Can Partition Type be changed

I recently resized the WINRETOOLS partition in order to resolve VSS shadowing problems. Those problems went away however the partition type, which used to be "Recovery" is now shown as "Primary". The partition attribute also wasn't preserved but I used DiskPart - GPT to correct that. I am using Veritas System Recovery 2016 for backup and although I can include the resized partition in the full disk backup, it is not listed as required for full recovery. I wonder whether the type not being Recovery may be the reason and whether it is even important as far as performing successful recovery. In any event is there a way to change the partition type?

AddRAM said:

Recovery is not a type, Primary is.

Then how is it designated as a Recovery Partition and how does one so designate it?

PoulsboMike said:

Then how is it designated as a Recovery Partition and how does one so designate it?

The type of a partition is determined by its partition ID, and that can be changed using Diskpart. For MBR disks this is a hex byte, for UEFI it is a GUID.

On MBR disks the partition ID for a ntfs primary partition is 07h and the ID for a recovery partition is 27h.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partit..._partition_IDs

For a UEFI disk the recovery partition ID is the GUID de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_P...ion_type_GUIDs

If you are feeling brave you can use Diskpart to set the partition ID, but it's a good way to 'brick' your system if you get it wrong!

Microsoft TechNet said:

The Diskpart Set ID command changes the partition type field for the partition with focus.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/...(v=ws.11).aspx

PoulsboMike said:

...although I can include the resized partition in the full disk backup, it is not listed as required for full recovery. I wonder whether the type not being Recovery may be the reason and whether it is even important as far as performing successful recovery...

Are you sure that this recovery partition is actually being used? You can find out by typing reagentc /info in an elevated command prompt. look for what it says for the ' Windows RE location'. Does this point to your recovery partition? I have seen it point to the hidden C:\Recovery folder instead.

Next note the GUID it shows for 'Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier'. In the elevated command prompt now type bcdedit. The same GUID should appear as the 'recoverysequence' identifier under 'Windows Boot Loader'.

As far as I can tell, all the above info is referred to by your disk backup to determine which partitions need to be backed up for a full recovery.

The above commands just show you the information and are safe to use. I once had to edit mine to put it back to using the recovery partition instead of C:\Recovery (somehow it got switched when I was experimenting with booting to safe mode and the recovery partition stopped being included in the system images). Editing reagentc/bcdedit data is not for the faint-hearted - another good way to 'brick' your system!

Bree said:

Are you sure that this recovery partition is actually being used? You can find out by typing reagentc /info in an elevated command prompt. look for what it says for the ' Windows RE location'. Does this point to your recovery partition? I have seen it point to the hidden C:\Recovery folder instead.

Next note the GUID it shows for 'Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier'. In the elevated command prompt now type bcdedit. The same GUID should appear as the 'recoverysequence' identifier under 'Windows Boot Loader'.

I executed the commands as suggested.

reagentc /info shows Windows RE location: \ (blank)
followed by Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 3bb76b1b-8c2b-11e2-be6a-9c2a7048d782

bcdedit shows recoverysequence {3bb76b1b-8c2b-11e2-be6a-9c2a7048d782}
Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 3bb76b1b-8c2b-11e2-be6a-9c2a7048d782

PoulsboMike said:

I executed the commands as suggested.

reagentc /info shows Windows RE location: \ (blank)
followed by Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 3bb76b1b-8c2b-11e2-be6a-9c2a7048d782

bcdedit shows recoverysequence {3bb76b1b-8c2b-11e2-be6a-9c2a7048d782}
Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 3bb76b1b-8c2b-11e2-be6a-9c2a7048d782

I'd like to see the full text from reagent /info and bcdedit. Can you attach it as a text file please.

Bree said:

I'd like to see the full text from reagent /info and bcdedit. Can you attach it as a text file please.

You will also see to need a list of partitions from diskpart in order to determine which partition number to set as the recovery partition using the /setreimage option of reagentc.

spunk said:

The Hidden Recovery Partition is a partition created when using UEFI Bios. This partition should be set as a Primary partition. It is required in using the UEFI Bios. If you are cloning or imaging this disk, you would need to include it.

1. There is no such thing as a UEFI Bios. Either the computer has a legacy BIOS or it has UEFI. UEFI will sometimes implement a legacy BIOS booting mode that can be a setting in the UEFI.

2. There is no UEFI requirement for a recovery partition. A UEFI computer will operate just fine if it is missing.

NavyLCDR said:

You will also see to need a list of partitions from diskpart in order to determine which partition number to set as the recovery partition using the /setreimage option of reagentc.

Yes, fortunately that was in the .txt attachment in post #1