Deleted Recovery Partition


  1. Posts : 2
    Windows 10
       #1

    Deleted Recovery Partition


    I have an HP laptop that shipped with Windows 8.1. I upgraded to Windows 10 weeks ago and tonight I accidentally reformatted my D: drive recovery partition.

    I have recovery media on a USB pen drive that I made back when I first set up my computer.

    Has Windows 10 changed the D: recovery partition during the upgrade or will it be the exact same image the computer shipped with?

    Also, any idea how I can get the recovery files back on the D: partition?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 18,421
    Windows 11 Pro
       #2

    Here's how to make a recovery flash drive :
    Recovery Drive - Create in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

    I know it doesn't answer your question but it is an alternative. If you need to recover from a failed hard drive, the recovery partition on that failed hard drive isn't much good. Just something to consider.

    I think this still works for Windows 10:
    http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/58455-recovery-partition-create.html
      My Computer


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

    stevog6 said:
    I have an HP laptop that shipped with Windows 8.1. I upgraded to Windows 10 weeks ago and tonight I accidentally reformatted my D: drive recovery partition.

    I have recovery media on a USB pen drive that I made back when I first set up my computer.

    Has Windows 10 changed the D: recovery partition during the upgrade or will it be the exact same image the computer shipped with?

    Also, any idea how I can get the recovery files back on the D: partition?
    So I understand:

    1) You have a USB with the HP Recovery Media on it.
    2) You made this using the HP software when you first set up the machine.
    3) The HP Recovery media is Windows 8.1, the same version installed on the machine by the OEM.

    good so far?

    4) You upgraded the machine to Windows 10
    5) You recently removed the HP Recovery partition (normally D: Recovery)

    still good?

    6) These questions are difficult to answer:

    Q: Has Windows 10 changed the D: recovery partition during the upgrade
    A: The upgrade would not change the HP D: \Recovery ... a clean install might, depending on how you Clean installed.

    or will it be the exact same image the computer shipped with?
    -> The upgrade might have created a new recovery partition or expanded the System Reserve partition. I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to determine.

    Q: Also, any idea how I can get the recovery files back on the D: partition?
    A: Yes, but you don't need the partition since you have the USB Recovery media. I'm not sure if the HP F11 key would still work or not after the upgrade. That's the real power of the partition, being able to boot to it. You can do that with the USB.

    I have a few HPs and I always create the HP Recovery media, then remove the D: Recovery drive to reclaim the space (and free up one MBR partition). My HP machines shipped with four partitions allocated (System Reserve, Windows, Recovery, HP_TOOLS) - this makes it difficult to manage an MBR initialized drive.

    As long as the HP Windows 8.1 Recovery USB is good, you don't need D:\Recovery.

    If you really want to get it back, I'd like to see your Disk Management

    If you've already downloaded the custom MMC, go to Step 2 to launch it and then grab the screen shot.

    Step 1: Download this zip file (contains dmDskmgr-vd.mmc)


    Step 2: Double click dmDskmgr-vd.zip to open the compressed folder
    Double click dmDskmgr-vd.mmc to launch the custom Disk Management console
    You'll get an output similar to this:


    Press Alt+PrtScn to grab a snapshot of just the Disk Management window
    Open Paint and Ctrl+V to paste it, then save the image
    Attach the image to a new post.

    Option 2: Use Disk Management in the x-Menu (right click the Windows logo, select Disk Management)
    Select View > Bottom > Disk list
    Maximize the window and grab the screen shot.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 112
    Win 7
       #4

    I thin you can try some partition recovery tools, like Easeus data recovery wizard or Unformat. But they can only recover the files on D drive, while the partition/drive letter cannot be recovered. But you can create a new one after recover the data.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 3,502
    Win_8.1-Pro, Win_10.1607-Pro, Mint_17.3
       #5

    Molyy said:
    I thin you can try some partition recovery tools, like Easeus data recovery wizard or Unformat. But they can only recover the files on D drive, while the partition/drive letter cannot be recovered. But you can create a new one after recover the data.
    Yeah that's a possibility.

    I thought about suggesting Partition Wizard, Partition Recovery (which works well), but decided to wait until I knew more about why to see if stevog6 really needs to do anything.

    I try not to make more work for anyone
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 2
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Slartybart said:
    So I understand:

    1) You have a USB with the HP Recovery Media on it.
    2) You made this using the HP software when you first set up the machine.
    3) The HP Recovery media is Windows 8.1, the same version installed on the machine by the OEM.

    good so far?

    ->> Yes

    4) You upgraded the machine to Windows 10
    5) You recently removed the HP Recovery partition (normally D: Recovery)

    still good?

    ->> Yes

    6) These questions are difficult to answer:

    Q: Has Windows 10 changed the D: recovery partition during the upgrade
    A: The upgrade would not change the HP D: \Recovery ... a clean install might, depending on how you Clean installed.

    ->> I only upgraded from Windows 8.1. There was no clean install.

    or will it be the exact same image the computer shipped with?
    -> The upgrade might have created a new recovery partition or expanded the System Reserve partition. I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to determine.

    ->> I'm trying to determine if D:\Recovery was the exact same as the 8.1 factory image USB recovery media I created, which would mean surely just cloning that to the D:\ drive?
    Or
    If the Windows 10 upgrade has changed what was on the D:\ drive to some Windows 10 recovery as opposed to the factory default 8.1 mentioned above?


    Q: Also, any idea how I can get the recovery files back on the D: partition?
    A: Yes, but you don't need the partition since you have the USB Recovery media. I'm not sure if the HP F11 key would still work or not after the upgrade. That's the real power of the partition, being able to boot to it. You can do that with the USB.

    ->> I know I don't need it because I have the USB recovery media but I like the idea of having a copy on the computer itself as well. That way I have 2 backups - One for easy, quick access on the PC itself, another kept in a safe place but easier to lose because it's so small and separate from the PC.

    I have a few HPs and I always create the HP Recovery media, then remove the D: Recovery drive to reclaim the space (and free up one MBR partition). My HP machines shipped with four partitions allocated (System Reserve, Windows, Recovery, HP_TOOLS) - this makes it difficult to manage an MBR initialized drive.

    As long as the HP Windows 8.1 Recovery USB is good, you don't need D:\Recovery.

    If you really want to get it back, I'd like to see your Disk Management

    If you've already downloaded the custom MMC, go to Step 2 to launch it and then grab the screen shot.

    Step 1: Download this zip file (contains dmDskmgr-vd.mmc)
    Step 2: Double click dmDskmgr-vd.zip to open the compressed folder
    Double click dmDskmgr-vd.mmc to launch the custom Disk Management console
    You'll get an output similar to this:

    Press Alt+PrtScn to grab a snapshot of just the Disk Management window
    Open Paint and Ctrl+V to paste it, then save the image
    Attach the image to a new post.

    ->> Here's my disk management screenshot
    Deleted Recovery Partition-screen-shot-09-08-15-10.50-am.png





    Option 2: Use Disk Management in the x-Menu (right click the Windows logo, select Disk Management)
    Select View > Bottom > Disk list
    Maximize the window and grab the screen shot.
    ---
    Last edited by stevog6; 08 Sep 2015 at 05:04. Reason: To make easier to read my response within the quote
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 6
    Windows 10 Tech. Preview
       #7

    If you plan on keeping Windows 10, why are you concerned about a recovery drive that would be for the original operating system?
    You already have discs to use if you need to go back to factory condition, so no need for the recovery partition.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 1,366
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #8

    I'm not telling you what to do, but I never keep the recovery partitions. Once I make the recovery media and put that in a safe place, I format the drive completely and do a clean install of the OS. I can reclaim that as usable space. Besides, if the hard drive dies, that recovery partition is going to be useless. As long as you have recovery media created and safe, you'll never need that partition.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 3,502
    Win_8.1-Pro, Win_10.1607-Pro, Mint_17.3
       #9

    Thanks for the updates. If you're concerned about losing the flash drive - make a clone of it (or a few clones).

    You might also consider downloading the Win8.1 ISO that matches the edition originally installed on your machine. This allows you to do a clean install without all of the OEM 'bloat'. If you really need (or want) the OEM bloat, you can always download it from theOEM support page for your machine (put it on a Flash drive as well).

    Win8.x Media Creation Tool: Create installation media for Windows 8.1 - Windows Help


    You might as well grab the Win10 ISO while you're at it.
    Win10 Media Creation Tool: Windows 10

    As DeaconFrost said: I'm not telling you what to do
    These are best practices recommendations.

    I'll have to think about the OEM Recovery part, but for now just copy the contents of the OEM Recovery Flash drive back to the D: part you created. There are for some reason two Recovery parts shown (one with drive letter D: and one without- I've seen this once before but I don't recall a resolution ... or if it's just an artifact of how you created the parts.

    I'm not sure if the OEM boot to recovery Fkey will work, probably not, but at least the OEM recovery data is on the drive as you want.

    The recommendation is still : forget about the OEM recovery part and create a number of install media flash drives (Win8.1, Win10, OEM Recovery copy2).
      My Computer


 

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