Solved Windows 8.1 Recovery Flash Drive Issues

hArLtRoN

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I have a WinBook TW700 that I got from Microcenter on Black Friday. I was reading an article on How to Geek that said you can copy the Recovery partition to a flash drive so that the space it occupies on the tablet itself can be reclaimed. The only issue I'm running into is it doesn't give me the option to erase that partition once the files have copied over to the flash drive. I've tried two times now and it copied the files over both times but I never got the option to delete the recovery partition.

So what can I do to get rid of that Recovery Partition?

Thanks,
Shawn
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64, Windows 8 RP x64
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    Tablet - WinBook TW700:
    OS: Windows 8.1 w/Bing x86
    CPU: Intel Atom Z3735G @ 1.33GHz
    RAM: 1GB
    SSD: 16GB
You can do it though disk management. Just be careful what you delete. You'll have to delete the partition with the recovery image on it and then expand the partition that precedes it into the empty space. Post a screen shot of your expanded disk management screen and I'll have a look see.
 

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
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    Stock heatsink fan
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    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
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    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
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    Windows Defender
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    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
I tried deleting the partition the first time I made the recovery USB and Windows wouldn't boot up and I ended up having to reset my tablet and everything was fine afterwards. It was the 5.57GB partition I deleted.


Here's the screenshot of disk management:
Screenshot (5).png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64, Windows 8 RP x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9850 x4 @ 2.50GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785-M
    Memory
    4GB DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster BX 2031; Dynex 19" LCD TV
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900; 1360x768
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM
    PSU
    450 Watt
    Case
    Raygo R12-40835 ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Air; Coolermaster Hyper N520
    Keyboard
    Logitech EX 100
    Mouse
    Logitech EX 100
    Internet Speed
    Ping: 22 ms.....Download: 30.47 MB.....Upload: 6.01 MB
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Security Essentials
    Other Info
    Tablet - WinBook TW700:
    OS: Windows 8.1 w/Bing x86
    CPU: Intel Atom Z3735G @ 1.33GHz
    RAM: 1GB
    SSD: 16GB
I don't know why it won't boot if you delete that partition. The other one is marked as boot? There must be a hook into it on boot some how. I can see why you want to recover than space though, you don't have a whole lot to play with. What happens when it fails to boot? What's shown on screen? I'm not sure this will actually help but have a look, http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2843-automatic-repair-run-windows-8-a.html I've seen posts that state after three failed boots in a row it will automatically launch system repair.
 

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
because it is using a WIM Boot image.. Windows actually uses the recovery partition as it's source file.. The windows partition only has pointer files on it - that point to the recovery image.. So NO YOU CAN NOT remove that partition
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
How does it work?



In a standard Windows installation (without WIMBoot), every file is written to disk at least twice: once in the compressed form for recovery, and once in the uncompressed form in the applied image. When the push-button reset feature is included, the compressed image remains on the PC. Having both the Windows installation and recovery image on the device can take up a lot of disk space.
When installing Windows with WIMBoot, you write the files to the disk only once, in compressed format. Next, you apply a set of pointer files onto the Windows partition that point back to the compressed files in the Images partition. When the user adds files, apps, or updates, they're added onto the Windows partition.
In WIMBoot, your WIMBoot image is also used as the recovery image, saving disk space.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Ah, now that you mention it I remember seeing a thread on this. Nice catch. I was wondering how such a small Windows partition could be possible. It all makes sense now. Sorry for missing that hArLtRoN, it just didn't click as to what was really going on. :eek:
 

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
Pretty neat way of doing it - been playing with my tablet and compiled a program to make the installation process painless.

I really like the wim_boot feature
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
So just to make sure I understand... the recovery partition can't be removed because of wim_boot stuff? Bummer was looking forward to an extra 6GBs of room. Oh well... thanks for your input guys :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64, Windows 8 RP x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9850 x4 @ 2.50GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785-M
    Memory
    4GB DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster BX 2031; Dynex 19" LCD TV
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900; 1360x768
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM
    PSU
    450 Watt
    Case
    Raygo R12-40835 ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Air; Coolermaster Hyper N520
    Keyboard
    Logitech EX 100
    Mouse
    Logitech EX 100
    Internet Speed
    Ping: 22 ms.....Download: 30.47 MB.....Upload: 6.01 MB
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Security Essentials
    Other Info
    Tablet - WinBook TW700:
    OS: Windows 8.1 w/Bing x86
    CPU: Intel Atom Z3735G @ 1.33GHz
    RAM: 1GB
    SSD: 16GB
Look at it this way. Without the Boot from WIM the OS footprint would be much bigger. You'd lose that space and then some. Even with the full drive space available, you likely couldn't fit a conventional windows install on a drive that small. Not and be able to actually do anything afterward. It was staring me right in the face and I just couldn't connect the dots. At first I thought you might actually be running Windows RT. Anyway, it is what it is, and you can't really do much about it. I'm not sure if a hard drive upgrade is doable on your device. All depends on how its connected and how hard it would be to get at it without breaking something. If it was mine I'd find the fastest and largest capacity Micro SD card it supports and plug that in for extra storage.
 

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
I don't think a new drive is possible. I'll just get a bigger SD card. Thanks for your help!

Shawn
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64, Windows 8 RP x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9850 x4 @ 2.50GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785-M
    Memory
    4GB DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster BX 2031; Dynex 19" LCD TV
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900; 1360x768
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM
    PSU
    450 Watt
    Case
    Raygo R12-40835 ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Air; Coolermaster Hyper N520
    Keyboard
    Logitech EX 100
    Mouse
    Logitech EX 100
    Internet Speed
    Ping: 22 ms.....Download: 30.47 MB.....Upload: 6.01 MB
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Security Essentials
    Other Info
    Tablet - WinBook TW700:
    OS: Windows 8.1 w/Bing x86
    CPU: Intel Atom Z3735G @ 1.33GHz
    RAM: 1GB
    SSD: 16GB
Yeah, it could be flash memory soldered right to the motherboard. Or a pc card plugged into a mini PCIe slot. Just watch for a Christmas sale on Micro SD cards. Or what ever type of card it takes.
 

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
Your Welcome..

and your right - only option is a bigger card.. well different tablet is an option too..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
I figured out INSTALL.WIM in a hidden partition

just as the preceding discussion had it. However, I had found I cannot reset my TW700 to its factory specs. When I got through one or the other pathway to resetting, I get a nondescript error message saying reset was not done and nothing was changed.
Spent 90 minutes in a conline chat session with MicroCenter tech support & at the end was told I would have to return the TW700 to the store to fix whatever problem prevents me from resetting the machine.
The hidden partition does have a recovery directory, but it's empty:

Volume in drive D isImages
Volume Serial Number is 4E91-9FEA

Directory of D:\Images

11/18/2014 10:39 PM <DIR> .
11/18/2014 10:39 PM <DIR> ..
11/01/2014 02:09 AM 5,646,302,722 Install.wim
1 File(s) 5,646,302,722 bytes
2 Dir(s) 105,361,408 bytes free

Volume in drive D is Images
Volume Serial Number is 4E91-9FEA

Directory of D:\Recovery

12/10/2014 05:29 PM <DIR> .
12/10/2014 05:29 PM <DIR> ..
0 File(s) 0 bytes
2 Dir(s) 105,361,408 bytes free
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
attrib -s -r -h d:\recovery\windowsre\winre.wim

that command will unhide the system files


When I got through one or the other pathway to resetting, I get a nondescript error message saying reset was not done and nothing was changed.

Nor would I really expect it to change, unless you reset the windows partition, based on the way wimboot works, if you get a virus on your C drive and it becomes infected, the windows image is not effected but rather the pointer files to it..

I have not tested this, but it is my understanding that recovery would need to format C and then reappy the windows image pointers to C, when doing a reset.. And when doing a refresh it would just reapply the pointer files.
That is how it is done via a technician, not sure how it is done using the inside OS recovery options,

control panel, recovery, create a recovery drive - creates a Bare Metal Reset Recovery Option..

And that would allow a you to write to an empty drive or over write an existing one

This is one of the things I will be testing as soon as I get my stylus pen.. As my fingers are just to big for my windows tablet screen
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
This is the second TW700 I've gotten from MicroCenter. The first one I had to return because it had no recovery partition. Anytime I tried resetting, or even just refreshing, it would tell me no and that nothing was changed. I took it in and talked the techs and the tech said the recovery image was gone. I'm still not sure if he knew that right away cause he looked stumped until I said something about the recovery image used for refreshes, then it seemed to click for him.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64, Windows 8 RP x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9850 x4 @ 2.50GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4A785-M
    Memory
    4GB DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster BX 2031; Dynex 19" LCD TV
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900; 1360x768
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM
    PSU
    450 Watt
    Case
    Raygo R12-40835 ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Air; Coolermaster Hyper N520
    Keyboard
    Logitech EX 100
    Mouse
    Logitech EX 100
    Internet Speed
    Ping: 22 ms.....Download: 30.47 MB.....Upload: 6.01 MB
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Security Essentials
    Other Info
    Tablet - WinBook TW700:
    OS: Windows 8.1 w/Bing x86
    CPU: Intel Atom Z3735G @ 1.33GHz
    RAM: 1GB
    SSD: 16GB
"Anytime I tried resetting, or even just refreshing, it would tell me no and that nothing was changed. " That's the same thing that happened to me, over & over.
Other readings indicate there are pointers on the Win 8.1 C: partition to hidden /Images/install.wim that indicate where the system is to go to re-set itself. If the pointers go bad, no resetting is possible. I'm not sure there was EVER anything in the hidden Recovery/ folder. Be nice if a new buyer of a TW700 would check this out right after starting the machine up.
"the tech said the recovery image was gone "
As I mentioned early, there was NOTHING in my hidden Recovery/ folder, although it suspiciously carried the date that I tried to do my 1st re-set, whereas the Images/ folder was the original date on the machine. Was there anything in Recovery/ in the first place? Had I known then what I know now, I would have checked out the hidden partitions and the re-set process FIRST before I did anything else.
But I did this instead: Activated the built-in Office 365. There were no options to install a part of the Office package, it's all or nothing. The only part I really wanted was OneNote, the rest I can do without.
I can't imagine anyone writing a novel using Word or building up a 255 line 30 column Excel spreadsheet on this tablet. Even if it were possible, it would be very, very tedious using the on-screen keyboard.
I deleted the MicroCenter-supplied antivirus & used AVG instead.
At this point I had 255 MB of storage left on C: I installed TeamViewer 9, about 39 MB, and so had even less. I was not able to run Windows Update past the first package downloaded & installed , got the error message, not enough room for Windows Update to run.
Then AVG gave me an error message, not enough room to download & install its own updates.
So I deleted Office 365, and recovered memory to the extent of 1.5 GB free on C:
I let the machine stay on all night & the next morning it was somehow back to about 200 MB free, with error messages again from AVG that it couldn't update itself. A lot must have downloaded during the night, but I had lost patience with this machine. I didn't investigate what had consumed all that storage capacity.
I returned my TW700 to MicroCenter last Saturday, 12 days after I bought it for a full credit to my charge card. IIRC MicroCenter allows 15 days return for tablets.
It was fun while it lasted, but I won't own a Windows machine I cannot restore to its original configuration, and I didn't care to wait on a technician to go around the same track I had just been on. I got the impression the techs aren't fully up-to-date on the idiosyncracies of the TW700.
I will follow this story to satisfy my curiosity about what went wrong.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
type this command into a command prompt(admin) and post an image

type> reagentc /info

and post a picture of disk management



and you may have to unhide the folders as well

attrib -s -r -h d:\recovery

attrib -s -r -h d:\recovery\windowsre

attrib -s -r -h d:\recovery\windowsre\winre.wim

you should find winre.win in that recovery folder, but you may have to unhide the folders one at a time
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Docked and connected to a large screen and full sized keyboard, excel and word are as usable as they are on any other PC. ;)

Some OEM's may use a proprietary format for the recovery partition that won't show up in disk management or explorer. The partition looks empty but it really isn't. I'm not saying this is the case here but it's just something to keep in mind. Things aren't always as they appear.
 

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
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