I got two recovery-partitions

lx07 · 13 Feb 2018

ddelo said:

Thanks a lot!!!! To be honest the 2nd option was the one I favored too!!

But just for confirmation, can the EFI and MSR partitions be moved to the left end without any problem?
I will do the repartitioning using the AOMEI Partition Assistant from Kyhi’s WinPESE_x64, following your suggestion:
1. Delete Recovery Partition 1
2. Move System (EFI) Partition 2 to the left end
3. Move MSR Partition 3 next to EFI
4. Move Primary partition 4 next to MSR and finally
5. Move Recovery Partition 5 next to Primary, to leave it space for future growth from the next Win 10 updates.

Hope it works!

Looks fine to me.

1. Yes

2. Yes - it is definitely fine to move the EFI System partition. I have and it is not a problem. Windows doesn't care where it is - you could put it a completely different drive or a USB key if you wanted. MS recommend putting it partition 1 so I do.

3. The MSR partition is not formatted and contains nothing (normally). You can move it (or even delete it) but I always put it before C as MS say to do so. Note they say "before C" not "after ESP". Normally these will be the same if you do the standard layout.

4. Yes - move C volume (the primary partition Windows calls it) to the left next to the MSR.

5. You could leave recovery partition where it is and expand C (by 450MB). If Windows needs a bit more space in future for the recovery partition it will steal it from the C volume by shrinking it. If the recovery partition is last it can do this without adding a new partition to the end. That is why MS recommend having recovery last not first.

Interestingly whoever writes the Windows installers didn't read their own documentation - a clean install of Windows 10 still puts recovery first which is against their documented standards and a stupid idea (as you noticed).

ddelo · 13 Feb 2018

lx07 said:

Interestingly whoever writes the Windows installers didn't read their own documentation - a clean install of Windows 10 still puts recovery first which is against their documented standards and a stupid idea (as you noticed).

Thanks again for your time, I appreciate it

I'll start my image now and report back with the results....and BTW I couldn't agree more with your last comment!!!!

lx07 · 13 Feb 2018

Best of luck - it will be fine, and, if you have recovery partition last you'll never have to do it again (probably).

Make a backup of C before you move it. I never had a problem with partition wizard but...

ddelo · 15 Feb 2018

UPDATE (sorry for the delay....had to take care of business!)

Goes without saying, that a FULL system image was taken with Macrium Reflect, before everything! (Greatly advised for anyone who starts playing with partitions).

Partitions status BEFORE:

I got two recovery-partitions-partitions1.jpg

Repartitioned with AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro from Kyhi’s WinPESE_x64.

Steps taken:
1. Deleted partition 1 (old Recovery 450 MB). It became Unallocated Space
2. Moved partition 2 (EFI 100 MB) to the far left. It became Partition 1
3. Moved partition 3 (MSR 16 MB) next to EFI. It became Partition 2
4. Merged partition 4 (Primary 463 GB) with the unallocated space created by the deletion of the old Recovery 450 MB. It took some time, (close to 30 min, understandable, due to size). It became Partition 3
5. Rebooted and everything went smoothly...
6. Checked with diskpart and I had 4 new partitions and when checked Reagentc /info, RE was enabled for the new Partition 4, without running
Reagentc /setreimage /path \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition4\Recovery\WindowsRE

Partitions status AFTER:

I got two recovery-partitions-partitions2.jpg

If that last one (the automatic registration of RE to the correct new partition) is explainable...then everything went PERFECT!

A HUGE thanks to @lx07 and @NavyLCDR for their greatly appreciated help!!! :):)

fdegrove · 15 Feb 2018

Hi,

If that last one (the automatic registration of RE to the correct new partition) is explainable...then everything went PERFECT!

Only the partition # was changed, not the partition itself. That's why.

Cheers,

ddelo · 15 Feb 2018

fdegrove said:

Hi,
Only the partition # was changed, not the partition itself. That's why.

Cheers,

Makes sense! Thanks :)

ddelo · 15 Feb 2018

And I completely forgot to pay my respect where is well deserved:
A big thanks to @Kyhi for his excellent WinPE disk and the tools he has included.

Kyhi · 16 Feb 2018

You are Welcome..