Recovery partitions keep or delete?

nate42nd

Learing every day
Member
Most new computers are shipping without installation CDs. You can make "recovery CDs" with the manufacturers included wizard. Can you do clean installs with these?

What are you doing with your recovery partitions? As you start dual-booting Vista and Windows 7 what is the best thing to do with the recovery partition? Is it worth keeping? My recovery partition is to the left of the Vista partition....so can I even use this space without doing a clean install and deleting with the install disk?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    The Terminator
    CPU
    Core 2 Quad
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
    Memory
    4X2GB GSkill 1066Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 9500 GT
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 932 bw 19" and Syncmaster 2033 20"
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900 and 1600 X 900
    Hard Drives
    Patriot Torqx 128GB SSD
    WD Black 640GB
    PSU
    Corsair 750HX
    Case
    Lian Li PC-B70
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7
    Keyboard
    An old e-machines PS-2 (I have HUGE fingers and it works)
    Mouse
    Microsoft wireless laser mouse 5000
    Internet Speed
    7 Mps
I have just left the recovery partition to reside as it is,the space it occupies is about 7GB and by deleting it I am not going to gain anything but by keeping it I am confident that if anything goes wrong I can always restore my laptop to Factory state, I have also made a recovery disc as an additional security.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Biostar
    CPU
    AMD Athlonx64 Dual Core 3800+ 2.0GHz
    Motherboard
    Biostar MCP6P-M2
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS
    Monitor(s) Displays
    CIBOX
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi 160GB
That's a good idea. I made recovery discs with the "wizard" HP ships. I am assuming it's an image since it took 3 DVDs. Could you use those to do a clean install?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    The Terminator
    CPU
    Core 2 Quad
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
    Memory
    4X2GB GSkill 1066Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 9500 GT
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 932 bw 19" and Syncmaster 2033 20"
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900 and 1600 X 900
    Hard Drives
    Patriot Torqx 128GB SSD
    WD Black 640GB
    PSU
    Corsair 750HX
    Case
    Lian Li PC-B70
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7
    Keyboard
    An old e-machines PS-2 (I have HUGE fingers and it works)
    Mouse
    Microsoft wireless laser mouse 5000
    Internet Speed
    7 Mps
Only to factory condition when you got the computer.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Compaq Presario/SR5113WM
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ 1.9Ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N68-LA
    Memory
    PNY Optima Memory DDR2 2GB 2x1 kit
    Graphics Card(s)
    PNY Nvidia 8400 GS 256MB
    Sound Card
    On board RealTek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer X163W LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 160 GB SATA 3G (3.0Gb/sec)
    7200 rpm
    Western Digital 160 GB IDE
    PSU
    Dynex 400w
    Case
    Nothin Special
    Cooling
    Stock
    Keyboard
    Standard 102 key with volume and sleep buttons
    Mouse
    Wireless Logitech LX7
    Internet Speed
    Comcrap 10mb cable
    Other Info
    Insignia 2.1 speakers, wireless Xbox 360 controller w/plug n play charger, Belkin wireless G + mimo usb network adapter.
I wonder why it would take 3 DVDs to just restore it to factory state. I use Macrium reflect to "ghost" my system so I would never use the recovery partition. (unless I couldn't get Macrium to work) I guess it's so small that it's not hurting anything. I just don't see a lot of recovery partitions on screen shots. Just wondering if they're worth keeping.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    The Terminator
    CPU
    Core 2 Quad
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
    Memory
    4X2GB GSkill 1066Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 9500 GT
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 932 bw 19" and Syncmaster 2033 20"
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900 and 1600 X 900
    Hard Drives
    Patriot Torqx 128GB SSD
    WD Black 640GB
    PSU
    Corsair 750HX
    Case
    Lian Li PC-B70
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7
    Keyboard
    An old e-machines PS-2 (I have HUGE fingers and it works)
    Mouse
    Microsoft wireless laser mouse 5000
    Internet Speed
    7 Mps
It all depends on what HP installed on your computer software wise and what programs they installed will depend on how many DVD's you had to use.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Compaq Presario/SR5113WM
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ 1.9Ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N68-LA
    Memory
    PNY Optima Memory DDR2 2GB 2x1 kit
    Graphics Card(s)
    PNY Nvidia 8400 GS 256MB
    Sound Card
    On board RealTek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer X163W LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 160 GB SATA 3G (3.0Gb/sec)
    7200 rpm
    Western Digital 160 GB IDE
    PSU
    Dynex 400w
    Case
    Nothin Special
    Cooling
    Stock
    Keyboard
    Standard 102 key with volume and sleep buttons
    Mouse
    Wireless Logitech LX7
    Internet Speed
    Comcrap 10mb cable
    Other Info
    Insignia 2.1 speakers, wireless Xbox 360 controller w/plug n play charger, Belkin wireless G + mimo usb network adapter.
I wonder why it would take 3 DVDs to just restore it to factory state. I use Macrium reflect to "ghost" my system so I would never use the recovery partition. (unless I couldn't get Macrium to work) I guess it's so small that it's not hurting anything. I just don't see a lot of recovery partitions on screen shots. Just wondering if they're worth keeping.

Hi Nate,

Usually you will have 2 DVDs for the actual Vista restoration, then 1 DVD that includes your device drivers and the freebie and trial applications that came with your computer.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
I deleted the recovery partition on my laptop, it's inconceivable that I would ever want to go back to the ex factory state.

All drivers I need, I have saved on a dvd.

Bernard
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 7720G
    Memory
    4 GB
I wonder why it would take 3 DVDs to just restore it to factory state. I use Macrium reflect to "ghost" my system so I would never use the recovery partition. (unless I couldn't get Macrium to work) I guess it's so small that it's not hurting anything. I just don't see a lot of recovery partitions on screen shots. Just wondering if they're worth keeping.

If you have image backup and a DVD factory restore set I see no reason to keep the partition other than inertia. I have mine on Vista64 because I don't want to add any OS for awhile. On my 32 bit machine I dual boot Vista/XP and I got rid of the restore partition. If you put Linux on then you can use it for a swap partition.

If you leave it on and make partitions around it then it's just one more thing for the disk head to seek over. Causes thrashing.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion m9515y
    CPU
    Phenom X4 9850
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Some Radeon Cheapie with 512 MB Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    CRT
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    750 GB SATA 3G
    2 SIIG Superspeed docks w/WD Caviar Black Sata II or III
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