Windows 8.1 recovery partition

Zach1928

New Member
Messages
23
Hey all, I have a question about making a recovery partition. I've got a Dell that came with W7 and has since gotten a clean install of 8. However, the recovery partition is from W7 and I'm assuming it has all the crap Dell preloaded on it. Is there a way I can make a new recovery partition or install 8 over the existing one?

Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS L502x
    CPU
    i7 2720QM
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 1333
    Graphics Card(s)
    2GB GT540M
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Scorpio Black 750GB
As far as I've been able to determine the Factory Restore/Recovery partition is created during the build of the computer. The HDDs are usually clones from a master setup for a particular model and the procedure to restore from that partition relies on more than just having the software on that partition to get the restore started. I've not come across any software that can do the same for individuals wishing to create the same procedure. Same for the program that is created or modified to allow making the CDs or DVDs for the Factory Restore. In practical terms, changing to an OS that didn't come with the machine pretty much creates a Custom computer of it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WinXP, WinVista, Win7, Win8.1, Win10, Linux Mint 20
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2 Customs and 12 OEM/Brands
    CPU
    AMD and Intel
That's too bad.. guess I'll have to have a trusty flashdrive preloaded in case of emergency haha
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS L502x
    CPU
    i7 2720QM
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 1333
    Graphics Card(s)
    2GB GT540M
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Scorpio Black 750GB
Why don't you visit the control panels File History and in lower left corner is System Image. Use it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    lenovo
Is that the same as the recovery partition shown in the screen shot? Ideally I'd like to nuke the one with windows 7 and replace it with windows 8 in a similar set up recovery partition.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS L502x
    CPU
    i7 2720QM
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 1333
    Graphics Card(s)
    2GB GT540M
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Scorpio Black 750GB
I have no idea what is in that partition. But you might want to keep it as you are in an upgrade situation and someday you might discover you cant install win8 without first reinstalling a legally registered win7.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    lenovo
You can do it several ways.

1) Nice easy way involves this freebie.

It is beta, but it works fine.

One Key Recovery - Create a Factory Restore Partition with AOMEI OneKey Recovery

Alternatively, you can do it yourself by creating another partition ( or delete/format the existing recov partition ) and using their standard Aomei Backupper free version to make the system image which you can then restore at will.

2) Both of the above will make a recovery image from your existing windows installation.

If you want your recovery image to be the original install media, you can also do that, if you have the original install media.

Slightly different, but not difficult.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
I have no idea what is in that partition. But you might want to keep it as you are in an upgrade situation and someday you might discover you cant install win8 without first reinstalling a legally registered win7.

It's just the factory installed Recovery partition with all that stuff. My question is more or less can I recreate that with my freshly installed Windows 8.1

You can do it several ways.

Nice easy way involves this freebie.

It is beta, but it works fine.

One Key Recovery - Create a Factory Restore Partition with AOMEI OneKey Recovery

Alternatively, you can do it yourself by creating another partition and using their standard Aomei Backupper free version.

I will take a look at that, thanks for the link
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS L502x
    CPU
    i7 2720QM
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 1333
    Graphics Card(s)
    2GB GT540M
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Scorpio Black 750GB
Both of the above will make a recovery image from your existing windows installation.

If you want your recovery image to be the original install media, you can also do that, if you have the original install media.

Slightly different, but not difficult.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
SIW2, this is my current setup:

MyDiskMan.jpg

Can I wipe the existing Recovery Partition, 24.41GB, and have Aomei use it? I can make it larger if needed.

I'll do a full backup first of course.


This would give me Windows 8.1 Update 1 if I used it for Recovery which is very nice. I also have image backups and a full set of Lenovo Recovery discs but they are for Windows 8.0 so I'd only use them if all other methods failed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
Both of the above will make a recovery image from your existing windows installation.

If you want your recovery image to be the original install media, you can also do that, if you have the original install media.

Slightly different, but not difficult.
That's fantastic. Can that Aomei software use DVD I've got for a vanilla recovery partition? I have a clean Windows 8 disc from school
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS L502x
    CPU
    i7 2720QM
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 1333
    Graphics Card(s)
    2GB GT540M
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Scorpio Black 750GB
Since Windows 8 installation is done by you and you are in command, you are well equipped(?) to try the AOMEI One Key Recovery (still in beta-testing) as suggested by SIW.

As mikiep has pointed out, if your Windows 8/8.1 is an upgrade edition, you may still require the original Windows 7 installation should it become necessary to go through a reinstall - ex.- HDD failed and needs to be replaced.

If your Windows 8/8.1 is a full pack, then no worries. Clean your HDD, install Windows 8/8.1 and go ahead with AOMEI One Key Recovery.

I would now suggest this course of action:

Users in the United States can now request a set of backup discs containing the factory-installed operating system as well as the Resource DVD which contains device drivers and utilities specific to the system. Requests are limited to one (1) set of backup discs per system purchased.
The backup discs requested must match the operating system that was factory installed on the original order.

Dell Media Recovery Options and the Request Backup Discs Form | Dell US

https://www.dell.com/support/diagnostics/us/en/19/nondiagnostichome

Even if you are not in United States/Canada you can talk to DELL Technical Support and make a request. Usually they oblige. I got the reinstall disk from DELL India without using any influence.(My daughter works for DELL. But they do not know that.:) It was only when they wanted to courier it to me, I told them to hand it over to my daughter in the same building.)

Once you have got it, you can confidently remove even the original OEM Dell recovery partition, clean wipe the HDD and go ahead with a clean install with even your upgrade Windows 8/8.1 and use the AOMEI One Key Recovery without fear or favour.

Let us know how it went. ( Please don' t be in a hurry. Try and get the DELL Install media. Usually they ship it the same day and you will get it in a day or two.)
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
Since Windows 8 installation is done by you and you are in command, you are well equipped to try the AOMEI One Key Recovery (still in beta-testing) as suggested by SIW.

As mikiep has pointed out, if your Windows 8/8.1 is an upgrade edition, you may still require the original Windows 7 installation should it become necessary to go through a reinstall - ex.- HDD failed and needs to be replaced.

If your Windows 8/8.1 is a full pack, then no worries. Clean your HDD, install Windows 8/8.1 and go ahead with AOMEI One Key Recovery.

I would now suggest this course of action:

Users in the United States can now request a set of backup discs containing the factory-installed operating system as well as the Resource DVD which contains device drivers and utilities specific to the system. Requests are limited to one (1) set of backup discs per system purchased.
The backup discs requested must match the operating system that was factory installed on the original order.

Dell Media Recovery Options and the Request Backup Discs Form | Dell US

https://www.dell.com/support/diagnostics/us/en/19/nondiagnostichome

Even if you are not in United States/Canada you can talk to DELL Technical Support and make a request. Usually they oblige. I got the reinstall disk from DELL India without using any influence.(My daughter works for DELL. But they do not know that.:) It was only when they wanted to courier it to me, I told them to hand it over to my daughter in the same building.)

Once you have got it, you can confidently remove even the original OEM Dell recovery partition, clean wipe the HDD and go ahead with a clean install with even your upgrade Windows 8/8.1 and use the AOMEI One Key Recovery without fear or favour.

Let us know how it went. ( Please don' t be in a hurry. Try and get the DELL Install media. Usually they ship it the same day and you will get it in a day or two.)

Thanks for the info. As far as windows 8 goes, it is full blown.. initially I did upgrade from 7 to 8, but then I used that feature in 8 to wipe it without deleting My Personal data so there shouldn't be any traces of 7 except for that recovery partition. As far as the disc goes, Dell would ship W7 since that's what it shipped with right?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS L502x
    CPU
    i7 2720QM
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 1333
    Graphics Card(s)
    2GB GT540M
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Scorpio Black 750GB
Yes, they would send win7 recovery disc set. If they are doing it free, you might as well get them.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
DELL will send you the OEM Windows 7 Installation disk ( the correct and same edition that was preinstalled on that machine) and not the recovery disk/s.

It will be a full Windows 7 media much like the usual one you buy but with OEM auto activation built-in. You can do a clean install with that disk and it will auto activate with OEM activation.. You have to download and install the drivers and other DELL software ( if you so require).

I am still not sure what you mean "full blown":). Can you install it on a new system without any previous Windows version and activate it?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
Free software is good. Much like all of the random software suites I've download through Microsoft Dreamspark from my school lol
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS L502x
    CPU
    i7 2720QM
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 1333
    Graphics Card(s)
    2GB GT540M
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Scorpio Black 750GB
AOMEI Would not use the 24.41GB existing partition (see my previous post). I even tried deleting the volume and creating a new one and it still would not use it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
It could be for any number of reasons. Might be too small for start.

I just used it. It created a 30gb partition and the image was about 20gb.

It is obviously calculating the required size. At that point, it knows the amount of used space on the source. It can not possibly know in advance precisely what types of files I have, or exactly what the resulting compressed image size will be.

It is therefore looking for space large enough to accommodate an image - even if much of the content can't be compressed.

Perfectly logical.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Yup, makes sense. I could try to make it bigger but I think I'll leave it alone. I don't want to mess up the rest of the partitions.

Acronis did save and restore it for me though which is good to know.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
Aomei Backupper probably would be fine.

The one click thing is very basic - intended to be simple.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
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