Efi Partition

[slopechz]

But I do still wonder why your EFI partition is so full... You can clearly see the Free space in my EFI (SYSTEM) partition in the pic above

My mistake, I used Easus Pro, not AOMEI. To be safe, I added 20gb of space to the EFI partition. I really do not understand why I had so little space in my EFI partition. I do like to distro hop and try various Linux distros. Perhaps that was the problem.

I only pick those distros that do not require Grub to be installed so only one distro (Mint or Ubuntu) is controlling Grub. Perhaps that is an explanation as to why my EFI is so bloated.

Everything seems to be working, although I find this new partitioning scheme troubling. Life was much easier with the old MBR layout. Is it a problem having such a large EFI partition?

Sorry for the trouble.

 

[alphanumeric]

I wouldn't worry about and just ignore the message. As far I know Windows doesn't save any additional files to that partition after its installed. It's made as small as possible on purpose. In Windows it doesn't have a drive letter. One thing that does is it stops Windows from warning of low disk space. Why Mint flags it I don't know, hopefully Mint isn't putting any files in that partition. I'm on my desktop pc that is normal legacy BIOS so it doesn't have an EFI partition for me to compare sizes with.

 

[Saltgrass]

On my Dell system, the EFI System partition is 500 MB with 26 MB used. Linux can do strange things since it will install in different ways concerning GPT or MBR drivers. Perhaps a picture of your Disk Management picture might help. If it installed in UEFI mode it should not have used much more than 26 MBs, but maybe it added additional files in addition to the normal EFI boot files.

If you have used EaseUS, it would be a good idea to attach a Disk Management picture to make sure it has not messed up your install.

 

[KYHI]

about 20MB is about normal for windows - there is an extra 50MB to allow capture of partition..

But to add 20GB to efi partiton??
no worries now..
Typo maybe??

 

[KYHI]

GPT disks support up to 128 partitions.. so no worries there either..

 

[slopechz]

I went a little crazy with 20GB for the EFI partition, I meant to add 20MB. I have attached a picture of the Partition Table. I would shrink it but don't want to create a problem.

I distro hop. I recently tried Manjaro which uses Gummiboot, a boot loader I have no knowledge of. I wanted Grub so I went into Mint to do a sudo-update-grub. I got it back, but upon review of my EFI partition, it appears that there are leftover files from Gummiboot.

That is why I wanted to know if the EFI partition could be reset. I gather that is not an easy or even possible operation. If I'm wrong, please let me know.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[KYHI]

yes it can be reset - but would have to use setup media - command prompt and several diskpart commands

 

[slopechz]

yes it can be reset - but would have to use setup media - command prompt and several diskpart commands

Is it worthwhile? Or should I leave well enough alone.

 

[KYHI]

Actually the layout of your disk is all messed up.. A lot of nothing..

I would backup any files you care to save - and start with a Fresh Slate (clean install of 8.1)

 

[slopechz]

Actually the layout of your disk is all messed up.. A lot of nothing..

I would backup any files you care to save - and start with a Fresh Slate (clean install of 8.1)

Obviously, I have a backup after I did a clean installation when I purchased the computer in November. I would never do a clean install again with endless updates. Microsoft should have issued another Service Pack but I guess there efforts are going to Windows 10.

I need to ask, why is it messed up and a lot of nothing? I will end up with the same thing with a clean install. Obviously I screwed up adding so much space to the EFI partition but if you have a chance it would be helpful to give me an idea as I am new to the GPT/UEFI partition scheme.

Dell installed a 300MB partition, a 100MB EFI Partition and Windows 8.1 on the C drive. What you see is what I got in November after the clean install (minus Mint). More importantly, I use Windows 8.1 about 10% of the day, that's how much I hate it. I would get rid of it completely, but there are certain tasks that I need for work.

Thanks.