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How to Convert a Legacy Boot Windows 10 Template to UEFI

If you have a DaDesktop machine and plan to use a GPU or other hardware pass-through, the first thing you’ll need to do is switch it to UEFI boot.

While we still suggest using win10-template-v53 or newer, if you’d rather handle the upgrade yourself, follow the steps below:

  1. Turn on the defrag service
  2. Create boot files on the C: drive
  3. Mark the C: drive as Active
  4. Convert the system to UEFI mode
  5. Adjust the KVM config to support UEFI
  6. Fix the DaDesktop BIOS boot option
  7. Update the virtio-win drivers
  8. Disable the defrag service
  9. Optional: relocate a partition ahead of the system partition to enable automatic disk resizing
     

1. Enable the Defrag Service

  1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator
  2. Run this command:
    sc config defragsvc start= demand

2. Make the C: Drive Bootable

  1. While still in the admin command prompt, enter:

    bcdboot.exe c:\windows /s c:

3. Set the C: Drive as Active

  1. Launch Disk Management
  2. Right-click on the C: partition
  3. Choose Mark Partition as Active
     

4. Convert the System to UEFI Mode

  1. In the admin command prompt, run:
   mbr2gpt.exe /concver /allowFullOS

 

5. Adjust the KVM Configuration for UEFI

  1. SSH into the ddnode
  2. Make sure you’re acting as root

  3. Copy OVMF_VARS.fd and qemu.conf from a template that already supports UEFI boot, for example:

    cp /var/lib/kvm/win10-template-v51/OVMF_VARS.fd /var/lib/kvm/yourimagename/
    cp /var/lib/kvm/win10-template-v51/qemu.conf /var/lib/kvm/yourimagename/

6. Correct the DaDesktop BIOS Boot Option

  1. Stop and then start the machine using the dd4t.dadesktop.com GUI or API
  2. The system will boot into the UEFI Shell
  3. Type: "exit"
  4. Go to BootManagement (TODO: provide full details)
  5. Press F10 to save
  6. Exit BIOS
     

7. Update the Virt-io Drivers

Some templates may ship with an outdated VGA driver, which can cause problems like not being able to change the screen resolution. To fix that:

  1. From your desktop, download the newest version of the drivers: https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/archive-virtio/virtio-win-0.1.240-1/virtio-win-0.1.240.iso
  2. Install the update (note the exact file name for reference)
  3. Reboot
     

8. Disable the Defrag Service

  1. Open an admin Command Prompt
  2. Execute:
    sc config defragsvc start= disabled

 

9. Optional: Move a Partition Ahead of the System Partition for Automatic Disk Resizing

 

  1.  Boot into Rescue mode
  2.  Using GParted, shift a partition so it sits before the system partition
  3.  Reboot

10. Install the Idd Drivers

  1. Visit https://github.com/ge9/IddSampleDriver
  2. Download the driver from the releases page: https://github.com/ge9/IddSampleDriver/releases
  3. Extract the files to C:\ (any other location will prevent it from working)
  4. Install the certificate as an administrator (run as root)
  5. Right-click the .inf file and choose Install to set up the driver