Windows 10: Why are there two recovery partitions?

Hi, I've noticed I have an extra recovery partition that wasn't in Windows 8.1. Is it a partition for recovery back to 8.1? (I ran disk cleanup to get rid of the files, as I have a system image to use if I wanted to go back). And in disk cleanup, I see there's a volume that wasn't there in 8.1 and I have no clue what it is, or if it's the extra partition. I'm particular about these kinds of things and want them gone if they aren't of any use. Any information about this would be a great deal of help. Thanks.

:)

 

Why are there duplicate 450MB recovery partitions on Windows 10?

I also have multiple recovery drives of the same size. It seems it is a new feature of Windows 10 but no one can tell us what it is.

 

Why are there duplicate 450MB recovery partitions on Windows 10?

AFAIK, Windows 10 uses the different layout for recovery partition, thus it is unable to reuse recovery partition from previous Windows installation.

This does not happen if you do a clean install of Windows 10. This happens only if you upgrade your existing Windows installation (Win8.1, etc.). I have
verified this by comparing clean installation of Windows 10 with Win8.1 -> Win10 upgrade. Googling around also reveals many other people with the same issue - often resulting in over 5+ recovery partitions created (during various reverts/upgrades).

In other words, one of these partitions is created by Windows 10 for itself, another one is simply the old recovery partition from Win8.1 or whatever was installed before.

You can identify currently active recovery partition by issuing:

reagentc /info

command in elevated command promt.

P.S. "delete old Windows files" in Disk Cleanup does not delete old recovery partition (it only erases Windows.old on file system).

See also: The Recovery Partition After Upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 7/8.

 

I had the same problem when I upgraded from Windows 8, I was not worried about it to much because after I upgraded I wanted to do a clean install with a bootable Windows 10 USB made with Media creation tool . Although I don't know the way to solve your problem properly and leave the OS in working order without a clean install, If you want to install a fresh copy of Windows here is how I did it.
Strange but you disks are similar to mine




I followed this tutorial on TenForums to open a command prompt with my Bootable Windows 10 USB

Now with a command prompt open I typed Code: diskpart[/quote]



Then typing in Code: list disk[/quote]



The disk I wanted to install Windows on was my 500 Gig C: drive labeled (the number) 0 in diskpart
I then typed in Code: select disk 0[/quote]



Next to make 100% sure me and diskpart were still on the same page I again typed in one more time Code: list disk[/quote]



Notice that there is now an apteryx in front of disk 0 that was to confirm I had the right disk because the next step is irrevesable

Warning this step will totally clean the drive
type in Code: clean[/quote] I can't show you the pick of this because I did not want to clean my drive. The only thing left to do is type Code: exit[/quote] reboot the computer and Windows installer will take care of the rest

 

In Windows 8. The reserved partition is only 300MB and stores Winre.wim and the size of this file is only around 235MB. When upgrading to Windows 10, the new file Winre.wim is created for recovery environment and the size is almost 300MB which is not enough space. Therefore, Windows 10 created an extra reserved partition and put Winre.wim there. For a fresh installation the partition scheme would be as follows:
1 - 450MB Recovery partition
2 - 100MB EFI System partition
3 - 16MB MSR partition
4 - Windows OS (C: Drive)

So in order to get rid of the 450MB at the end of C drive, you'd need to fresh install Windows 10 as mentioned above unless you know what you are doing, you can re-arrange them. However, it is a tedious process.

 

Thanks guys... I did the media creation tool, burned to disk, skipped entering my windows key two times and the partition isn't there and neither is the volume in disk cleanup (so I'm assuming it was that extra recovery partition). Funny my windows was activated because every time I did a clean install in the past, it wouldn't activate with my 8.1 key. Does now though. Thanks guys.

 

I have a question that kind of relates. My C drive has two Healthy (Recovery Partitions) However, one of the two is marked "Healthy (Active Partition)" My question is... Can I delete the one NOT marked active? Or are they both in use?
If I can delete it, would this be a safe way to go about it on Windows 10? How to delete recovery partition in Windows 10/8.1/8 - YouTube

 

According to the Video. Yes, that's how you delete a system partition.
The one marked as "Active" contains your Boot Code (BCD). If you delete this, your Windows won't boot.
The other contains your Recovery Environment. If you delete this, you'll break the ability to get into the Recovery Environment (Hold SHIFT+Restart) to allow trouble shooting/repair windows.

This is what happens when you upgrade to Windows 10. On a fresh install of Windows 10, you would get 500MB system Reserved(contains both BCD and Recovery Environment) partition and C drive

 

Thank you for the quick reply! Very much appreciated! So basically having two recovery partitions is normal in my upgrade scenario. In this case, I will leave as is. *Smile

I have been having serious computer issues since I upgraded to Windows 10. Apparently, my drivers offered by my O.E.M. do not play well in the new environment.
I have found that my computer has been slowly degrading to the point of unbootable and I end up having to reload my prior Acronis backup just to get my computer to start again. Then it slowly degrades and I have to spin, repeat, and rinse. sigh.... I'm not sure if Acronis has put the MBR in some funky place that it shouldn't be or if it is my Drivers for WOW 64, as I keep getting errors. Sadly, one of the errors is that SFC /scannow fails to run and refuses to make a .log file for why it failed.

I would just clean boot from my computers disk back to 7 pro, but I have so many programs for work, it would take an eternity to reinstall them. I can't afford the lost time.

If you could migrate this to the appropriate thread for help It would be appreciated.

Thank you again! I know your time is valuable!