Windows 10: Recovery partitions on SSD

Discus and support Recovery partitions on SSD in Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade to solve the problem; I purchased a Dell Inspiron 15 7000 with a 120GB SSD and a 1TB hard disk. I have the OS on the SSD (C:\) together with the programs. So far I have... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade' started by norman, Jan 10, 2016.

  1. norman Win User

    Recovery partitions on SSD


    I purchased a Dell Inspiron 15 7000 with a 120GB SSD and a 1TB hard disk. I have the OS on the SSD (C:\) together with the programs. So far I have installed Office 365 and little else. I have moved the data directories from C:\Users to the D: drive.

    The laptop came with no CDs or OS disks and Dell tell me none are available so I have created a recovery USB disk. At the end of that process it informed me that I could now delete any recovery partitions on the boot drive to create extra disk space. On trying this the option failed "Unable to delete partition". The reason for doing this is to recover the drive space used by 3 of the 5 partitions on the SSD. They take up over 32GB of the 120GB I bought. I've never needed to use a recovery partition and would have no issue with having to do a full install from CD or USB in future.

    Why would I want 32GB of data sitting on the fastest and most expensive disk space if it's never going to be used?

    Disk Management does not have a "Delete partition" option for any of the SSD partitions. Would a re-install from the recovery USB stick allow me to delete all partitions on the SSD before re-installing or would they just get created again?


    Recovery partitions on SSD [​IMG]


    :)
     
    norman, Jan 10, 2016
    #1

  2. Remove Recovery Partition and Go to Recovery Drive During HDD to SSD Upgrade

    Thank you Sangeeta,

    "delete the recovery partition as part of the cloning of the HDD to the SSD" The meaning of this quote is as follows:

    The recovery partition on the HDD will NOT be copied onto the SSD. This differs from most other data on the HDD which will be copied over onto the SSD. The word cloning is used because the emphasis is on having a functioning system on the SSD that truly
    mimics the system that ran on the HDD. Just as a biological clone is the creation of an identical organism with the same behavior.

    The specific SSD I have is a Samsung 850 EVO with 250 GB capacity. It comes with migration software. Further study on my part discovered the following from the migration software user guide "OEM Recovery partition created by the computer manufacturer as
    a factory setting will not be cloned". So, Samsung does not carry the recovery partition across to the SSD - just as I wanted.

    So, the SSD won't have the 16 GB recovery partition that the HDD had. Incidentally, Acer documentation says that if a new drive is installed, the ability to go back to the "original build factory settings" will be lost. So, they anticipated the loss if
    the drive was replaced. And this is fine by me since I do not want to go back to Windows 7.

    The bottom line is that the SSD won't have the recovery partition; I need to create a recovery drive once I have upgraded to the SSD. (I think it is best to create the recovery drive after the SSD is installed since there are subtle differences between
    the SSD and HDD and the recovery tools should reflect the SSD.)
     
    Edmond Danta, Jan 10, 2016
    #2
  3. Recovery Partition

    I updated my laptop from Windows 8 to Windows 10 and then I deleted Recovery Partition on my SSD without taking anything on USB. I think the space used by previous Recovery partition is missing in the total space on SSD may be cause I used AOEMI Partition
    software to delete same. Please tell me how to get back the lost space and how to create a Recovery partition on SSD for windows 10. When ever I try to create a Recovery drive I get a message You cant do it.
     
    JASBIR KHARA, Jan 10, 2016
    #3
  4. lx07 Win User

    Recovery partitions on SSD

    You can delete it through diskpart. From command prompt enter

    • diskpart
    • select disk 0
    • list partition

    You will see something like this Code: DISKPART> select disk 0 Disk 0 is now the selected disk. DISKPART> list partition Partition ### Type Size Offset ------------- ---------------- ------- ------- Partition 1 Recovery 500 MB 20 KB Partition 2 System 200 MB 500 MB Partition 3 Reserved 16 MB 701 MB Partition 4 Primary 32 GB 717 MB Partition 5 Primary 55 GB 33 GB Partition 6 Primary 23 GB 88 GB Partition 7 Unknown 619 MB 112 GB[/quote] Then you can delete the ones at the end you don't want with

    • select partition 5 (or whatever number - compare the sizes)
    • delete partition override
    • select partition 6
    • delete partition override
    • etc.

    Once you are done you can expand you C partition using disk management. Best to not delete any partitions before your 85GB C partition.
     
  5. Word Man Win User
    Hi, Norman. Assuming you just described having created factory restore media using Dell Backup and Recovery on that recovery USB disk, I would rate the factory restore partition myself as unnecessary at this point.

    I'm a bit mystified by you having 2 recovery partitions that are so huge and would expect the 11.61 GB partition at the end of the disk to be be the actual Dell factory restore partition.

    I would recommend

    1) Make a full disk image to an external drive using Macrium Reflect Free or a reliable equivalent.

    2) Download the current Win10 build (10586) iso of the correct edition from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softw...load/techbench and burn that iso to a DVD or use Rufus to create a bootable USB drive, mount the iso and copuy everything from the mounted iso to the USB.

    3) Perform a clean install using the bootable install media you created in 2), using the options in the install to delete all partitions. Note that with truly clean install you will have to reinstall 3rd party programs (including Office) and restore any valuable data you wiped out in the clean install.

    The result should be a more compact and "textbook" partition arrangement with only around 566 MB taken up by partitions other than your OS.

    P.S. Yeah, I see lx07 responded as I composed my response, no qualms on my part with his advice - you've got some options. If you directly delete your active recovery partition, though, you'll be missing access to advanced startup and troubleshooting options (WinRE Tools). You can verify which partition is the active recovery partition by executing "reagentc /info" from an elevated (admin) command prompt.
     
    Word Man, Jan 10, 2016
    #5
  6. Saltgrass Win User
    As I think has been addressed, the drive layout you show did not come from Dell. I just got one and it was like yours but the very large recovery partition after the OS partition is an anomaly.

    Dell doesn't send out recovery media because the factory image is in the last partition and works with the Dell Recovery options or Factory Reset options to reset the drive back to the original state. If you moved the OS to the SSD or you have upgraded to 10586, it may no longer work.

    As mentioned, Windows 10 can be downloaded and installed to the SSD as a clean install if you want. As long as you show Windows 10 is activated or shows an electronic entitlement on the activation setting page.

    If you want to see what is in the 20 GB partition you can use the mountvol command in an administrative command prompt and find the Volume descriptions. Look for ones, probably the second one, and copy the entire volume description, including the back slashes and paste into a RUN box. You will need to have the View options in Explorer set to see hidden and Protected System files

     
    Saltgrass, Jan 10, 2016
    #6
  7. norman Win User
    I've spent 3 hours on the phone to Dell this morning and been passed from pillar to post before I gave up.

    The complete story is as follows.

    I bought the laptop which came with NO disks. There was a menu option to download Dell's Backup and Recover software. I downloaded and installed the software and also upgraded it to the "Premium" version for the extra functionality. I ran it for the first time and it asked where I wanted to save the backups. I elected for a Dell Portable Hard Disk (1TB) that I bought with the laptop. It ran the backup and when I checked the portable I could find no system backup but it had created a boot sector on the portable and I assumed put the image in the recovery partition on the boot drive.

    The next day I got the message that there was an updated version available and that I should install it, this I did. On completion of the install it informed me I should do another system backup as the first would not be any good for a recovery. I did another system backup. This too did not show on the portable hard disk. At this point I decided to cut my losses and uninstall the Dell Backup software. It asked whether I also wanted to delete any images it had created and I answered yes. The software is now gone but the recovery partition(s) remain.

    I will use Macrium to create an image on the portable and try a re-install from scratch if there is no easy way to delete recovery partitions from the SSD. BTW can the recovery image and Macrium boot disk both be on the portable?
     
    norman, Jan 10, 2016
    #7
  8. cereberus Win User

    Recovery partitions on SSD

    Your partitions are a bit wonky.

    You only actually need the EFI and OS partitions to run windows 10, but if you delete the recovery partitions, you cannot reset pc from recovery menus ie you would need a clean install (or image backups - always a good plan anyway). You would not be able to get back to old os without a clean indtall either.

    You could delete the three partitions marked recovery using Easesus Partition Manager Free (or use tool here Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Windows 10 Forums).

    Strongly recommend you follow advice so far ie backup data (recommend an image backup) and do a clean install deleting all partitions which will create a good partition layout.
     
    cereberus, Jan 10, 2016
    #8
  9. norman Win User
    Thanks to all 4 of you.

    I downloaded EaseUS partition manager and this showed me what each of the partitions were used for. I was then able to extend the OS partition with the 20GB recovery partition. It wouldn't allow me to further extend it to the 11GB partition as they were not contiguous. It did allow me to move the WINRETOOLS partition to the end and then merge the unallocated partition with the OS.Attachment 58301Attachment 58302

    Thanks again.
     
    norman, Jan 10, 2016
    #9
  10. norman Win User
    BTW I did do a full disk image with Macrium first and saved it to the portable. I'll do another when I'm happy that all is well with the system.

    Thanks again
     
    norman, Jan 10, 2016
    #10
  11. Word Man Win User
    Sounds like a good plan, norman.

    You asked about using the portable for rescue purposes - you could have used the portable for that but it would've been easier to arrange before sending an image to it. That being said, I can't overemphasize the importance of having a bootable DVD or at least a small sized USB flash drive with the Macrium Reflect created WIndowsPE based rescue program on it. Creating that USB or DVD from the Windows Macrium interface is fairly straightforward and we can support you on that as need be - just give a shout.
     
    Word Man, Jan 10, 2016
    #11
  12. cereberus Win User
    The MRF recovery environment is included in the excellent recovery iso from this forum

    Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Windows 10 Forums
     
    cereberus, Jan 10, 2016
    #12
  13. norman Win User

    Recovery partitions on SSD

    I did try to create USB rescue but the only flash drives I had were USB2 and all the ports are USB3. They didn't work. I've ordered a couple of USB3 sticks so will get that organised.
     
    norman, Jan 10, 2016
    #13
  14. Word Man Win User
    I was aware of Kyhi's excellent Windows PE tool but was not aware that he has supplied it with a Macrium Reflect program interface as you seem to be saying - I imagine one could add it themselves but wouldn't have imagined Kyhi had already done that - I guess I haven't read that entire thread thoroughly enough.
     
    Word Man, Jan 10, 2016
    #14
  15. norman Win User
    A weird thing.

    During yesterday's shenanigans the laptop told me it needed to install an update and had scheduled it for 03:30 today. That update took place and it was a "biggie" - several restarts diring a screen that said "Upgrading Windows" - like the upgrade from 8.1 to 10 on my desktop PC. Winver now tells me I have version 1511.


    Recovery partitions on SSD [​IMG]


    I checked disk management and that is now showing another partition


    Recovery partitions on SSD [​IMG]


    A search for that version number on the forums shows that this is a "Mobile" version. All seems OK at the moment though. Any ideas?
     
    norman, Jan 11, 2016
    #15
Thema:

Recovery partitions on SSD

Loading...
  1. Recovery partitions on SSD - Similar Threads - Recovery partitions SSD

  2. 450 mb ssd recovery partition

    in Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade
    450 mb ssd recovery partition: i installed another version of win 10 with a usb so all the windows filed were installed on my hdd and before that the booting files only were put on a 450 md ssd recovery partition so the booting was way too fast so how to get them back there ?...
  3. No Recovery Partition on cloned NVMe SSD

    in Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade
    No Recovery Partition on cloned NVMe SSD: I have used Aomei Backupper to clone a Windows 10 Pro SATA3 SSD to a new NVMe M2 SSD. It went well and I now have a new boot drive but the cloning process did not copy over the Recovery Partition from the original SSD. Is that a problem? Thanks 179622
  4. Remove Old SSD System Reserved and Recovery Partitions to New SSD

    in Windows 10 Network and Sharing
    Remove Old SSD System Reserved and Recovery Partitions to New SSD: Hello,I recently did a clean install of Windows 10 onto a new m.2 SSD and I noticed that my System Reserved and Recovery partitions were still present and active on my old boot SSD Disk 1. I wasn't able to delete them through Disk Management or through an elevated powershell,...
  5. recovery disk not finding new SSD main partition

    in Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade
    recovery disk not finding new SSD main partition: I'm installing a new SDD into an older laptop. I've made a recovery disk on USB drive. When I install SDD and reboot on recovery disk, and reinstall I get the error that the system disk is too small. The SSD has been partition into disk 0 223 GB and disk 1 14GB but with 0GB...
  6. Partition corrupted, Partition Recovery, Evo 850 SSD

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    Partition corrupted, Partition Recovery, Evo 850 SSD: Hello, my boot drive c: seems to be broken. Problems starts with a bluescreen. After the bluescreen, Windows 10 is not starting anymore. All windows repair tools are not working, also "set back to recovery point" is not finding any recovery point. I tried chkdsk then, it...
  7. SSD + HDD as Recovery Partition

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    SSD + HDD as Recovery Partition: Win 10 v 1909. I have never run into this before. An SSD with a 1tb HDD as recovery partition. Can someone tell me how this is done because I want to make 1tb hdd separate. New Lenovo 510A Thanks [img] 156079
  8. Recovery Partition

    in Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade
    Recovery Partition: Please read through to the bottom. I have 2 questions there. This is in relation to comments on threads https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/unused-11gb-recovery-partition/24a7cbbe-960a-490f-b916-e07eba32281e and...
  9. Optimizing the Recovery Partition on a SSD

    in Windows 10 Performance & Maintenance
    Optimizing the Recovery Partition on a SSD: I have a feeling this has been asked before and the answer is “Just leave it, it doesn’t matter” I notice the recovery partition on my SSD is always reporting as “Never run” and “Needs optimizing” If you chose to optimize it does nothing. [img] Any advice on this...
  10. SSD upgrade, cloning W10, and recovery partition

    in Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade
    SSD upgrade, cloning W10, and recovery partition: I just bought a new SSD, San Disk ultra II 960GB. I want to install it in my Samsung Ativbook. The computer originally came with windows 8 but I did the free upgrade to 10. Ever since I upgraded, the computer is running much slower and takes a lot longer to boot. As a result,...