Windows 10: Disk Partitions - Are they all needed ?

Hi

My PC did have a 2TB SATA Disk running Windows 8.1 Pro.
I relegated this to be a second disk and installed an EVO 240GB SSD as my main boot disk. This has Windows 8.1 Pro installed and has been running for over a year.

I've now upgraded to Windows 10 on the SSD and it's working fine. But I seem to have lots of recovery partitions.
Are they all needed ? Why are there 3 on the SSD and then a further 3 on the SATA Disk ?

Also do I need the EFI partition on the 2tb SATA Disk ?
Can this be removed ? I've read it can cause issues having EFI partitions on other disks when trying to use Windows system Image.

Thanks *Biggrin





:)

 

Error when trying to reinstall Windows 10

When installing Windows versions from Vista onwards it is best to let the Windows installer create and format the partitions it needs.

If there is nothing on the disk you want or need to keep, delete all the partitions then tell the installer to install on the empty disk.

 

Unreadable DVD/CD media with Windows 10

Hello there,

Initializing the disk would erase all of the data on it. Initializing is only needed when a disk is brand new and hasn't been used.
After a disk is initialized, you can create partitions on it. After a partition is created, you can format the partition to create a file system.

What were you doing when you got that Initialize Disk window?

Regards.

 

It looks like you have three physical drives in the system. C is your SSD and has all the necessary components to boot from. Given that, you can remove all the partitions on your 2 TB drive except the ones labelled D and E. Those probably contain data.

If it was my system, I'd move all the data off of the 2 TB completely, then delete all partitions. I'd reformat it as one solid, single primary partition and use that as D. Then, you can move all the data back to D.

 

Shouldn't OP confirm exactly which disk is doing what part of boot by typing and entering bcdedit (with no other parameters) at the command prompt? I can see OS is on Disk1 but it looks like originally this machine was using Disk0.

Tomt - do you care about having Dell diagnostics partition and Dell factory restore partition (both on Disk0) any more? If you already made separate factory restore media (from Dell Backup and Recovery) on an external USB flash or hard drive, the factory restore partition would, IMO, not be that valuable.

 

The top pane confirms that C is used for booting and the page file.

 

As I said, I can see that OS (i.e., C : ) is on Disk1. I'm surmising however, that they started out of the box with Disk0 and I don't think they should delete all partitions but D and E from Disk0 unless their eyes are wide open on the potential value of the other partitions.

 

They would be listed as having some necessary component in the top pane. They are just leftover partitions and nothing useful to the current system.

If the OP really wants to test, power off the system and disconnect the SATA spinner drive (the 2 TB one). Then try to power on the system. If it boots, there's no issue. I guess it is better safe than sorry, but you can tell all you need to know from the screenshot.

 

The Efi partition is your boot partition that contains the uefi boot manager so you definetly want to keep that. As far as the recovery partitions it's hard to say which ones to delete and which to keep. But with bcdedit you can see the boot items. The top one listed after u type bcdedit is the boot manager the next one is the current windows you are booted into. And in the section for the current is is a recovery identifier that points to one of the recovery partitions. As I mentioned it's hard to say which recovery partition to delete.

One another note if you really want to reclaim the space from those partitions backup your data and files to external hdd. Then perform a clean install on the ssd drive then wipe the other drives clean and then restore your data and files.

 

Indeed. It's a matter of defining "necessary" and "leftover". I'm trying to help OP make their own decision on that definition. The 40MB partition is the Dell Diagnostics (which I don't value highly as my own value judgment is that the BIOS diagnostics suffice) and the 7.72 GB partition is the Dell Factory Restore Partition (which I don't value as I have already made separate media from it to be able to go back to out-of-the box state from).

 

The PC is a Dell XPS PC and the 2TB was supplied with in and included Windows 8 Home.

When I installed the SSD I formatted the SSD and installed a new copy of Windows 8 Pro, so I assume the OLD dell software is no longer needed. If I need to I can either reinstall 8 pro or 10.

 

Well, good then. It may be prudent, however, to disconnect the cables from the 2TB drive and confirm that you boot fine with only the SSD connected, as DeaconFrost suggested.

 

Ditto to that *Wink

 

Yep, don`t format anyhting until you make sure the C drive (disk 1) boots on its own.