Windows 10: Partitions Dilemma before Clean Install

Hi!

I was just about to do a clean re-install of Windows 10 (Pro/64), but got stuck/confused with my partitions: why are there two recovery partitions on Drive 0?

Can I delete both/any? How would I find out which Recovery partition is the current/active one? (Going by the official MS Partition layout Documentation Partition 1 seems in the wrong place to me, but what do I know.)

(Disk 0 is M.2 SSD if that is of any relevance.)

Any help will be appreciated.








:)

 

W7 Hard drive partition issue

to get rid of that 100 meg windows partition that setup creates for you on a new install on a blank hdd:

- press shift+f10 when on the partition management screen in setup <-- this opens a command prompt
- diskpart <-- start the windows command line partition management tool
- list disk <--- list the installed hdds in this computer for the next step
- select disk 0 <- might have to replace 0 with the number of the correct disk
- clean <-- this will erase all data on the disk you selected one step up- dont use the wrong disk!
- create partition primary <- creates a primary partition taking up all space on the drive, adjust the command if necessary
- exit, exit to exit diskpart and the command prompt
- click refresh in partition manager and select your newly created partition and install to that

 

Clean Install Workaround for Vista

You may remember this news story on techPowerUp! a couple of days ago relating to the lack of clean installs when using the Upgrade Editions of Vista, which required an old OS to be installed. However, Paul Thurrott has managed to find a workaround for this issue, which ironically lets users do a clean install Vista without any previous version of Windows, albeit a little tedious. Here are the steps:

• Boot from the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD as normal
• When prompted for a product code, leave this blank
• Select the version of Vista you have purchased and let Vista install
• When you boot to your desktop for the first time, run the Vista setup from Windows
• This time enter your product key
• When asked whether you want to do an Upgrade of Custom install, select custom and choose a clean install
• Windows will now install for a second time and you should be able to activate it

Remember, these steps are only advised for use in order to achieve a clean install of Vista, it is only legal to use the upgrade editions if you have previously purchased the appropriate version of Windows.

Source: DailyTech

 

Partition problem during clean install of Win 10

Partition problem during clean install. I get the message "We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one. For more information, see the Setup log files."

I'm trying to do a clean install (after a successful upgrade so this laptop has been activated on Windows 10). Super basic situation - single blank internal SATA HDD in a 2010-era Dell laptop, installing from a USB stick, same installation media used for the
successful upgrade. No complications - dual boot, multiple drives, Linux, etc.

After I select the Custom install option the window showing disk partitions is shown. My disk is there (the only one) but no matter how I delete/create/format it I get the message noted above.

I have searched the web of course, found and tried the following:

• Made sure the hard drive is first in the boot order in the BIOS
• Used the "diskpart" utility and the sequence of commands suggested to clean, partition and format the disk.
• Tried leaving the disk blank (without any partitions) and also tried creating a single Primary partition.
• Pulled the USB stick for a few seconds right after accepting the license, before the custom install selection. (A weird suggestion but I tried it).

Any ideas?