What happens to OEM Recovery (D) upon Upgrade


  1. bjm
    Posts : 118
    W10 Home 22H2
       New #1

    What happens to OEM Recovery (D) upon Upgrade


    Hello,
    I used the Media Creation Tool to create install media and upgrade W8.1 to W10.
    1) What happens if anything to the OEM Recovery (D) partition upon in-place Upgrade from W8.1 to W10.
    2) What happens if anything to the OEM Recovery (D) partition upon W10 Repair Install or Clean Install W10.
    3) What can I do if anything with the out-of-the-box OEM W8.1 Recovery/Repair disk I created day one.
    4) Should my first W10 image backup include Recovery (D) or ?

    Thanks
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  3. NavyLCDR
    Posts : 18,432
    Windows 11 Pro
       New #2

    bjm said:
    1) What happens if anything to the OEM Recovery (D) partition upon in-place Upgrade from W8.1 to W10.
    It will stay there.

    bjm said:
    2) What happens if anything to the OEM Recovery (D) partition upon W10 Repair Install or Clean Install W10.
    A repair install will leave it there. It depends on how you do the clean install. If you do the clean install to the Windows C: drive partition only, then the recovery partition will be left alone. If you do a clean install by wiping the hard drive and uninstalling to the unallocated space - then the recovery partition gets wiped with the rest of the hard drive.

    bjm said:
    3) What can I do if anything with the out-of-the-box OEM W8.1 Recovery/Repair disk I created day one.
    Would have to examine the contents of the disc to be certain, but more than likely you would be able to go back to the factory layout of the hard drive with it - erasing the hard drive and starting over factory fresh with Windows 8.1.

    bjm said:
    4) Should my first W10 image backup include Recovery (D) or ?
    Thanks
    The backup image of your hard drive including the Recovery (D) for Windows 8.1 should be made before upgrading to Windows 10 not after upgrading. The Windows 10 installation USB drive contains everything the Windows 10 recovery partition does. The Windows 10 recovery partition is only 450 MB and is sometimes also combined with the system partition the computer boots from. Most long time members here use Macrium Reflect or another hard drive imaging program for our complete backups and don't trust Windows built-in image and restore. If you have the original Windows 8.1 restore disc(s) made - as long as they are good, there is no need to include the Windows 8.1 recovery partition from the hard drive in your Windows 10 backups.
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  4. bjm
    Posts : 118
    W10 Home 22H2
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    NavyLCDR said:
    The backup image of your hard drive including the Recovery (D) for Windows 8.1 should be made before upgrading to Windows 10 not after upgrading. The Windows 10 installation USB drive contains everything the Windows 10 recovery partition does. The Windows 10 recovery partition is only 450 MB and is sometimes also combined with the system partition the computer boots from. Most long time members here use Macrium Reflect or another hard drive imaging program for our complete backups and don't trust Windows built-in image and restore. If you have the original Windows 8.1 restore disc(s) made - as long as they are good, there is no need to include the Windows 8.1 recovery partition from the hard drive in your Windows 10 backups.
    Yes, I used Macrium before. I was wondering how to start new backup string after Upgrade. And whether Upgrade replaces W8.1 Recovery partition. Sounds like OEM Recovery (D) rides along for free.
    Yes, I created W10 install media (DVD) via the Media Creation Tool.
    Here's my Disk Management post Upgrade. http://s31.postimg.org/czo1q0bqz/screenshot.png
    Is 650 or 874 > W10 recovery partition.
    I was wondering what use if any for W8.1 recovery partition after Upgrade.


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  6. NavyLCDR
    Posts : 18,432
    Windows 11 Pro
       New #4

    bjm said:
    Yes, I used Macrium before. I was wondering how to start new backup string after Upgrade. And whether Upgrade replaces W8.1 Recovery partition. Sounds like OEM Recovery (D) rides along for free.
    Yes, I created W10 install media (DVD) via the Media Creation Tool.
    Here's my Disk Management post Upgrade. http://s31.postimg.org/czo1q0bqz/screenshot.png
    Is 650 or 874 > W10 recovery partition.
    I was wondering what use if any for W8.1 recovery partition after Upgrade.


    If it were my computer - I would delete all the partitions except for the EFI system partition and the C: drive partition, move the EFI system partition to the front, and expand the C: drive partition to fill the rest of the drive. That's what I would do.

    You can tell what Windows is currently using for recovery partitions by opening a command prompt (admin) found in the right click start menu and running:

    reagentc /info

    Code:
    C:\WINDOWS\system32>reagentc /info
Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configuration
Information:

    Windows RE status:         Enabled
    Windows RE location:       \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition1\Recovery\WindowsRE
    Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: c49dd921-4add-11e6-b40b-88be14d2f169
    Recovery image location:
    Recovery image index:      0
    Custom image location:
    Custom image index:        0

REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.


C:\WINDOWS\system32>
    Follow that with diskpart - looking the disk identified by the harddisk number contained in the reagentc info:

    Code:
    C:\WINDOWS\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.14390.0

Copyright (C) 1999-2013 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: JOHN-LAPTOP

DISKPART> select disk 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list part

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    Recovery           450 MB  1024 KB
  Partition 2    System             100 MB   451 MB
  Partition 3    Reserved            16 MB   551 MB
  Partition 4    Primary            446 GB   567 MB

DISKPART>
    So my WindowsRE recovery partition is the first 450 MB partition on my SSD. If reagentc had a recovery image partition listed, that would be the Windows 8.1 recovery that Windows 10 would use if you reset your PC.
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  7. bjm
    Posts : 118
    W10 Home 22H2
    Thread Starter
       New #5

    Um, your reply is just a tad+ over my pay-grade.
    ____________________________________________________
    Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.10586]
    (c) 2015 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

    C:\WINDOWS\system32>reagentc /info
    Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configuration
    Information:

    Windows RE status: Enabled
    Windows RE location: \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition5\Recovery\WindowsRE
    Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 11beb6a4-3532-11e6-8544-8cdcd46fcbd7
    Recovery image location: \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition6\preload
    Recovery image index: 4
    Custom image location:
    Custom image index: 0

    REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.


    C:\WINDOWS\system32>diskpart

    Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.10586

    Copyright (C) 1999-2013 Microsoft Corporation.
    On computer: BJM-PCW10

    DISKPART> select disk 4

    The disk you specified is not valid.

    There is no disk selected.

    DISKPART> select disk 0

    Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

    DISKPART> list part

    Partition ### Type Size Offset
    ------------- ---------------- ------- -------
    Partition 1 Recovery 650 MB 1024 KB
    Partition 2 System 260 MB 651 MB
    Partition 3 Reserved 128 MB 911 MB
    Partition 4 Primary 905 GB 1039 MB
    Partition 5 Recovery 874 MB 906 GB
    Partition 6 Primary 24 GB 906 GB

    DISKPART>
    ___________________________________
    So, if I ran Reset this PC, the Windows 8.1 recovery partition would be used by Windows 10 to reset back to W8.1 ....? What does refresh / reset do with upgraded to Windows 10...? I thought there was a refresh Windows 10 back to cleaner Windows 10.
    So, in small words. Best to stay away from Recovery...? Work with backup Images...?
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  8. NavyLCDR
    Posts : 18,432
    Windows 11 Pro
       New #6

    I would suggest you read the "Reset your PC" link here:
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...covery-options

    I have never done a reset, so I am only going by what that Microsoft webpage says. The way I understand it:

    Selecting reset and then either Keep my files or remove everything will re-install Windows 10. This option uses the files in the C:\Windows\WinSxS folder to re-install Windows 10.

    Selecting reset and then Restore Factory Settings will re-install the version of Windows that is contained on your Recovery Image partition (the last 24 GB partition on your drive). For you, that will be the Windows 8.1 that came loaded from the factory.

    My computer does not have a Restore Factory Settings option because I do not have a factory recovery partition on my SSD. If you delete your last partition, then I expect the Restore Factory Settings option would disappear from your computer as well.
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  9. bjm
    Posts : 118
    W10 Home 22H2
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    How to Refresh Windows 10
    https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4090-refresh-windows-10-a.html
    How to Reset Windows 10
    https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4130-reset-windows-10-a.html
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