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Basic Disks and Volumes Tools and Settings

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

In this section

  • Basic Disk and Volume Tools

  • Basic Disk and Volume Registry Entries

  • Basic Disk and Volume WMI Classes

The following tools, registry settings, and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes are associated with basic disks and volumes.

Basic Disk and Volume Tools

The following tools are associated with basic disks and volumes.

Bootcfg.exe: Boot Configuration Tool

Category

Windows Server 2003 operating system tool.

Version compatibility

All versions of the Boot Configuration Tool in the Windows Server 2003 family are identical.

You can use the Boot Configuration Tool to query, configure, or change settings in the Boot.ini file on your computer.

Dmdiag.exe: Disk Manager Diagnostics

Category

Windows Server 2003 operating system tool.

Version compatibility

All versions of Dmdiag in the Windows Server 2003 family are identical.

Dmdiag displays the following information for the computer on which it is run:

  • Computer name and operating system version

  • Physical disk to disk type

  • Mount points

  • Logical Disk Manager (LDM) file versions

  • Drive letter usage

  • List of devices

  • Symbolic links

  • Disk partition information

Dskmgmt.msc: Disk Management

Category

Windows Server 2003 operating system tool.

Version compatibility

All versions of the Disk Management snap-in in the Windows Server 2003 family are identical.

You can use the Disk Management snap-in to remotely manage disks and volumes on other computers running Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003

DiskPart.exe: DiskPart

Category

Windows Server 2003 operating system tool.

Version compatibility

All versions of DiskPart in the Windows Server 2003 family are identical. DiskPart includes a few 64-bit parameters that are only available on Itanium-based computers.

DiskPart is a text-mode command interpreter that enables you to manage objects (disks, partitions, or volumes) by using scripts or direct input from a command prompt.

Format.exe: Format

Category

Windows Server 2003 operating system tool.

Version compatibility

All versions of Format in the Windows Server 2003 family are identical.

Format prepares a volume on the specified disk to accept Windows files.

FTonline.exe: Fault-tolerant Disk Mounter

Category

Windows Server 2003 support tool.

Version compatibility

FTonline enables an administrator to mount and recover files from fault-tolerant disks created in previous versions of Windows. This tool is useful if you did not upgrade your disks to dynamic disks, or failed to back up your data before installing Windows Server 2003. You can install FTonline using the Support Tools setup program located in the \Support\Tools folder on the Windows XP Professional and the Windows Server 2003 family of operating systems CDs.

Mountvol.exe: Mountvol

Category

Windows Server 2003 operating system tool.

Version compatibility

All versions of Mountvol in the Windows Server 2003 family are identical. Mountvol includes a few 64-bit parameters that are only available on Itanium-based computers.

Mountvol creates, deletes, or lists volume mount points. Mountvol enables you to link volumes without using drive letters.

SecInspect.exe: Sector Inspector

Category

Windows Server 2003 command-line tool.

Version compatibility

SecInspect is a command-line diagnostics tool that enables administrators to view the contents of master boot records, boot sectors, and IA64 GUID partition tables. Additional features include creating hexadecimal dumps of binary files and backup/restore of sector ranges. For more information about this tool, see the Help that comes with the tool. To find this tool, see Tool Updates in Tools and Settings Collection.

Basic Disk and Volume Registry Entries

The following registry entries are associated with basic disks and volumes. For more information about the registry, see the Registry Reference in Tools and Settings Collection.

The information here is provided as a reference for use in troubleshooting or verifying that the required settings are applied. It is recommended that you do not directly edit the registry unless there is no other alternative. Modifications to the registry are not validated by the registry editor or by Windows before they are applied, and as a result, incorrect values can be stored. This can result in unrecoverable errors in the system. When possible, use Group Policy or other Windows tools, such as Microsoft Management Console (MMC), to accomplish tasks rather than editing the registry directly. If you must edit the registry, use extreme caution.

The following sections describe the basic disk and volume registry entries that are listed below \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\. The headings represent the next level in the path after \Services. For example, Vds\Debuglog is equal to \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Vds\Debuglog.

Vds\Debuglog

Level
Registry path

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Vds\Debuglog\Level

Version

Windows Server 2003 family.

Sets the level of logging for VDS.

Use Registry Editor to add a decimal value named Level. Stop and restart the service after changing.

VDS Log Options

Item Logged Bitmask Number

Errors

1

Warnings

2

Trace

4

Information

8

Set the value by adding the bitmask numbers of the values you want to log. For example, decimal 3 logs errors (1) and warnings (2). Decimal 9 logs errors (1) and information (8). The range for this value is 0-15. Set the value to 0xF (decimal 15) to log all items.

Dmadmin\Parameters

EnableDynamicConversionFor1394
Registry path

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\dmadmin\Parameters\EnableDynamicConversionFor1394

Version

Windows Server 2003 family.

Allows a user to convert an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) 1394 (FireWire) disk to a dynamic disk on Windows Server 2003 or earlier operating systems. Converting 1394 disks to dynamic is not a tested or supported scenario. This registry entry is provided for compatibility with a Windows 2000 beta that supported this functionality.

EnableDynamicConversionFor1394 is a DWORD Value, with a range of 0-1. Default is zero. To modify, use Registry Editor. Stop and restart the service after modifying.

Basic Disk and Volume WMI Classes

The following table lists and describes the WMI classes that are associated with basic disks and volumes.

WMI Classes Associated with Basic Disks and Volumes

Class Name Namespace Version Compatibility

Win32_DiskDrive

\root\cimv2

Windows NT Server 4.0 SP4 and later

Win32_DiskDrivePhyiscalMedia

\root\cimv2

Windows Server 2003 family

Win32_DiskDriveToDiskPartition

\root\cimv2

Windows NT Server 4.0 SP4 and later

Win32_DiskPartition

\root\cimv2

Windows NT Server 4.0 SP4 and later

Win32_LogicalDisk

\root\cimv2

Windows NT Server 4.0 SP4 and later

Win32_LogicalDiskToPartition

\root\cimv2

Windows NT Server 4.0 SP4 and later

Win32_MappedLogicalDisk

\root\cimv2

Windows Server 2003 family

Win32_PhysicalMedia

\root\cimv2

Windows Server 2003 family

Win32_Volume

\root\cimv2

Windows Server 2003 family

For more information about these WMI classes, see the WMI SDK documentation on MSDN.