Multiple partitions on new laptop- which one to delete?

Benzened

New Member
Messages
4
Hi all, just bought a new Dell Inspiron 15 7537 laptop and have noticed that the hard drive has 6 partitions on it. 2 OEM partitions (one 40mb and one 8gb), 2 recovery partitions (one 490mb and one 7.8gb), 1 EFI system partition and 1 primary partition. I am unsure which one is useful and which one I can safely delete. Also, all of them except for the primary partition are 100% free (nothing on them at all!)
Also, I am unable to right click on any of the partitions besides the main one (C:).

Partitions.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 7537
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4500U @ 1.80GHz
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 07PF9F
    Memory
    16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1080 x 1920
    Hard Drives
    ST1000LM014-1EJ164
    Browser
    firefox

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire E1-571
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer Type-2
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD 4000
    Sound Card
    High Definiton Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 Pro 256GB
    PSU
    Generic
    Keyboard
    QWERTY
    Mouse
    ELANTECH Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    12.68Mbps
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Don't delete any partitions, these partitions are not empty.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G580
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3230M
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, standard user account
    Other Info
    UEFI firmware (BIOS) embedded Windows 8 product key.
^^^ Yes. Those partitions have content, it's MS disk management failing to report the real numbers. Use another partition program to see the usage. If you don't mind loosing the ability for OS recovery, you could eliminate some of the partitions, this needs knowledge and planning.

My advice, don't touch anything (except maybe splitting the main partition into C: for OS\programs & D: for files).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W8.1, W7
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP \ Toshiba \ Lenovo \ Dell E7440
    Browser
    FF
My advice, don't touch anything (except maybe splitting the main partition into C: for OS\programs & D: for files).

Thank you very much for the advice guys.

How do I go about splitting the main partition into 2?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 7537
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4500U @ 1.80GHz
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 07PF9F
    Memory
    16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1080 x 1920
    Hard Drives
    ST1000LM014-1EJ164
    Browser
    firefox
I use Free Partition Magic alternative, partition manager freeware, partition magic server, partition magic Windows 7 and free Partition Manager software for Windows 7/8/VISTA/XP/2000 and Windows Server 2003/2008/2000. for w8 with good results (there you'll also see that all the partitions actually got content).

Shrink C: then create D: form the resulting unallocated part. This is an easy job that should give zero problems, but (I recommend to) always do a backup\imaging before working on partitions. Also, make your w8 recovery dvd's, and make the Partition Wizard bootable media.

Do some reading first, lots of info on MiniTool Partition Wizard on this forum and the web, and on their website, for example How to resize Partition for Windows Server 2000/2003/2008 or Windows XP/7/Vista with partition magic manager software? Move/Resize Partition Help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W8.1, W7
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP \ Toshiba \ Lenovo \ Dell E7440
    Browser
    FF
I would create your recovery media before doing anything to the drive. I've seen a few threads where modifying partitions has broken the link to the factory recovery partition and thus prevented creating recovery media.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
All of these partitions except for that containing Windows are for purposes defined by the OEM, often not fully documented. As such there is no requirement that the contents conforms to normal Windows standards and they often do not. As such utilities like Disk Manager have no way of knowing anything about the contents so reported disk usage may or may not conform to reality. They will contain data whether Disk Manager reports it or not.

Create a backup before modifying the Windows partition. Resizing procedures occasionally go wrong and you could be left with an unbootable system and no way to recover the system.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
How to split the system partition to two partitions.

Right-click on the Start button (or press Windows-X) and select Disk Management.

Then right-click on the system partition and select the Shrink Volume option (see screenshots below).

Disk Management 1.png

Disk Management 2.png

Disk Management 3.png

Disk Management 4.png

Note:

This also works when the hard drive have a recovery partition(s) after the C: partition (see screenshots below).

New volume 1.png

New volume 2.png

New volume 3.png

Note: If you have an OEM PC that came with Windows 8/8.1 preinstalled, you may not use the third-party partition software (for example, EaseUS Partition Master), because modifying the hard drive partition structure usually break the factory restore feature. But if you use Windows Disk Management to shrink the C: partition, then Refresh and Reset should work.

EDIT: This program does not break the factory restore feature: Free Partition Manager - AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo G580
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3230M
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, standard user account
    Other Info
    UEFI firmware (BIOS) embedded Windows 8 product key.
Have you made the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disks?

information   Information

We always assume you have made your Recovery Disks using the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Media Creator app the first day you had your new PC.
& made the Startup Repair CD. (Windows 8 only)
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2855-system-repair-disc-create-windows-8-a.html (Windows 8 only)




I would recommend you making the OEM manufacturer's Recovery DVD's or USB drive.

Dell Windows 8 Recovery.
Windows 8 - Recovery Media in 99 Seconds - YouTube
Recovering Windows using the Dell Direct USB Key - YouTube
Dell Direct USB Key Solution - YouTube
Dell Recovery Mode - Making Recovery CD - YouTube
Factory image restore method for Windows 8 (DBRM) | Dell US
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Hang on, whats the difference between creating a system image and creating a recovery disk/drive? This is very confusing to me :think: Are they the same thing?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 7537
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4500U @ 1.80GHz
    Motherboard
    Dell Inc. 07PF9F
    Memory
    16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Screen Resolution
    1080 x 1920
    Hard Drives
    ST1000LM014-1EJ164
    Browser
    firefox
Hang on, whats the difference between creating a system image and creating a recovery disk/drive? This is very confusing to me :think: Are they the same thing?

Recovery disk Set= factory reset this is set of disk that will return your computer to factory shipped condition The manufacture should have a program on you computer to create this disk set. or if you lucky they shipped a set with your computer?

Image= is a complete image of a Hard Disk or SSD complete, it will restore your computer to exactly the way it is when you created the image. Usually we use a back up program like Macrium Reflect or Paragon to create and restore.

So yes they are quite different things
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro MC
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus G75VW / Z97 Pro
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-3610QM / I7-4790K
    Motherboard
    Z97 Pro
    Memory
    16 GB Hyundai HTM315156CFR8C-PB PC3-12800
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (GF114M)
    Sound Card
    VIA 6.0.10.1600
    Screen Resolution
    1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 Pro 256, Samsung 850 Pro 1TB
    Internet Speed
    30 down 3 up
    Browser
    Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    NIS and Malwarebytes
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