Clean Windows Install: Do I need the 100mb EFI System Partition?

efi is your boot partition do not delete or a reinstall will be necessary.
The 3 partitions are normal for a clean install, OEM recovery is a factory recovery to
reset windows to new state. There are tutorials here on how you can customize
your recovery partition.

g725s said:

Okay, so I just got a new laptop. It is a Lenovo, a deal I just got from Costco for $400 exactly. Latest i3, 256 SSD, 8 gigs ram, etc. Nothing special. I will use it mainly for taking my QuickBooks with me and surfing the web and email and Word with Office.

But I've always been one to do Clean Installs of Windows and get rid of the bloat.

My laptop came with 3 partitions that I am aware of. 2 that I'm not sure I need or not.
The OEM Recovery partition and the EFI System Partition.

I kind of got ahead of myself and did what I thought was a clean install of Windows 10 (Home I believe) using Windows Media tool and via a USB drive. But now notice that there are these other partitions. Even though I tried to delete and consolidate any partitions during the clean install at the beginning where you can do that with the drive.

Since doing the clean install and then finding these other partitions I have already deleted the OEM Recovery partition using diskpart.

Is the EFI system partition a Lenovo thing? It is necessary?

I honestly would have used the Recovery Manager and made you a copy of the entire factory default state to DVDs. That way, if something happens, you could install it all back to it's original settings. What you did, was probably voided the warranty. I know why you done it though. I do the same thing. I have. But I have always created Recovery DVDs.

RainbowPride said:

I honestly would have used the Recovery Manager and made you a copy of the entire factory default state to DVDs. That way, if something happens, you could install it all back to it's original settings. What you did, was probably voided the warranty. I know why you done it though. I do the same thing. I have. But I have always created Recovery DVDs.

I go with Macrium reflect and do a complete image

Some manufacturers have recovery disks you can order or download....check yours

While the recovery partition isn't totally necessary (macrium reflect , acronis etc provide other
recovery options)
The EFI partition should NOT be deleted as it is A Necessary Partition.

NavyLCDR said:

Replacing the factory software load with a clean install of Windows (or Linux for that matter) will in no way void the warranty. That's like saying if the user changes the software load by installing their own programs it voids the warranty.



To do a clean install of Windows 10, you delete every partition on the physical drive until it is only unallocated space. If you happen to have your own data partition (IE: D drive) you can leave that one on the drive. Then you highlight the unallocated space and click next to let Windows setup create the needed partitions, such as the EFI system partition. The EFI system partition is required for the computer to boot from, but it can be deleted before a clean install because Windows setup will just recreate it anyway as part of the install process.

Yes, that is what I've always done when booting from the USB to do the clean install consolidating everything to unallocated space and putting Windows 10 on that. I guess I just never noticed the EFI being created till now. But you are saying that it is created by the install and it not Lenovo related.

A Lenovo app that checks for updates is recommending the Intel Rapid Storage Technology 10 (64) driver. Is this not something that Windows 10 would update?