows 8.1 bootloader. Can you tell me?

Hello friends! My name is Vladimir and I will answer this question.

If your Windows 8.1 does not boot and you have used all available tools to restore the boot loader, then you can delete the responsible for booting the system: the encrypted (EFI) system partition 300 MB, as well as the MSR partition 128 MB and recreate them.

In Disk Management, you can only see encrypted (EFI) system partition 300 MB, MSR partition 128 MB visible only on the command line when entering a command "Lis par".

Note: If you do not have experience, do not perform this operation unnecessarily, use first the other methods from section about. If you want to experiment on a working laptop, then do not start work without first creating a backup copy of these partitions, but best of all create.

We will delete and recreate partitions:

1. Section (400 MB) containing the Windows 8.1 recovery environment (you can completely get rid of this section and use, if necessary, the recovery environment located on the bootable media with Win 8.1).

2. Section (300 MB) encrypted (EFI) system partition containing all Windows 8.1 boot loader files.

3. Service partition MSR (Microsoft System Reserved) 128 MB, required for partitioning GPT disks.

We boot the laptop from and in the initial window of the system installation press the keyboard shortcut Shift + F10,

a command line window opens, enter the commands:

diskpart

lis dis (lists physical disks).

sel dis 0 (select the laptop hard drive 931 GB, and the second 14 GB drive - bootable USB flash drive Windows 8.1).

lis par (showing all partitions of the selected disk, the first three partitions will be deleted).

sel par 1 (select the first section

del par override (delete the partition, to delete the ESP and MSR partition or the laptop OEM partition, you must specify the override parameter)

sel par 2

del par override

sel par 3

del par override

That's it, we have deleted all three hidden sections.

Now, if you select a disk and enter the lis par command, then we will see only two partitions on the laptop hard disk:

Section 4 - Windows 8.1 Installed

Section 5 is a hidden recovery partition with factory settings.

Create a re-encrypted (EFI) 300 MB system partition, as well as a 128 MB MSR partition

We enter the commands:

diskpart

lis dis (display a list of disks).

sel dis 0 (select laptop hard drive).

create par efi size \u003d 300 (create an encrypted (EFI) system partition 300 MB).

format fs \u003d fat32 (format it to the FAT32 file system).

creat par msr size \u003d 128 (create a 128 MB MSR partition)