Win8.1 Disk Management shows two OEM Recovery drives

jumanji

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This is an HP laptop delivered by Amazon India on 16 Jul 2014.
HP 15-d005TU
-3rd Generation Intel Core i3-3110M Processor (2.4 GHz)
-500GB Hard Drive Toshiba MQ01ABF050
-4096MB DDR3 SDRAM
-DVD Optical drive hp DVDRAM GU90N
-Windows 8.1 64bit

On delivery it had 9 Windows updates installed ( 8, dated Nov 13 and the last one dated 07 Mar 2014, perhaps just before it left the factory). My first priority was to update Windows. A total of 78 updates including the last major Windows 8.1 update 1 akin to a Service Pack - KB2919335 and all this took a lot of time. All updates went on well with no problems.

Now I find that Windows Disk Management lists two OEM recovery partitions D: ( What it was earlier, I did not notice but I presume it was showing one correctly since any abnormality would have caught my attention.)

WDM.JPG

Diskpart lists all the partitions correctly. And so also bootice.

diskpart.JPG

bootice.JPG

Now what is causing this and how do I fix it?

I find there is a Intel Manageability Firmware Recovery Agent - https://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2013/02/06/intel-manageability-firmware-recovery-agent My own guess is some Intel driver/firmware may be causing it. As I said it is only a guess. I tried the update with it but so far Intel servers could not be reached though my internet connection is OK. Perhaps someone here may be able to throw more light on the problem and fix.

(.I have just another 48 hours before the intended recipient - my house-maid's son - drops in here to pick it and take it along to his distant college. My next access to that lappy may be after 20 days. He regularly visits his parents, residing in my quarters every month to snatch money for his college fees, but still I am the owner of the lappy till it is paid up :) . I had created an MS ID and set it up in his name.)


 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
Since the partition does not show up in Disk Management graphical representation, or Diskpart, I would say it was a glitch in Disk Management. If you notice, it does not show a file type on the first listing in the upper window of Disk Management.

What makes me wonder is most systems show the last partition as hidden and a Recovery partition. Since there is no way for me to know how it was originally designated, I cannot say for sure the system is completely normal.

Since you know how to use Diskpart, how about selecting the partition and doing a det par command and then copy and paste the results in your next post. Maybe someone else has an HP system who would know how the partition is supposed to be set up.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
Yes, I know for certain its a glitch or bug and it is in no way affecting the system performance.

I found another user reporting the same problem with his new HP laptop in Jan 14, the Recovery Drive D: showing twice in the list but he was not seeking any solution as he was looking to downgrade it to Windows 7 :). Win8.1 down to Win7 : Operating Systems

In his case however, he had an additional 350MB Healthy Recovery Partition with no drive letter. Reading many posts, I understand that these additional irritations are created when one tries to manipulate the existing partition structure in some way, like trying to install an additional Linux etc.,

Recovery Partition D: is as originally present and it is not normally hidden any longer atleast in HP - that is what I understand. So there is no problem with it. I had even imaged it and it is almost full with data.

( My maid's son had already arrived and has taken the laptop upstairs to his quarters. So any further experimentation only tomorrow, when I recall it to install some programs before he leaves with it the day after. Right now he is enjoying his new lappy.:). I also need some rest for I had worked on setting it up for the last two days. I was also grappling with some System Restore problem which I ultimately resolved.)

Any suggestions to fix it is always welcome as I continue my research on it.

( In this case there was no additional new drives created as many people had reported, but only a duplication of the existing Recovery Drive D: and that too only in the Windows Disk Management text list and nowhere else.)
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
The 350 MB or 450 MB partition is placed on the drive during an 8.0 to 8.1 update to replace the original Recovery partition.

But again, if you think that D: partition is configured correctly, I would have no other suggestions.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
It was a direct Windows 8.1 installation as it left the factory and not updated from 8 to 8.1 by me. As I posted earlier the first 8 Windows updates are dated Nov 2013 which I presume is the period when Windows 8.1 was rolled out as distinct from 8. Windows 8.1 installed PCs started rolling out subsequently though one still can find the old Win 8 installed PCs still (at least here in India.) I specifically chose one with 8.1 installed.

The first 400MB partition holds the Windows Recovery Environment.( This is shown as Recovery in most partitioning software including diskpart but not to be confused with OEM Recovery). The second 260MB partition is the usual EFI System Partition. There is a third 128MB MSR partition (an MS attendum , which is not shown in Windows Disk Management by design) but visible in diskpart and other partitioning software. I had examined these partitions even as I received the laptop and all these were present apart from the System C: and visible (not hidden) Recovery D:
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
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