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Switching a Legacy Boot Windows 10 Template to UEFI

If you happen to have a DaDesktop machine and you'd like to use a GPU or other pass‑through hardware, the first thing you need to do is convert it to UEFI boot.

We still recommend working with win10‑template‑v53 or a later version, but if you feel it's more convenient to perform the upgrade yourself, follow the steps below:

  1. Turn on the defrag service
  2. Create the boot files on drive C
  3. Mark disk C as active
  4. Convert the system to UEFI
  5. Adjust the KVM config to allow UEFI
  6. Correct the DaDesktop BIOS boot entry
  7. Update the virtio‑win drivers
  8. Turn off the defrag service
  9. Optional: move the partition in front of the system partition so that automatic disk resizing becomes available
     

1. Turning on the Defrag Service

  1. Launch Command Prompt as Administrator
  2. Run:
    sc config defragsvc start= demand

2. Making the C: Drive Bootable

  1. In the admin Command Prompt, execute:

    bcdboot.exe c:\windows /s c:

3. Setting the C: Disk as Active

  1. Open Disk Management
  2. Right‑click the C: partition
  3. Choose Set Active
     

4. Converting the System to UEFI

  1. In an admin Command Prompt, run:
   mbr2gpt.exe /concver /allowFullOS

 

5. Modifying the KVM Configuration for UEFI Support

  1. SSH into the ddnode
  2. Make sure you are working 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. Fixing the DaDesktop BIOS Boot Option

  1. Stop and 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: complete this step)
  5. Press F10 to save
  6. Exit the BIOS
     

7. Upgrading the Virt‑IO Drivers

Some templates may ship with an outdated VGA driver, which can prevent you from changing the screen resolution. To fix this:

  1. On your desktop, download the latest drivers from: 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 (TODO: provide the exact filename)
  3. Reboot
     

8. Disabling the DEFRAG Service

  1. Launch Command Prompt as Administrator
  2. Run:
    sc config defragsvc start= disabled

 

9. Optional: Moving the Partition Ahead of the System Partition to Support Automatic Disk Resizing

 

  1.  Boot the system into Rescue mode
  2.  Use GParted to move the partition that sits in front of the system partition
  3.  Reboot

10. Installing the IDD Drivers

  1. https://github.com/ge9/IddSampleDriver
  2. Download them from this link: https://github.com/ge9/IddSampleDriver/releases
  3. Extract to C:\ (otherwise it won’t work)
  4. Install the certificate (as root)
  5. Install the driver (right‑click the .inf file and choose Install)