Solved Will adding a partition upset the Windows partition order?

netnative

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I would like to add a partition to a drive having the following partitions:


Number

Partition

Size

1​
Windows RE

499 MB​

2​
EFI System

300 MB​

3​
MSR

128 MB​

4​
C:\

216 GB​

5​
Windows RE

450 MB​

6​
Samsung Image

19 GB​

7​
Samsung Recovery

1 GB​

This should be easy to do with MiniTool Partition Wizard. In essence, resize “C:\”, add the partition in the unallocated space, assign the drive letter “D” to the new partition, and format it to NTFS.

You will notice that the drive has two Windows RE partitions. This is because I updated to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8 through the Microsoft Store.

My question is if by adding “D:\” I will upset the partition order that Windows expects to have. Your advice would be appreciated.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Ultra
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3337U
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
'D' is usually assigned to the CD/ROM drive; the wizard may show you letters available to assign. Other than that, I don't see a problem with it, just don't short change yourself on OS space.
If you could post a screenshot of Disk Management, that would give better insight.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 7 Home Premium
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion
  • PC2
    Tablet - Windows 10 Home
Thank you for responding so quickly! I attached a snip of Disk Management.

'D' is usually assigned to the CD/ROM drive; the wizard may show you letters available to assign. Other than that, I don't see a problem with it, just don't short change yourself on OS space.
If you could post a screenshot of Disk Management, that would give better insight.
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Ultra
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3337U
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Looks okay, I'm just not sure if those Recovery Partitions in front of 'C' block will become a bottleneck!?
Right click on C to see how much you can shrink it.
(Remember, you can only shrink that piece once but you don't want short change the OS space either!)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 7 Home Premium
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion
  • PC2
    Tablet - Windows 10 Home
If you haven't made your recovery media I would do it before you do anything to the drive. I've seen a few posts where modifying the factory drive partition structure breaks the factory restore feature. The Windows 8 Refresh and Reset may not work after you modify the drive partitions. If you originally installed Windows 8 and have install media then don't worry about it.
 

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
Those are precisely my concerns.

If you haven't made your recovery media I would do it before you do anything to the drive. I've seen a few posts where modifying the factory drive partition structure breaks the factory restore feature. The Windows 8 Refresh and Reset may not work after you modify the drive partitions. If you originally installed Windows 8 and have install media then don't worry about it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Ultra
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3337U
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
The partitions before C:\ are part of the factory installation. The Windows RE partition after C:\ was automatically added during the Windows 8.1 upgrade.

Looks okay, I'm just not sure if those Recovery Partitions in front of 'C' block will become a bottleneck!?
Right click on C to see how much you can shrink it.
(Remember, you can only shrink that piece once but you don't want short change the OS space either!)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Ultra
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3337U
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
The partitions before C:\ are part of the factory installation. The Windows RE partition after C:\ was automatically added during the Windows 8.1 upgrade.

Looks okay, I'm just not sure if those Recovery Partitions in front of 'C' block will become a bottleneck!?
Right click on C to see how much you can shrink it.
(Remember, you can only shrink that piece once but you don't want short change the OS space either!)

Reset and Refresh may already be broken. From what I've read on these forums, after doing the store upgrade to 8.1, one of two things may happen. Doing a Reset will put you back to Windows 8.0, if it works at all. Or you'll be prompted for Windows 8.1 install media, which you don't have. I'm just going by what I've read. I've ditched the factory OEM 8.0 installs on my 2 laptops for clean installs of Windows 8.1 with update. There is no going back for me know. The factory recovery partition contains an image of the way the PC was when it came from the factory. The newly created 8.1 recovery partition doesn't contain any image, just some recovery tools etc, thus it asks for install media to get the files it needs. Also it appears that the pointer that the factory recovery utility uses may get pointed to the wrong partition because the 8.1 upgrade adds partitions. It has a lot to do with how the OEM set it up originally, some use more partitions than others. I am by no means an expert on thus, I just advise caution before you do anything. You may want to do some more research first. With any luck somebody that actually knows more about this will post some more info. If you have a larg enough external drive you may want to make an image your system just the way it is now. That way if things get messed up you can restore the image and get a working system back. I've seen this mentioned many times here so have a look, Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download
 

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
What 'alpha' said; good advice! ;)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 7 Home Premium
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion
  • PC2
    Tablet - Windows 10 Home
Reset and Refresh may already be broken.

All should be okay if you receive the following screen (see screenshot below).

Note the following text: Go to the Windows Store to reinstall Windows 8.1 and your apps.



I've seen a few posts where modifying the factory drive partition structure breaks the factory restore feature. The Windows 8 Refresh and Reset may not work after you modify the drive partitions.

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 (see screenshot below), then refresh and reset should work, even if you have the 350 MB or 450 MB recovery partition after the C: partition. EDIT: This program does not break the factory restore feature: Free Partition Manager - AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard

I added more pictures to this post: link

 
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.
Ah, I was hoping you might post a reply. I'm retired and just don't have any experience with these issues like those in the field do. Sometimes my memory isn't so good so just trying to remember what worked and what didn't can be hard. I should really start book marking some of these threads so I can keep track of things better. The forum search doesn't always help either. Anyway Netnative, Genet should be able to help you sort it out.
 

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
Thank you for your replies. I would have liked to do this a week ago. But usually work prevents me from embarking on projects like this one. This weekend I intend to follow the advice of alphanumeric and genet and let you know how it went.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Ultra
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3337U
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
It went perfectly. I used Macrium Reflect Free Edition as suggested by alphanumeric and Windows Disk Management as recommended by genet. After the process was completed, "Refresh your PC without affecting your files" was available.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Ultra
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3337U
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
After the process was completed, "Refresh your PC without affecting your files" was available.

Did you get the following screen? Note: Do not select the "Next" button.

All should be okay if you receive the following screen (see screenshot below) when you select: PC settings > Update and recovery > Recovery > click on the Get started button under the Refresh your PC without affecting your files section.

Note the following text: Go to the Windows Store to reinstall Windows 8.1 and your apps.

 
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.
Exactly. Thank you.

After the process was completed, "Refresh your PC without affecting your files" was available.

Did you get the following screen? Note: Do not select the "Next" button.

All should be okay if you receive the following screen (see screenshot below) when you select: PC settings > Update & recovery > Recovery > click on the Get started button under the Refresh your PC without affecting your files section.

Note the following text: Go to the Windows Store to reinstall Windows 8.1 and your apps.

 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung Series 7 Ultra
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3337U
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Browser
    Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
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