Windows 10: Partitions on laptop

AWESOME! That's life saver!

Do you have, at a bare minimum, a bootable Windows 10 Install USB/DVD? I would create one before doing anything else. I would also highly recommend installing Macrium reflect free and creating a Macrium rescue USB/DVD too.

Macrium Reflect Free


The only use for the first 650mb might be to do a recovery from BIOS. I highly doubt that is what is for - and if you don't care about doing a recovery from bios (you can still always do recovery from a Windows install USB/DVD) even then you can delete it. It is more than likely a previous Windows 8 windows recovery environment which has been replaced by the Windows 10 RE in partition 5.

So, first step, using MiniTool Partition Wizard to delete the first 650mb partition and move the next system reserved FAT32 partition to the front of the disk. Computer should reboot fine.

 

Once you have the 650mb partition deleted and the FAT32 system reserved partition at the front of the disk, next is that pesky 128 mb reserved space. It's in the way and I don't know of a way to move it. It is only required if you are going to do something special with your hard drive like create a dynamic disk or use Bitlocker to encrypt the hard drive. I've deleted mine and left no extra space on several computers with no ill effects. I won't hesitate to recommend you delete it. You won't be able to expand C: drive to the extra space at the front of the drive with it there.

With that 128 MSR space deleted (using MiniTool PW) you can expand C: Drive into the empty space behind the FAT32 system reserved partition. If you really want to, leave an empty space at least 128mb in size in front of C: drive to recreate the MSR partition later. I didn't.

Minitool will need to reboot the computer to expand the C: drive partition.

Since you have a Macrium Reflect image of the entire hard drive, I assume, you might be able to drag and drop the 128 MSR partition into space after the FAT32 system reserved partition. But I wouldn't worry about it. I don't have that partition or space for it on my GPT disks.

 

OK, I'm caught up to this point. C is being moved now. I left 135 mb unallocated space in front of C , just in case...

 

The procedure in that link will do just that. You'll end up with 4 partitions and should not take long to get done:

• 450MB Recovery
• 100 MB EFI System
• 16MB MSR partition
• C Drive.

This is how it looks when you do a fresh install. Some people is trying to be cute, advising to delete 16MB MSR partition because they think it's not needed. Well, If it's not needed then I don't think MS would create it.

 

Because MS never does anything that's not needed? oh wait, Windows 8.... *Wink

 

Exactly. And Microsoft manages to do without it on MBR disks...

The last partition can be deleted. It contains a system restore image from the factory for Windows 8. A Windows 10 installation USB/DVD will do the same thing to restore Windows 10. Windows 8 images are easy to download (at the moment) from Microsoft. And you have your trusty Macrium Reflect Free image made too. Then move the 820mb partition which contains the Windows 10 recovery environment to the end of the disk and shrink it to the lowest size allowed by MiniTool Partition Wizard. In the resize partition window of MiniTool, you can uncheck that block for safe data protection (don't know the exact wording) and that will allow you to shrink the partition even more. I've never had an issue with the block unchecked.

Finally, expand the C: drive partition into the unused space. I would leave the WindowsRE partition there at the end.

When all done, after reboot, run reagentc /info again to make sure Windows RE is still enabled.

You'll be left with the system reserved partition, which most of the time has to be FAT32 to boot the computer from UEFI bios. The free space you left, just in case, to drop the unneeded MSR partition back into. The C: drive partition. And finally the Windows RE environment partition. We can move the Windows RE files to the C: drive partition but I would not recommend it. (Heck, you can even disable Windows Recovery Environment altogether and just delete it, but I would not recommend it.)

That's the way my systems run - except without the space left for the MSR partition - but I also have an expanded Windows RE partition with a Windows 10 install image, a Macrium Reflect Free ISO and a MiniTool Partition Wizard ISO on one computer that I play with Windows installs on a lot.

 

All good now. Thanks much for the assist!

 

@NavyLCDR
The last thing I want is to offend anybody. But I don't think you know what you're talking about. You are comparing MBR with GPT which are 2 different partition schemes. You have been advising people to set a GPT partition as "Active" which is inpossible, there's no such thing, Period. It's not because your favorite program "Mini Tool" says so. The status says it's "Active" in Mini tool is completely different. With GPT, the UFI firmware looks for the EFI System to boot from, unlike with MBR, you need to set it as "Active" to boot from. Again, aplology if I offented you.

 

And yet the OP has his system working exactly the way he wants it with no extra partitions by following my instructions....so that's fine, you can think that I don't know what I'm talking about.

 

Mind to elaborate a little more about this instead of giving me a wink ?

Yeah. It's working for now. I suggest you read up about GPT and how it works.

 

You mean this?
Windows and GPT FAQ - Windows 10 hardware dev

I've read it. Especially this part:

Note this from MiniTool Partition website:
http://www.partitionwizard.com/parti...partition.html

Good day to you, sir.