Windows 10 upgrade creates too many partition

lx07 said:

If your WinRE partition isn't big enough then it creates new partitions when your upgrade. It isn't clear which is the currently registered partition - it could be 5 or 7 or even 1.

In addition to above show a print of reagentc /info from elevated command prompt and it will tell you which it is using.

Code:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.14393]
(c) 2016 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\partition1\Recovery\WindowsRE
    Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 60a76a2a-e726-10e6-9763-d4823e10b645
    Recovery image location:
    Recovery image index:      0
    Custom image location:
    Custom image index:        0

REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.


C:\Windows\system32>

That's a quick way of finding it. In addition, MiniTool will let you explore un-lettered partitions, like the other small ones, and check the dates on the files. Helps to determine what's in there and what can be safely deleted.

tsam said:

Thank you all guys for your advices. Maybe I finally understood what happened to my drive: partition #1, partition #2 and partition #3 as described in this link Numerous recovery partitions after a few formats and installations




Partition #7 was the recovery partition which probably have to exist at the beginnig after WINDOWS partition (as described in this link Too many Recovery Partitions???), 842 MB UNALLOCATED SPACE and Partition #5 were respectively created when I upgraded first to WINDOWS 10 and then to WINDOWS 10 anniversary edition (probably because there is not enough free space available on the RECOVERY partition).

In short I will provide MiniTool and reagentc /info data, to target active and actually used partitions.

Good, @tsam! You're getting there!

dalchina said:

Please clarify if you're using legacy BIOS or UEFI and whether your disk is formatted as GPT or MBR.

By definition it must be UEFI as more than 4 primary partitions.

tsam said:

Recently I noticed that after upgrading to the latest version of Windows 10 anniversary on my HP notebook, the partition table on my disk has been changed (including the creation of 842 MB of unallocated space, and the resize of the partition containing windows 10 from 200 GB to 199.09 GB). I attached the screenshot of Macrium reflect.

Attachment 124933

The only partitions that I'd like to keep are the following:

• WINDOWS C: os partition;
• HP Data F: created for storing data;
• RECOVERY D: HP recovery partition.

Now I'd like to know among the remaining partitions what are those can I delete and what are instead the partition should I keep to prevent issues allowing windows 10 works properly ?
I'd rather avoid to run a clean windows 10 installation.

Actually, you only need to keep two partitions as a minimum i.e. the FAT32 partition (do not under any circumstances delete this) and the C drive, but also you want to keep the F: partition for sure in your case.

Frankly, keeping recovery partitions on Windows 10 does not really benefit you much as you can simply use an installation usb drive to achieve same end. I actually delete them all to save space.

The 3rd partition of 128 MB can normally be deleted (actually in a fresh w10 install it is now only 16MB) but some say to keep it for future needs. I delete it as you can recreate it anyway. This partition is a bit of a PITA as even 3rd party tools will not move this one, so you can end up with a fair bit of wasted space to left of it.