worked like a charm
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Thank you so much for the updated guide! Worked nearly perfectly for me as well, though I have a few things to add for anyone else doing this after today.
I was installing on a Framework 13 AMD with a 256gb storage card. So I used the windows partition size 230000 like the original guide said, but this did leave 1.24gb unallocated at the end of the drive, so the correct size for these size cards is 231240.
I also ran into a strange issue copying install.wim to the recovery image: it wasnât found! Checking the file system of X:\sources it just wasnât there. I was able to mount the original ISO I used to create the installation drive using PowerShell with:
Dismount-DiskImage -ImagePath "[path to iso file]"
I located install.wim in the sources folder, copied it onto another USB drive, and copied it to R:\RecoveryImage from there.
Upon setting up windows, it doesnât have drivers to connect to the network card, so I was forced to bypass using SHIFT+F10 on the connect to the internet screen, and typing OOBE\BYPASSNRO (case sensitive).
After that, it all works as expected!
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Yep I also had this problem, the install.wim was just gone from the sources folder. I just used my desktop to open the iso with my life time free winrar subscription, put the install.wim file on a portable SSD. Used âlist diskâ to find it, and replaced âcopy XYZ:\sources\install.wimâ with âcopy E:\install.wimâ. All done!
Skipping the install with OOBE\BYPASSNRO didnât work for me. It got stuck on a blackscreen. I just put the drivers on a usb and got through the wifi part and the rest of the setup. And it works!
Hereâs a guide for what worked for me with Windows 25H2 Home and the 1 TB expansion card. The install file was split into two, so the related commands are the main change, some of the partition sizes were also changed. Iâm not going to claim the partition sizes are best, but I was getting âdestination too smallâ errors when copying files and didnât have time to check the windows recommendation. I also intentionally left some free space at the end of the drive open, about 16 GB if i recall correctly.
First, take note of the size of the drive youre hoping to install to, thatâll help you choose the disk number associated with that drive (I had multiple 1 tb drives installed so this helped a lot)
diskpart
list disk
select disk #
clean
convert gpt
create partition primary size=2048
format quick fs=ntfs label=âWindows RE Toolsâ
assign letter=âTâ
set id=âde94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6acâ
gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
create partition efi size=260
format quick fs=fat32 label=âSystemâ
assign letter=âSâ
create partition msr size=128
create partition primary size=900000
format quick fs=ntfs label=âWindowsâ
assign letter=âWâ
create partition primary size=16384
format quick fs=ntfs label=âRecovery Imageâ
assign letter=âRâ
set id=âde94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6acâ
gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
list volume
exit
(list volume should include a âWindows USBâ entry, use that in place of Z drive I use below, X volume below should be the volume you enter the interface attached to)
md R:\RecoveryImage
copy Z:\sources\install*.swm R:\RecoveryImage\
cd X:\Windows\System32
dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:R:\RecoveryImage\install.swm /SWMFILE:R:\RecoveryImage\install*.swm /Index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\
md T:\Recovery\WindowsRE
copy W:\Windows\System32\Recovery\winre.wim T:\Recovery\WindowsRE\winre.wim
bcdboot W:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI
W:\Windows\System32\reagentc /setosimage /path R:\RecoveryImage /target W:\Windows /index 1
W:\Windows\System32\reagentc /setreimage /path T:\Recovery\WindowsRE /target W:\Windows
This was enough for me to boot into windows and give it a linux GRUB entry. Using my linux install I placed the framework driver bundle and unzipped wifi drivers for Windows in the public userâs download folder on the windows partition. On first boot I was able to skip the network setup using shift+F10 and typing OOBE/BYPASSNRO, but if it doesnt work you can provide the directory of the unzipped wifi drivers you transferred over to get wifi working to continue the setup.
Something thats nice is removing the expansion card with windows doesnt break grub, even if you select it, it just takes you back to the menu to choose another option. Just make sure your BIOS boot order option is set to âLASTâ if you dont plan on keeping the drive in forever, or else when you put it back in itâll become the default boot option instead of GRUB until you change it in the BIOS again.
I have a framework desktop and followed this guide to the letter. It worked to install windows onto the 250gb expansion drive, first try no warm up, and booted into windows without issue.
11/10 guide