Solved Can't optimize Recovery

[Mystere]

Defrag says Recovery is fragmented, but will not optimize????

Who cares? You don't use that partition on a daily basis, and only when reformatting your disk... I suppose you're probably just OCD and want everything to say 0%

If you don't care, why are you sticking you nose it it? Some people are just agitators.

Whatever, dude. Just pointing out how irrelevant it is.

 

[my2cents]

Got it some what fixed:

1. Added drive letter I:.
2. Went to I: > Explorer > Properties > Tools > Scan and found errors.
3. Ran sfc /scannow and it repaired some errors. Some errors were not repaired but I did not find anything in CBS.log except duplicate owners for some folders.
4. Ran optimize and got fragmentation down to 1%.
5. Removed the drive letter.

Running 2 above no longer finds any errors. I went through the operations a couple of more times but did not accomplish anything.

Now you might want to test the functionality associated with that partition just to make sure it still works as designed. Good luck.

 

[rdwray]

The partition was corrupt and Windows 8 said "do something about it or you will not have any recovery" - see the screen shot. When I ran "scan" from properties and sfc, both said that there was errors in the partition, and now there isn't. I have 2 clones of that same hard disk and neither have any problems with fragmentation, why?

 

[Lee]

The recovery partition is for the exclusive use of the recovery system. It should not be modified in any way for any reason or it may not be able to serve it's intended purpose.

It shouldn't be fragmented to start with.

Please explain . . . if this was sat by the manufacture it may because they saw no reason for a defrag.I just checked my new Dell laptop's recovery drive and it showed eight percent fragmentation, hence I will leave it alone; just in case . .

Darn it sure is good there is a edit button it took me four rewrites to hopefully get this little paragraph correct (hopefully), Stokes sure are fun it is like seeing or learning something new everyday. . .

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there.

Funny that there have been articles recently on Defrag -- with modern SSD's and faster spinners really this is essentially a TOTAL NON ISSUE apart from the rare case of "Virtual Hard Drive" defragmentation when using Virtual machines - however this case is addressed by using the Virtual Machine software utilities itself and is a "Softare re-org" not a hardware issue. -- Defragging a partition that is unlikely EVER to be used (the manufacturers recovery one) is POINTLESS in the extreme and totally unnecessary.

This type of process belongs in the realm of DINOSAUR TECHNOLOGY -- if you have USER DATA (such as music / office documents, films etc) on separate disks to your OS (or at least separate partitions) you should NEVER need to defrag a disk -- playing music for example doesn't require a decent amount of disk optimisation - or even writing a word document.

Backing up the OS with a separate backup / recovery program is IMO far better than using the manufacturers recovery partitioin -- Back that up ONCE with your own backup program and store it away. You can then DELETE that partition -- restore from your backup if you really need to get back to the original "shop" state.

Why on earth all this nonsense of defrag is suddenly appearing in late 2013 is beyond me -- has somebody got a "Job Lot" of a de-fragger for sale !!


Cheers
jimbo

 

[rdwray]

Everyone seems to think they know better than I do, then:

Here is Recovery saying that I am fragmented and Windows 8 saying that it needs to be optimized.
Partitions properties > Scan says the partition is corrupt.
SFC says the partition is corrupt.
ChkDsk says no problems.
2 other cloned hard drives do not have the problem.

Want to explain another resolve to the problem????

 

[my2cents]

Everyone seems to think they know better than I do, then:

Here is Recovery saying that I am fragmented and Windows 8 saying that it needs to be optimized.
Partitions properties > Scan says the partition is corrupt.
SFC says the partition is corrupt.
ChkDsk says no problems.
2 other cloned hard drives do not have the problem.

Want to explain another resolve to the problem????

Hello rdrwray,

I really think that everyone was just either trying to help directly or just expressing their opinion. Sometimes, a specific post or issue will receive many varying suggestions and your issue seemed to trigger a bunch of them. With that said, it sounds like you may have fixed your issue, and if you have been able to verify same, please consider marking this thread as solved and good luck to you going forward.

Cheers,

my2cents

 

[rdwray]

my2cents, I agree with everything you said, but how do we know that it is solved for sure?

 

[my2cents]

I agree with everything you said, but how do we know that it is solved for sure?

One would have to test the functionality associated with the recovery partition that was massaged. Now, in my case, I would simply create a USB recovery drive, boot from it, and see if I can navigate throughout. However, I sense there are distinct differences between our installations; in that, I have a self-built UEFI install and you appear to have a Dell configuration which may require a completely different methodology to test. With that said, I would look to Dell for instructions on how to do that in your particular case (and configuration). My uneducated guess is that you are probably OK at this point but I (personally) would want to know for sure. Good luck and I hope this information helps you. Good luck.

 

[rdwray]

My recovery is considerably larger -8.42 GB; 89% free. I have 3 OS running and 4 partitions.

Your Recovery is saying "Needs Optimized" also, have you ran: Right click on partition > Properties > Tools > Scan ?

 

[my2cents]

My recovery is considerably larger -8.42 GB; 89% free. I have 3 OS running and 4 partitions.

Your Recovery is saying "Needs Optimized" also, have you ran: Right click on partition > Properties > Tools > Scan ?

See my original post #20. I'm OK with that "as-is." Thanks for asking though. Cheers!

 

[caperjack]

not having a recovery parting when you need it is not the end of the world ,there are ways around it

as suggested you could contact Dell now,i would

 

[rdwray]

not having a recovery parting when you need it is not the end of the world ,there are ways around it

as suggested you could contact Dell now,i would

caperjack, I appreciate it, but Windows 8 on this machine is a purchase I made and there may be compatibility issues, I can post to their forum.

One big problem I have been seeing is that Windows 7 and Windows 8 running in dual boot can cause problems; i.e. one is that Windows 7 deleting the Windows 8 system restore file.

 

[LMiller7]

Th recovery partition was created by the OEM as a means of conveniently recovering the system in the event that becomes necessary. It is NOT a part of Windows. The contents of the partition may be organized any way the OEM chooses. It may be normal files or it may be something completely different, only the OEM knows for sure. The OEM is free to change the organization at any time for any reason without notice.

The Windows defrag utility (or any other) can only report that the partition is fragmented by making assumptions about it's contents. These assumptions may be correct, or thy may be hopelessly wrong. The defrag utility may see the partition as being completely normal but the OEM software may see it as a complete mess and be unable to use it.

For that reason the recovery partition should never be modified in any way for any reason.

 

[rdwray]

LMiller7, if I read you correctly, it may be a good idea to copy the partition from one of the hard disks that I know is good to the and replace the one I am unsure about - right?

 

[caperjack]

LMiller7, if I read you correctly, it may be a good idea to copy the partition from one of the hard disks that I know is good to the and replace the one I am unsure about - right?

just because its bit fragmented doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it ,win8 might see it fragmented but win8 doesn't know the drive is a oem recovery ,so leave it alone till you need it ,make sure you save one of the clone copy's you have

 

[rdwray]

caperjack, I have one in a drawer that never gets used. I have a second PC that I transfer all data to when necessary. I have lost hard drives before and it ruins my day...

 

[caperjack]

caperjack, I have one in a drawer that never gets used. I have a second PC that I transfer all data to when necessary. I have lost hard drives before and it ruins my day...

all i can say is i hope all goes well what ever you choose to do ,good luck

 

[rdwray]

thanks caperjack same to you and God's blessings....

 

[rdwray]

After doing some further investigating, the Recovery partition is not that important "if" you have the install/recovery disk which I do have. As most of you know, a repair is much more important than a recovery if possible. The Recovery partition is going to format you disk and put everything back to factory install which means all you installed programs are GONE... With the way MS is operating now, a recovery process can cause serious problems with trying to reinstall their software with their new "one time" license. I suggest a cloned, spare hard drive, mine are refurbished and cheap.