49 replies to this topic 2 votes

[Technique]

I've done a clean install & am in the process of putting everything back on (well, the stuff i want anyway).

When i did a clean install, i had the option of deleting the partition which holds the Lenovo recovery. It's about 15GB i think (laptop is turned off, so i'm guessing) & the total capacity of the HDD is 500GB.

I didn't know whether it'd be safe to delete this partition or not, so i left it. This post is just me asking whether you guys would now delete this?


Just to note: I've made the recovery CDs & DVDs & tested them out - they work. I also noticed there's an option to instead of making 3 recovery DVDs, putting the data to a USB memory stick - so i've ordered a 16GB one to do this with as i guess it'd be quicker. I don't know if i'd be able to do this though if i was to fully delete that partition.

[ashpowell]

The recovery partition is usually literally for that, for recovering your computer back to the original state. - Pretty much the same as the disc you've created.

Keep it if you want the option to restore from that partition, if you want to restore from your dvd recovery disc then you may remove it.
(I'd remove it personally for the extra 15gb if it were me)

[xorangekiller]

I agree with ashpowell. I ALWAYS remove the OEM recovery partition when I format a computer. So long as you have an installation disc available that you can use to reinstall your OS if necessary, its redundant at best. I never even bother creating the recovery discs as you did, but I suppose that it doesn't hurt to have a backup.

If the partition is at the beginning of your hard disk, like most OEM recovery partitions I've seen, its probably a bad idea to boot into GParted (or another partitioning program) to remove it and expand your primary partition at this point unless you are prepared to reinstall Windows again. Windows will often place the bootloader on the first usable partition on the disk, which is usually the recovery partition when it exists. If you delete the partition, the bootsector won't be able to find the bootloader, which then, obviously, can't boot Windows. Even if the bootloader is on your primary Windows partition, you will still prevent the bootsector from finding the bootloader if you expand the primary partition into the free space at the beginning of the disk created by deleting the recovery partition. It is possible to reinstall the bootsector/bootloader using your Windows installation disc after such an operation, but its tricky (and, honestly, probably beyond your skill level at the moment).

[Technique]

So how would you delete that partition & then merge the created 15GB with the OS partition?

[xorangekiller]

I would boot from a GParted Live disc, use GParted to delete the recovery partition and expand the primary partition into the free space, and use bootsect from my Windows 7 installation disc to reinstall the bootsector. In most cases, though, it would probably be easier to just reinstall Windows and repartition from the Windows installer.