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Windows 10 Version 20H1 brings an important change in Windows Setup
There’s a fundamental flaw in Windows 10 Setup when performing a clean install on a new empty hard disk or SSD. The same is true when wiping the disk empty on a device containing a previous Windows 10 installation and deleting all partitions and performing a clean install.
The flaw is, Windows Setup positions the small but important 500 MB recovery partition first on the system disk. If and when future feature upgrades need more space to store the recovery environment, the recovery partition cannot expand, and a new recovery partition is created.
In a clean install, when user lets Windows Setup to partition a GPT hard disk, the important Windows Recovery partition is created first on system disk (yellow highlight in screenshot), followed by EFI, MSR (Microsoft Reserved, not shown in Disk Management), and Windows partitions:
This is against Microsoft's own guidelines for GPT partitioning. Microsoft tells that Recovery partition should always be placed after the Windows system partition, not first on disk, yet this is exactly what Windows Setup does. Screenshot from official Microsoft documentation:
The problem is, when a future feature upgrade needs more space for recovery tools, the partition cannot expand, EFI partition blocking it. Windows Setup has no alternative, it must create a new recovery partition after the Windows system partition, C: drive (blue highlight):
The recovery partition can something no other partition can: it can expand backwards, when placed directly after the Windows partition. It "steals" the space it needs from Windows partition when next feature upgrade again needs to expand recovery partition. Green highlight shows where the recovery partition would expand next time it needs more space:
Currently, up to Windows 10 version 1909, if user lets Windows Setup to partition disk, it looks like this:
Recovery partition first on disk. However, version 20H1 will change this, as Fast Ring Insiders will see when clean installing recent Insider builds. The recovery partition is no longer created when Windows Setup partitions the disk. Windows will be installed first, and only at final stages of setup, recovery partition is created in correct place, directly after the Windows system partition.
Here's how Fast Ring Insiders will see Windows Setup to partition system disk now:
Recovery partition not created yet, it will be created in correct place only at final stages of Windows Setup.
This is a minor change in Windows Setup, but with a major impact. Finally, Windows Setup will follow the Microsoft's own partitioning guidelines.
Kari