Check whether disk partitions contain the correct 4KB alignment by using VBScript

Download Windows Server 2012

Introduction

This script can be used to check whether a user’s disk partitions contain the correct 4KB alignment. Over the next few years, data storage will transition from a physical format of hard disk drives that are in 512-byte sectors to 4,096-byte sectors (also known as 4K or 4KB sectors) hard disk drives. This change includes increases in storage density and reliability.  Many customers have to know whether their disk partitions have the non-4kb alignment issues which can cause incompatibility issues with existing software (including operating systems and applications).

Scenarios

We can use the Check4kAligned function to check whether user’s disk partitions contain the correct 4kb alignment.

Script

This script contains the Check4kAligned and MMod functions.  MMod is an internal function to provide support for Check-OSC4kAligned. You can use them in following ways:

Method:

1.Download the script and copy it to your computer.
2.Press the “Windows” key to open the “Start” menu and type “cmd” in the “Search programs and files” text box.
3.Right-click “cmd.exe”  and select “Run as administrator” item to open “Command Prompt”

Note:  For Windows 8, press the “Windows” key and “X” key together to show a menu. Click the “Command Prompt (Admin)” option.

4.Use the console script host to run your script:
cscript.exe “filepath\scriptname.vbs”
For example: cscript.exe "C:\Users\TestUser\Desktop\Check4kAligned\Check4kAligned.vbs"

Here are some code snippets for your references. To get the complete script sample, please click the download button at the beginning of this page.

'for each disks
For Each diskDrive In diskDrives
    'Convert disk drive to disk partition
    Set diskPartitions = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
                        ("ASSOCIATORS OF {Win32_DiskDrive.DeviceID=""" & _
                        Replace(diskDrive.DeviceID,"\","\\") & """} WHERE AssocClass = " & _
                           "Win32_DiskDriveToDiskPartition")
                            
    For Each diskPartition In diskPartitions
        is4kAligned = False
        
        If (MMod(diskPartition.StartingOffset,4096) = 0) Then
            is4kAligned = True
        End If
        
        name = diskPartition.Name
        'Convert Byte to GB and save as 2 decimal places: 0.00
        partitionSize = FormatNumber(diskPartition.Size / 1073741824,,,,0)
        description = diskPartition.Description
        
        'Convert disk partition to logical disk
        Set logicalDisks = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
                        ("ASSOCIATORS OF {Win32_DiskPartition.DeviceID=""" & _
                        diskPartition.DeviceID & """} WHERE AssocClass = " & _
                           "Win32_LogicalDiskToPartition")
        
        If logicalDisks.Count =0 Then
            deviceID = ""
            diskSize = 0
            outputMsg  = outputMsg + FormatResult(is4kAligned,name,deviceID,diskSize,partitionSize,description)
        End If
        
        For Each logicalDisk In logicalDisks
            deviceID = logicalDisk.DeviceID
            diskSize = FormatNumber(logicalDisk.Size / 1073741824,,,,0)
            outputMsg = outputMsg + FormatResult(is4kAligned,name,deviceID,diskSize,partitionSize,description)
        Next
    Next
Next

'for each disks 
For Each diskDrive In diskDrives 
    'Convert disk drive to disk partition 
    Set diskPartitions = objWMIService.ExecQuery _ 
                        ("ASSOCIATORS OF {Win32_DiskDrive.DeviceID=""" & _ 
                        Replace(diskDrive.DeviceID,"\","\\") & """} WHERE AssocClass = " & _ 
                           "Win32_DiskDriveToDiskPartition") 
                             
    For Each diskPartition In diskPartitions 
        is4kAligned = False 
         
        If (MMod(diskPartition.StartingOffset,4096) = 0) Then 
            is4kAligned = True 
        End If 
         
        name = diskPartition.Name 
        'Convert Byte to GB and save as 2 decimal places: 0.00 
        partitionSize = FormatNumber(diskPartition.Size / 1073741824,,,,0) 
        description = diskPartition.Description 
         
        'Convert disk partition to logical disk 
        Set logicalDisks = objWMIService.ExecQuery _ 
                        ("ASSOCIATORS OF {Win32_DiskPartition.DeviceID=""" & _ 
                        diskPartition.DeviceID & """} WHERE AssocClass = " & _ 
                           "Win32_LogicalDiskToPartition") 
         
        If logicalDisks.Count =0 Then 
            deviceID = "" 
            diskSize = 0 
            outputMsg  = outputMsg + FormatResult(is4kAligned,name,deviceID,diskSize,partitionSize,description) 
        End If 
         
        For Each logicalDisk In logicalDisks 
            deviceID = logicalDisk.DeviceID 
            diskSize = FormatNumber(logicalDisk.Size / 1073741824,,,,0) 
            outputMsg = outputMsg + FormatResult(is4kAligned,name,deviceID,diskSize,partitionSize,description) 
        Next 
    Next 
Next

Examples

Example 1: Check if disk partitions are 4kb alignment
Command: cscript.exe "C:\Users\TestUser\Desktop\Check4kAligned\Check4kAligned.vbs"
Screenshot:

Additional Resources

Technical Resources:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2510009