©ASUSTEK COMPUTER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Saltgrass · ‎05-01-2021

I have been playing and today, I created a single NTFS partition which was bootable and able to install a Windows 10 system. It has been long believed UEFI systems needed a Fat32 partition to boot and install. So what has changed to allow a different install media configuration to work with the Z590 & Z490 motherboards?

The reason I ran into this was starting a Win 10 Insiders install which has an install.wim which is 4.8 GBs in size. Of course, this will not work on a Fat32 partition since it is larger than 4 GBs. But I was able to create and use a USB drive configured as GPT and formatted with NTFS to do a UEFI install of Windows 10 Insiders build.

I am a little confused right now by what I am seeing. If anyone is aware of any changes regarding this situation, would you please respond..

Thanks

Maximus Z790 Hero,
Intel i9-13900k
Intel BE200

Ataemonus · ‎05-01-2021

Saltgrass wrote:
It has been long believed UEFI systems needed a Fat32 partition to boot and install.

Wrongly, by you, perhaps.
Evern since I can remember disabling the CSM and booting UEFI only, the boot drive has been NTFS and the install media as well.

Saltgrass · ‎05-02-2021

Well, UEFI boot USB drives are normally Fat32 for the UEFI system. It is normal for the CSM to be disabled when using Secure Boot.

This is a different situation. The drive is NTFS only and with no active partitions. My older Dell systems do not even see the USB drive so it is not bootable with them..

Thanks for the response..

Maximus Z790 Hero,
Intel i9-13900k
Intel BE200

Ataemonus · ‎05-02-2021

Saltgrass wrote:
Well, UEFI boot USB drives are normally Fat32 for the UEFI system.

As I said, you got all wrong.

Jesseinsf · ‎05-02-2021

Use Rufus. In Rufus, you can actually download the newest Microsoft Windows 10 version within Rufus and create installation media immediately. It's a one stop free shop. Plus, when Rufus make the install media it will create a small EFI boot partition on the flash drive and then an NTFS partition for the install files. Now Secure Boot in most Asus Motherboards don't need to be disabled. Now if it will not boot with secure boot enabled then just disable secure boot. Do not turn on CSM. I'm using the Asus ROG Maximus XI Extreme and I don't need to disable Secure Boot.

FYI, this way allows any size .wim file

Microsoft recommends Rufus to create Installation media.

Ataemonus · ‎05-02-2021

Nope, that is not correct either. The small boot partition is neither FAT32 or NTFS, it's actually an EFI format partition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFI_system_partition

Jesseinsf · ‎05-02-2021

Ataemonus wrote:
Nope, that is not correct either. The small boot partition is neither FAT32 or NTFS, it's actually an EFI format partition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFI_system_partition

You are correct and it works flawlessly. I corrected my post. FYI, I didn't need the link. I just double checked my own USB install media.

Z590 Boot to and install with only NTFS USB drive?