Tasks for Partitioning and Formatting Computers

When you add new computers to the CCM system or add a new disk to existing CCM computers, you must partition and format the disks before you can assign software.

Make sure that the partitioning and formatting you set are compatible with the operating system and associated CCM Pre-OS Agent package that you intend to install on the computers.

System formatting is always applied to the C: drive on the first partition of the first disk. Data formatting is applied to all succeeding partitions.

NOTE: Look at each computer individually to determine if any computer is set for external Fdisk partitioning.  Do not include these computers for partitioning with CCM.  Instead, you can format them as a separate operation.

To partition and format a hard disk on computers:

  1. In the Scope pane, click <All Computers> or a Computer Group.

  2. In the Result pane, select the computers or computer group you want to partition.

TIP: The intent of working with multiple computers is to achieve identical results across a large number of computers and to avoid the necessity of entering identical information many times. To take advantage of this functionality you should choose computers with identical configurations when assigning partitioning and formatting jobs. For example, if you are repartitioning a disk or adding a disk, make sure that all the computers you select have the same number of disks.

  1. Right-click one of the selected computers and click Configure Disks.

  2. If any of the computers you selected have multiple disks, then select the Disk # tab in the Configure Disks: Multiple Computers for the disk you want to partition and format.

  3. Right-click the Disk Summary button and select Partition Disk.

  4. In the Partition Properties of Disk #0 dialog box, select the number of partitions that you want from the Number drop-down list.

  5. Click Change.

  6. In the Partition Values dialog box, select the desired Size Specification,  partition size, and FAT16 or FAT32 setting.

  7. Click OK to confirm the settings.

The Partition Properties of Disk #0 dialog box displays the proposed partition and formatting information for the disk.

  1. Click OK.

CCM reports the information for each computer in the selected tab in the Configure Disks: Multiple Computers dialog box

  1. Click OK for partitioning Consistent Mode computers, or click OK(Coop) for partitioning Cooperative Mode computers.

The computer(s) are partitioned and formatted and you are now ready to install software on the newly formatted partitions.