Malware or drive failure? Machine is crippled

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  1. Posts : 55
    10
    Thread Starter
       #111

    Slartybart said:
    Thanks,

    It really depends on how you installed Windows.

    If the drive was empty, the there should not have been unallocated space after Windows was installed. There are hidden partitions though.
    If the drive had any partitioning on it before the install, then Windows preserves that schema.

    I regularly create space for testing an OS and leave my data partitions allocated - the data partitions stay allocated.
    There is also unallocated space on my drive that stays unallocated.

    The key then is to have no partitions on the drive when you install Windows, that way Windows decides what to allocate and where it gets allocated.

    There are cases where a second attempt causes issues - best to start from the beginning rather than pick up from where you left off.

    This refers to a clean install ... clean means a clean drive.
    It was a brand new drive, so there shouldn't have been anything on it. According to the "computer management tool" in admin settings, that un-allocated partition was the only other one.

    Here's that picture:

    Malware or drive failure? Machine is crippled-2016_06_05_22_39_271.png
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 3,502
    Win_8.1-Pro, Win_10.1607-Pro, Mint_17.3
       #112

    adamgm said:
    It was a brand new drive, so there shouldn't have been anything on it. According to the "computer management tool" in admin settings, that un-allocated partition was the only other one.
    Thanks,

    The partitioning is not standard and might cause issues down the line, not saying it will. As far as I can tell it looks like it will work.
    Previous versions of Windows had no issue running with one partition, just as you have on your system.

    I don't know if the new HDD had any partitions on it or not, some do have a tools partition.

    Your choice, run as is - should be ok.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 55
    10
    Thread Starter
       #113

    Slartybart said:
    Thanks,

    The partitioning is not standard and might cause issues down the line, but as far as I can tell it looks like it will work.
    Previous versions of Windows had no issue running with one partition, just as you have on your system.

    I don't know if the new HDD had any partitions on it or not, some do have a tools partition.

    Your choice, run as it - should be ok.
    In what way *could* it cause issues?
    I'm guessing it would be recommended to have some kind of restoration partition?
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 3,502
    Win_8.1-Pro, Win_10.1607-Pro, Mint_17.3
       #114

    Adam,

    There's simply no way for me to know what might happen down the line. I've given you my advice and some reassurance that your system should be ok.

    All of the requirements of Windows is on the one partition (System, Boot, Page, Swap, Recovery, WinDir, PgmFiles, UserFiles, etc).

    I would do a Clean install if it were my machine, but I don't think it is required.

    I based my suggestions solely on these two posts of yours:


    Ok, so I didn't insert a key, but according to the system page in the control panel "Windows is activated" but it's not a standard key, but some "product id" ?

    Second, and a new issue - if someone can help me out, when installing windows, for some reason the first attempt screwed up, I forget what the error was, but it cancelled.
    I now have a partition to the left of my primary one, and I can't extend the primary... how do I get rid of this?


    If I make the unallocated space (501mb) a volume, I can shrink it, but only by ~ 280 mb. Presumably I could add that to my main.... is there some way to get rid of the whole thing?

    I can start over and reinstall windows again...


    It sounds to me as though you mistook the System Reserve partition (based on the 500 MB size) as unallocated and deleted it. The issue is that the SysRes part was deleted, but Windows repaired itself and should be fine.

    It is your choice to leave it as is or do a Clean install.

    I can't offer anything more other than if issues do crop up ... TenForum members will surely help resolve them.
    Last edited by Slartybart; 05 Jun 2016 at 20:08.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 55
    10
    Thread Starter
       #115

    Slartybart said:
    Adam,

    There's simply no way for me to know what might happen down the line. I've given you my advice and some reassurance that your system should be ok.

    All of the requirements of Windows is on the one partition (System, Boot, Page, Swap, Recovery, WinDir, PgmFiles, UserFiles, etc).

    I would do a Clean install if it were my machine, but I don't think it is required.

    I based my suggestions solely on these two posts of yours:


    Ok, so I didn't insert a key, but according to the system page in the control panel "Windows is activated" but it's not a standard key, but some "product id" ?

    Second, and a new issue - if someone can help me out, when installing windows, for some reason the first attempt screwed up, I forget what the error was, but it cancelled.
    I now have a partition to the left of my primary one, and I can't extend the primary... how do I get rid of this?


    If I make the unallocated space (501mb) a volume, I can shrink it, but only by ~ 280 mb. Presumably I could add that to my main.... is there some way to get rid of the whole thing?

    I can start over and reinstall windows again...


    It sounds to me as though you mistook the System Reserve partition (based on the 500 MB size) as unallocated and deleted it. The issue is that the SysRes part was deleted, but Windows repaired itself and should be fine.

    It is your choice to leave it as is or do a Clean install.

    I can't offer anything more other than if issues do crop up ... TenForum members will surely help resolve them.
    Thank you :) Sorry, I didn't mean to press, I thought you may have known of and been referring to a specific possibility.

    Just as an aside, it was in this panel that Windows said the partition was un-allocated, but I may have mis-interpreted that.

    Malware or drive failure? Machine is crippled-2016_06_06_00_51_521.png


    I'll probably do another install I think...
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 3,502
    Win_8.1-Pro, Win_10.1607-Pro, Mint_17.3
       #116

    You're welcome and no sweat on the didn't mean to press.

    Funny thing though ... I'm working another thread and their machine has the SysRes part allocated, but not formatted. So I struck an assumption I made in my previous post (mistaking the SysRes part for unallocated).

    Is your machine 32-bit or 64-bit? I'm wondering if a 32-bit install has this issue. I recently installed Win10 for destructive testing, but I have a 64-bit machine (the other thread is 32-bit)
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 55
    10
    Thread Starter
       #117

    Slartybart said:
    You're welcome and no sweat on the didn't mean to press.

    Funny thing though ... I'm working another thread and their machine has the SysRes part allocated, but not formatted. So I struck an assumption I made in my previous post (mistaking the SysRes part for unallocated).

    Is your machine 32-bit or 64-bit? I'm wondering if a 32-bit install has this issue. I recently installed Win10 for destructive testing, but I have a 64-bit machine (the other thread is 32-bit)
    No, I'm running 64 bit.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 3,502
    Win_8.1-Pro, Win_10.1607-Pro, Mint_17.3
       #118

    Thanks, not bit depth related then.
      My Computer


 

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