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windows-partition-scripts

README.md

Windows Partition Scripts - 1.8TB External Drive Setup

Purpose: Automated PowerShell scripts to partition 1.8TB external drive for hybrid Linux/Windows gaming setup

ATOM Tag: ATOM-CFG-20251112-001 through ATOM-CFG-20251112-003

The Story Behind This Setup

Initial Ask: "How do I run Battlefield 6 on Linux?"

AI Research: Found 8 potential workarounds (GPU passthrough, cloud gaming, etc.)

AI Recommendation: Don't. Install Windows dual-boot instead.

Why AI Said "No":

  • BF6's Javelin anti-cheat requires kernel-level access (impossible in Wine/Proton)
  • GPU passthrough: 40-80 hours setup, 60% failure rate, breaks on updates
  • Dual-boot: 2-4 hours setup, 95% success rate, maintainable

User Decision: Followed AI's recommendation → Installed Windows 11

Result: You're reading 6,800+ lines of complete infrastructure documentation - partitioning, privacy, automation, workflows - all traceable via ATOM tags.

The KENL Difference: When BF6 breaks again (and it will), recovery takes 10 minutes instead of 4 hours - because AI documented not just the "how," but the entire "why."

📖 Read the full story: /home/user/kenl/case-studies/AI_GUIDED_DECISION_MAKING_BF6.md

Overview

These scripts implement the Hybrid Approach (Option C) from /home/user/kenl/scripts/1.8TB_EXTERNAL_DRIVE_LAYOUT.md:

1.8TB External Drive Layout:
├─ Partition 1: Games-Universal (900GB, NTFS)     - Shared Steam library
├─ Partition 2: Claude-AI-Data (500GB, ext4)      - LLM models, datasets
├─ Partition 3: Development (200GB, ext4)         - Distrobox, Git repos
├─ Partition 4: Windows-Only (150GB, NTFS)        - BF6, anti-cheat games
└─ Partition 5: Transfer (50GB, exFAT)            - Cross-OS file exchange

Prerequisites

  • Administrator privileges (all scripts require Run as Administrator)
  • Native Windows PowerShell (NOT WSL2 - see warnings below)
  • PowerShell 5.1+ (built into Windows 10/11)
  • 1.8TB external drive connected and recognized as Disk 1
  • Backup all data - these scripts will DESTROY all data on the target disk

⚠️ CRITICAL SAFETY REQUIREMENTS ⚠️

  1. VERIFY DISK NUMBER BEFORE RUNNING:

    Get-Disk | Format-Table Number, FriendlyName, Size, PartitionStyle -AutoSize

    If your external drive is NOT Disk 1, edit $DISK_NUMBER in each script or use config.local.ps1.

  2. ❌ NEVER RUN FROM WSL2:

    ❌ WRONG: Windows → WSL2 → wsl -e ./script.sh
✅ CORRECT: Windows → Native PowerShell → .\script.ps1

    WHY: WSL2 cannot safely partition physical disks. Data corruption guaranteed. SOLUTION: Use native Windows PowerShell only.

  3. Format ext4 in NATIVE LINUX ONLY:

    ❌ WRONG: Windows → WSL2 → mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb2
✅ CORRECT: Reboot → Bazzite-DX → mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb2

    After Windows partitioning (STEP1-3), reboot to native Linux for ext4 formatting.

📚 Quick Start Guides:

  • Workflow Diagrams: See WORKFLOW_DIAGRAM.md for visual flowcharts
  • Profile Setup: See PROFILES_SETUP.md for PowerShell/Bash automation
  • Privacy Guide: See USAGE_PRIVACY.md for gitignore and data safety

Execution Order

Run scripts in sequence:

STEP 1: Wipe Disk

File: STEP1-WINDOWS-WIPE-DISK1.ps1

Safely wipes all data and partitions from Disk 1.

# Open PowerShell as Administrator
cd path\to\kenl\scripts\windows-partition-scripts

# Run STEP 1
.\STEP1-WINDOWS-WIPE-DISK1.ps1

# Confirmation required: type "WIPE DISK 1" when prompted

What it does:

  • Verifies disk exists and is not a system disk
  • Safety checks (size, boot status)
  • Removes all partitions
  • Clears partition table
  • Creates handover document

Output: HANDOVER-DISK-WIPE-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md on Desktop

STEP 2: Create Partitions

File: STEP2-WINDOWS-PARTITION-DISK1.ps1

Creates 5 partitions with correct filesystem types.

.\STEP2-WINDOWS-PARTITION-DISK1.ps1

What it does:

  • Initializes disk as GPT
  • Creates Partition 1 (H:, 900GB, NTFS) - Games-Universal
  • Creates Partition 2 (I:, 500GB, RAW) - Claude-AI-Data ⚠️ Format in Linux
  • Creates Partition 3 (L:, 200GB, RAW) - Development ⚠️ Format in Linux
  • Creates Partition 4 (K:, 150GB, NTFS) - Windows-Only ✅ FIXED: Now NTFS (was wrong)
  • Creates Partition 5 (J:, ~50GB, exFAT) - Transfer ✅ FIXED: Now exFAT (was wrong)
  • Runs write tests on formatted partitions
  • Creates handover document

Key features:

  • ✅ Partition 4 formatted as NTFS (for Windows anti-cheat games like BF6)
  • ✅ Partition 5 formatted as exFAT (for cross-OS file transfer)
  • ✅ Robust error handling for "device not ready" issues
  • ✅ Proper write testing with delays for filesystem initialization

Output: HANDOVER-PARTITION-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md on Desktop

STEP 3: Verify Layout

File: STEP3-WINDOWS-MOUNT-CHECK.ps1

Verifies all partitions are accessible and working.

.\STEP3-WINDOWS-MOUNT-CHECK.ps1

What it does:

  • Checks all 5 partitions exist
  • Verifies filesystem types match expected layout
  • Tests write access on NTFS and exFAT partitions
  • Counts Windows-accessible vs Linux-only partitions
  • Creates comprehensive verification report

Expected results:

  • ✅ 2 NTFS partitions (Games-Universal, Windows-Only)
  • ✅ 1 exFAT partition (Transfer)
  • ✅ 2 RAW partitions (Claude-AI-Data, Development)
  • ✅ All write tests pass

Output: HANDOVER-VERIFICATION-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md on Desktop

Troubleshooting

Issue: "Device not ready" during write test

Cause: Filesystem not fully initialized after format

Fix: Script now includes delays (Start-Sleep) before write tests. If still failing:

# Manually verify in File Explorer
Start-Process "explorer.exe" "H:\"

# Try creating a test file manually
"Test" | Out-File H:\test.txt

Issue: "No NTFS or exFAT partitions found"

Cause: Partitions not formatted in STEP2

Fix:

  1. Open Disk Management: Win+R → diskmgmt.msc
  2. Check if partitions show as "RAW" or "Unformatted"
  3. Re-run STEP2

Issue: Wrong disk number

Symptom: Script targets wrong drive

Fix:

  1. Check disk numbers: 
    Get-Disk | Format-Table Number, FriendlyName, Size -AutoSize
  2. Edit $DISK_NUMBER variable at top of each script
  3. Re-run

Issue: "Access denied" errors

Cause: Not running as Administrator

Fix: Right-click PowerShell → Run as Administrator

Handover Documents

Each script creates a handover document on your Desktop:

STEP1: HANDOVER-DISK-WIPE-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md

  • Disk wipe results
  • Safety checks performed
  • Next steps

STEP2: HANDOVER-PARTITION-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md

  • Partition creation summary
  • Filesystem types for each partition
  • Linux formatting commands
  • Next steps

STEP3: HANDOVER-VERIFICATION-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.md

  • Verification results table
  • Write test results
  • Linux setup instructions
  • Mount point configuration

Linux Side Setup

After completing Windows steps, boot into Bazzite-DX:

Format ext4 Partitions

# Identify partitions (external drive should be /dev/sdb)
lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,FSTYPE,LABEL /dev/sdb

# Format Claude-AI-Data (Partition 2, usually /dev/sdb2)
sudo mkfs.ext4 -L "Claude-AI-Data" /dev/sdb2

# Format Development (Partition 3, usually /dev/sdb3)
sudo mkfs.ext4 -L "Development" /dev/sdb3

# Verify
lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,FSTYPE,LABEL /dev/sdb

Configure Auto-Mount

# Create mount points
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/{games-universal,claude-ai,development,windows-only,transfer}

# Get UUIDs
sudo blkid /dev/sdb* | tee ~/partition-uuids.txt

# Edit /etc/fstab
sudo nano /etc/fstab

# Add these lines (replace UUIDs with your actual values from blkid):
UUID=XXXX-XXXX /mnt/games-universal ntfs-3g defaults,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=022 0 0
UUID=YYYY-YYYY /mnt/claude-ai ext4 defaults,noatime 0 2
UUID=ZZZZ-ZZZZ /mnt/development ext4 defaults,noatime 0 2
UUID=AAAA-AAAA /mnt/windows-only ntfs-3g defaults,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=022 0 0
UUID=BBBB-BBBB /mnt/transfer exfat defaults,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=022 0 0

# Save (Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X)

# Test mount
sudo mount -a

# Verify all mounted
df -h | grep sdb

Setup Steam Library

# Add shared Steam library
mkdir -p /mnt/games-universal/SteamLibrary

# In Steam:
# Settings → Storage → Add Drive → /mnt/games-universal/SteamLibrary

# Games installed here work on both Windows and Linux!

Privacy & Local Execution

What's in Git vs What Stays Local

Committed to Repository (Public):

  • ✅ Generic template scripts (STEP1, STEP2, STEP3)
  • ✅ README documentation
  • ✅ Example configuration (config.example.ps1)
  • ✅ ATOM tags and metadata

Excluded from Git (Private/Local):

  • ❌ Handover documents (contain usernames, disk serials, UUIDs)
  • ❌ User-modified scripts (*.ps1.local, *-MODIFIED.ps1)
  • ❌ Execution logs and transcripts
  • ❌ User configuration (config.local.ps1)
  • ❌ Archive directory (.archive/)

Setup for Local Execution

Option 1: Use Default Settings

# Scripts work out-of-box with sensible defaults
.\STEP1-WINDOWS-WIPE-DISK1.ps1

Option 2: Customize Settings (Recommended)

# Copy example config
Copy-Item config.example.ps1 config.local.ps1

# Edit your settings (disk number, sizes, drive letters)
notepad config.local.ps1

# Modified scripts will auto-load config.local.ps1
.\STEP1-WINDOWS-WIPE-DISK1.ps1

Archive Directory Structure

Create .archive/ for execution history (gitignored):

# Create archive directories
mkdir .archive\handover-docs
mkdir .archive\logs
mkdir .archive\backups

# Scripts can save here instead of Desktop
# Edit $HANDOVER_DIR in config.local.ps1:
# $HANDOVER_DIR = "$PSScriptRoot\.archive\handover-docs"

Suggested .archive/ layout:

.archive/
├── handover-docs/          # All HANDOVER-*.md files
│   ├── HANDOVER-DISK-WIPE-20251112-*.md
│   ├── HANDOVER-PARTITION-20251112-*.md
│   └── HANDOVER-VERIFICATION-20251112-*.md
├── logs/                   # PowerShell transcripts
│   └── execution-20251112-*.log
├── backups/                # Old script versions
│   ├── STEP2-20251111.ps1.old
│   └── config-20251111.ps1.bak
└── notes/                  # Personal notes
    └── disk-layout-decisions.md

Gitignore Rules

See .gitignore for full list. Key patterns:

# Handover docs (usernames, disk serials)
HANDOVER-*.md

# User config (disk numbers, preferences)
*.ps1.local
config.local.ps1

# Archive directory
.archive/

# UUIDs and hardware info
*-UUID*.txt
partition-uuids.txt

Sharing Sanitized Results

If you need to share execution results:

# Sanitize handover doc before sharing
$handover = Get-Content HANDOVER-DISK-WIPE-20251112-*.md
$handover = $handover -replace "C:\\Users\\.*\\Desktop", "C:\Users\USERNAME\Desktop"
$handover = $handover -replace "Serial Number:.*", "Serial Number: [REDACTED]"
$handover | Out-File HANDOVER-SANITIZED.md

Documentation Files

In This Directory

File Purpose Key Topics
README.md (this file) Main usage guide Prerequisites, execution steps, troubleshooting
WORKFLOW_DIAGRAM.md Visual flowcharts Mermaid diagrams for complete workflow
PROFILES_SETUP.md Shell profile configs PowerShell & Bash automation, WSL2 warnings
USAGE_PRIVACY.md Privacy & safety guide Gitignore patterns, archive structure, sanitization
config.example.ps1 Configuration template Disk numbers, sizes, drive letters, paths
.gitignore Privacy rules Blocks personal data from Git commits

Scripts

Script ATOM Tag Purpose
STEP1-WINDOWS-WIPE-DISK1.ps1 ATOM-CFG-20251112-001 Safely wipe disk
STEP2-WINDOWS-PARTITION-DISK1.ps1 ATOM-CFG-20251112-002 Create 5 partitions
STEP3-WINDOWS-MOUNT-CHECK.ps1 ATOM-CFG-20251112-003 Verify layout

Related Documentation

Design Specifications:

  • /home/user/kenl/scripts/1.8TB_EXTERNAL_DRIVE_LAYOUT.md - Complete design with all three layout options
  • /home/user/kenl/scripts/KENL_WIN11_DUALBOOT_SETUP.md - Dual-boot configuration guide

Gaming Setup:

  • /home/user/kenl/scripts/WINDOWS_GAMING_ESSENTIALS.md - Windows libraries and optimizations
  • /home/user/kenl/case-studies/BF6_LINUX_LAUNCH_OPTIONS.md - BF6 gaming on Linux (anti-cheat info)

System Design:

  • /home/user/kenl/README.md - KENL framework overview
  • /home/user/kenl/CLAUDE.md - Claude Code guidance

ATOM Traceability

Script ATOM Tag Purpose
STEP1 ATOM-CFG-20251112-001 Disk wipe
STEP2 ATOM-CFG-20251112-002 Partition creation
STEP3 ATOM-CFG-20251112-003 Verification

Related ATOM Tags:

  • ATOM-CFG-20251107-021 - Dual-boot setup
  • ATOM-CFG-20251107-022 - Windows gaming essentials
  • ATOM-CFG-20251107-023 - 1.8TB drive layout design

Quick Reference

Drive Letter Mapping:

Windows Linux Size FS Purpose
H: /mnt/games-universal 900GB NTFS Shared Steam library
I: /mnt/claude-ai 500GB ext4 LLM models, datasets
L: /mnt/development 200GB ext4 Distrobox, Git repos
K: /mnt/windows-only 150GB NTFS BF6, EA App, anti-cheat
J: /mnt/transfer 50GB exFAT Quick file exchange

Last Updated: 2025-11-12 Author: Claude Code ATOM: ATOM-CFG-20251112-001