Windows 10: What happens to OEM Recovery (D) upon Upgrade

Hello,
I used the Media Creation Tool to create install media and upgrade W8.1 to W10.
1) What happens if anything to the OEM Recovery (D) partition upon in-place Upgrade from W8.1 to W10.
2) What happens if anything to the OEM Recovery (D) partition upon W10 Repair Install or Clean Install W10.
3) What can I do if anything with the out-of-the-box OEM W8.1 Recovery/Repair disk I created day one.
4) Should my first W10 image backup include Recovery (D) or ?

Thanks

:)

 

Win8 OEM upgrade to Win10. What happens if I need to factory reset?

If you attempt use the factory reset options, it will not work. When you upgrade, you previous recovery partition used by Windows 8 becomes inoperable. If you have any intentions of going back to Windows 8 in the future, create a system image in advance:

Backup your computer:

When making significant changes to your computer such as updating the operating system, you should always backup. See links to resources about backing up by clicking the link for the respective version of Windows you are running:

Windows XP,
Windows Vista,
Windows 7,
Windows 8/8.1

Also review:

How
to manually backup and restore your files

How to: 10 Tips before
installing the latest Windows 10 build

How to: 10 things
to do if Windows 10 Setup fails.

How
to: Determine if an application or hardware device is compatible with Windows 10

Once you have installed these important updates and followed the prerequisite instructions, you should be ready to receive your
free update to Windows 10 this summer.

NOTE: Please be aware the Windows.old folder located at the root of the local disk where Windows 10 is installed will be deleted after 30 days automatically. The Windows.old folder is used to facilitate the
rollback. So please perform any rollback within 30 days or this option will no longer be available. Otherwise, create a backup before upgrading to Windows 10.

See links to resources about backing up by clicking the link for the respective version of Windows you are running:

Windows XP,
Windows Vista,
Windows 7,
Windows 8/8.1

Summary

Throughout the history of Windows revisions, Microsoft has included an option to uninstall the operating system when you upgrade to a newer version. My recollection of this capability goes back to Windows ME which included the option to uninstall the operating
system and restore to a previous version of Windows (I was running Windows 98 SE at the time). Microsoft has supported this functionality in its NT based versions of Windows too, albeit not in a seamless way. The ability to restore a Windows 8.1 installation
to Windows 7 required knowing some command line operations that in some instances didn’t guarantee the process would go according to plan. With Windows 10, it seems Microsoft has listened and has provided a welcome option to its recovery tools to make it easy
to uninstall Windows 10 and go back to your previous version of Windows. This option can be handy for diagnostics purposes, trial and error or to simply go back to a previous version of Windows that works better with your PC.

Please keep in mind, this only works with Windows 7 and later. Because prior versions of Windows such as Windows Vista and Windows XP can only migrate to Windows 10 through a custom install, the command line operations remain your best choice if you do decide
to go back. Also keep in mind, if you do a custom install over Windows 7 or later, the Rollback option is not available. This only works if you had done an in place upgrade from Windows 7 or later.





Start by opening Settings – Click Start > Settings or type Settings in the search bar and click it or press Windows key + i





Click Update and Security





Click Recovery then click Get started under
Go back to Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 (depending on the previous version you running)





Here you can make multiple selections why are going back to your previous version of Windows along with additional details or you can choose just one and click Next.





As noted, any configurations made to Windows 10 since upgrading will be lost, so if you installed new programs or hardware drivers or made personal settings, those will be deleted.





Click Next





Make sure you have your password ready to sign into your old version if you had been using one. Click Next





The process can take a while depending on the amount data, applications and settings. Click Next





Click Go Back to begin the process.





Windows 10 will Restart





This will be your screen throughout the recovery process.





When the process is complete, you will be booted into your previous version of Windows environment.

If you cannot load the Windows Desktop, you can initiate a Rollback using the following method:





Log out and go to the sign in screen.

Hold down the shift key on your keyboard while clicking the Power button on the screen

Continue to hold down the shift key while clicking Restart

Continue to hold down the shift key until the Advanced Recovery Options menu appears





Click Troubleshoot





Click Advanced options





Click Go back to the previous version of Windows

 

Win8 OEM upgrade to Win10. What happens if I need to factory reset?

So I have Win8 on my laptop with a factory restore image. If I upgrade to 10, what will happen in the event that I need to factory reset? Win8 will be unlicensed and I won't have Win10 media, yes?

Thanks for the replies, but that's terrible, I canceled my reservation.

 

It will stay there.

A repair install will leave it there. It depends on how you do the clean install. If you do the clean install to the Windows C: drive partition only, then the recovery partition will be left alone. If you do a clean install by wiping the hard drive and uninstalling to the unallocated space - then the recovery partition gets wiped with the rest of the hard drive.

Would have to examine the contents of the disc to be certain, but more than likely you would be able to go back to the factory layout of the hard drive with it - erasing the hard drive and starting over factory fresh with Windows 8.1.

The backup image of your hard drive including the Recovery (D) for Windows 8.1 should be made before upgrading to Windows 10 not after upgrading. The Windows 10 installation USB drive contains everything the Windows 10 recovery partition does. The Windows 10 recovery partition is only 450 MB and is sometimes also combined with the system partition the computer boots from. Most long time members here use Macrium Reflect or another hard drive imaging program for our complete backups and don't trust Windows built-in image and restore. If you have the original Windows 8.1 restore disc(s) made - as long as they are good, there is no need to include the Windows 8.1 recovery partition from the hard drive in your Windows 10 backups.

 

Yes, I used Macrium before. I was wondering how to start new backup string after Upgrade. And whether Upgrade replaces W8.1 Recovery partition. Sounds like OEM Recovery (D) rides along for free.
Yes, I created W10 install media (DVD) via the Media Creation Tool.
Here's my Disk Management post Upgrade. http://s31.postimg.org/czo1q0bqz/screenshot.png
Is 650 or 874 > W10 recovery partition.
I was wondering what use if any for W8.1 recovery partition after Upgrade.

 

If it were my computer - I would delete all the partitions except for the EFI system partition and the C: drive partition, move the EFI system partition to the front, and expand the C: drive partition to fill the rest of the drive. That's what I would do.

You can tell what Windows is currently using for recovery partitions by opening a command prompt (admin) found in the right click start menu and running:

reagentc /info

Code: C:\WINDOWS\system32>reagentc /info Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configuration Information: Windows RE status: Enabled Windows RE location: \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition1\Recovery\WindowsRE Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: c49dd921-4add-11e6-b40b-88be14d2f169 Recovery image location: Recovery image index: 0 Custom image location: Custom image index: 0 REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful. C:\WINDOWS\system32>[/quote] Follow that with diskpart - looking the disk identified by the harddisk number contained in the reagentc info:

Code: C:\WINDOWS\system32>diskpart Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.14390.0 Copyright (C) 1999-2013 Microsoft Corporation. On computer: JOHN-LAPTOP DISKPART> select disk 0 Disk 0 is now the selected disk. DISKPART> list part Partition ### Type Size Offset ------------- ---------------- ------- ------- Partition 1 Recovery 450 MB 1024 KB Partition 2 System 100 MB 451 MB Partition 3 Reserved 16 MB 551 MB Partition 4 Primary 446 GB 567 MB DISKPART>[/quote] So my WindowsRE recovery partition is the first 450 MB partition on my SSD. If reagentc had a recovery image partition listed, that would be the Windows 8.1 recovery that Windows 10 would use if you reset your PC.

 

Um, your reply is just a tad+ over my pay-grade.
____________________________________________________
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.10586]
(c) 2015 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>reagentc /info
Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configuration
Information:

Windows RE status: Enabled
Windows RE location: \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition5\Recovery\WindowsRE
Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 11beb6a4-3532-11e6-8544-8cdcd46fcbd7
Recovery image location: \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition6\preload
Recovery image index: 4
Custom image location:
Custom image index: 0

REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.


C:\WINDOWS\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.10586

Copyright (C) 1999-2013 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: -PCW10

DISKPART> select disk 4

The disk you specified is not valid.

There is no disk selected.

DISKPART> select disk 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list part

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Recovery 650 MB 1024 KB
Partition 2 System 260 MB 651 MB
Partition 3 Reserved 128 MB 911 MB
Partition 4 Primary 905 GB 1039 MB
Partition 5 Recovery 874 MB 906 GB
Partition 6 Primary 24 GB 906 GB

DISKPART>
___________________________________
So, if I ran Reset this PC, the Windows 8.1 recovery partition would be used by Windows 10 to reset back to W8.1 ....? What does refresh / reset do with upgraded to Windows 10...? I thought there was a refresh Windows 10 back to cleaner Windows 10.
So, in small words. Best to stay away from Recovery...? Work with backup Images...?

 

I would suggest you read the "Reset your PC" link here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...covery-options

I have never done a reset, so I am only going by what that Microsoft webpage says. The way I understand it:

Selecting reset and then either Keep my files or remove everything will re-install Windows 10. This option uses the files in the C:\Windows\WinSxS folder to re-install Windows 10.

Selecting reset and then Restore Factory Settings will re-install the version of Windows that is contained on your Recovery Image partition (the last 24 GB partition on your drive). For you, that will be the Windows 8.1 that came loaded from the factory.

My computer does not have a Restore Factory Settings option because I do not have a factory recovery partition on my SSD. If you delete your last partition, then I expect the Restore Factory Settings option would disappear from your computer as well.

 

How to Refresh Windows 10
https://www.windowsphoneinfo.com/threads/refresh-windows-10.6827/
How to Reset Windows 10
https://www.windowsphoneinfo.com/threads/reset-windows-10.7562/