Efi Partition

slopechz

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I dual boot Windows 8.1 and Mint 17.1. I received a message when booting into Mint that the EFI Partition was low on space (9.3 mb left out of 100 mb). Windows 8.1 runs fine as far as I can tell.

What, if anything should I be concerned about? Can the efi partition be enlarged? Why would I get an error error message like this?

I am concerned as reinstalling Windows 8.1 is a major project and needed for certain tasks.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, 7 & Xubuntu 13.10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell 9000
I will give it a try. Thanks for replying!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, 7 & Xubuntu 13.10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell 9000

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, 7 & Xubuntu 13.10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell 9000
Get a Linux distribution like Ubuntu, Linux Mint..., boot from DVD and use gparted or any other partition manager that comes with the distribution of your choice (or you can always install gparted when running Linux from DVD). Now you can access and edit the EFI partition.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update 1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    self built
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7 Rev. 3
    Memory
    16 GB
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    Firefox
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    GDATA Internet Security
Get a Linux distribution like Ubuntu, Linux Mint..., boot from DVD and use gparted or any other partition manager that comes with the distribution of your choice (or you can always install gparted when running Linux from DVD). Now you can access and edit the EFI partition.

I don't think that's such a good idea. I did something with Gparted and moved windows partitions around and wasn't able to boot after(MBR repair took care of that ) and had to repair grub after. It would have been easier to reinstall windows using custom partitioning then reinstall Ubuntu. And EFI repartitioning is even more "dangerous"
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
Get a Linux distribution like Ubuntu, Linux Mint..., boot from DVD and use gparted or any other partition manager that comes with the distribution of your choice (or you can always install gparted when running Linux from DVD). Now you can access and edit the EFI partition.

I don't think that's such a good idea. I did something with Gparted and moved windows partitions around and wasn't able to boot after(MBR repair took care of that ) and had to repair grub after. It would have been easier to reinstall windows using custom partitioning then reinstall Ubuntu. And EFI repartitioning is even more "dangerous"
Yes, that is true. Besides, I can't access the EFI partition in Gparted.

I guess the question is why is the partition low on space and is there anything I can do about this?

Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, 7 & Xubuntu 13.10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell 9000
[h=2]BIOS-Boot or EFI partition (required on GPT disks)[/h]
If you want to install Ubuntu on a GPT disk (you can check it via the 'sudo parted -l' command), you will need either an EFI partition (if your BIOS is set up in EFI mode) or a BIOS-Boot partition (if your BIOS is set up in Legacy mode).
BIOS-Boot partition:
  • Mount point: none
  • Type: no filesystem
  • Description: the BIOS-boot partition contains GRUB 2's core. It is necessary if you install Ubuntu on a GPT disk, and if the firmware (BIOS) is set up in Legacy (not EFI) mode. It must be located at the start of a GPT disk, and have a "bios_grub" flag.
  • Size: 1MB.

EFI partition:
  • Mount point: /boot/efi (no need to set up this mount point as the installer will do it automatically)
  • Type: FAT (generally FAT32)
  • Description: the EFI partition (also called ESP) contains some boot files. It is necessary if the firmware (BIOS) is set up to boot the HDD in EFI mode (which is default on more and more modern, > year 2011 computers). It must be located at the start of a GPT disk, and have a "boot" flag.
  • Size: 100~250MB
source
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
BIOS-Boot or EFI partition (required on GPT disks)


If you want to install Ubuntu on a GPT disk (you can check it via the 'sudo parted -l' command), you will need either an EFI partition (if your BIOS is set up in EFI mode) or a BIOS-Boot partition (if your BIOS is set up in Legacy mode).
BIOS-Boot partition:
  • Mount point: none
  • Type: no filesystem
  • Description: the BIOS-boot partition contains GRUB 2's core. It is necessary if you install Ubuntu on a GPT disk, and if the firmware (BIOS) is set up in Legacy (not EFI) mode. It must be located at the start of a GPT disk, and have a "bios_grub" flag.
  • Size: 1MB.

EFI partition:
  • Mount point: /boot/efi (no need to set up this mount point as the installer will do it automatically)
  • Type: FAT (generally FAT32)
  • Description: the EFI partition (also called ESP) contains some boot files. It is necessary if the firmware (BIOS) is set up to boot the HDD in EFI mode (which is default on more and more modern, > year 2011 computers). It must be located at the start of a GPT disk, and have a "boot" flag.
  • Size: 100~250MB
source
Yes I understand this. Mine is an EFI partition. So what do I do about and EFI partition (100 mb) that is low on space. It seems Dell should have made it 250MB v 100MB.

Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, 7 & Xubuntu 13.10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell 9000
I don't know but with Macrium Reflect Free you can make a system image, mount it and then browse it, then maybe you can see what is taking up so much room. With windows 8.1 alone mine is only 28.6MB from 260MB(at least Lenovo left enough room).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
I don't know but with Macrium Reflect Free you can make a system image, mount it and then browse it, then maybe you can see what is taking up so much room. With windows 8.1 alone mine is only 28.6MB from 260MB(at least Lenovo left enough room).
Hmmm, that sounds ugly. Can the EFI partition be formatted to allow Windows to boot? There must be some kind of fix for this that isn't painful...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, 7 & Xubuntu 13.10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell 9000
The only other option I can think of is if you have a second drive installed in your desktop move the EFI(ESP) there but it could create boot problems so make a system image before hand in case it explodes in your face and brick your pc. Read this at Superuser.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
The only other option I can think of is if you have a second drive installed in your desktop move the EFI(ESP) there but it could create boot problems so make a system image before hand in case it explodes in your face and brick your pc. Read this at Superuser.
Yeah, I only have the one internal hard drive and an external USB 3.0 drive. Ugh.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, 7 & Xubuntu 13.10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell 9000
If you do a reinstall don't forget to sync windows with onedrive and download your model drivers to your ext. HDD so you have them ready(burn to a DVD or place on a thumb drive for future use). then the only that will take a bit of time is installing programs(which the installers can also be downloaded and save ahead of time) also let windows backup your libraries using file history so you can restore them quickly after. Then custom install increasing your EFI partition to 260MB. should only take about an afternoon to reinstall everything. That's still much faster than Windows 7 and earlier.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
If you do a reinstall don't forget to sync windows with onedrive and download your model drivers to your ext. HDD so you have them ready(burn to a DVD or place on a thumb drive for future use). then the only that will take a bit of time is installing programs(which the installers can also be downloaded and save ahead of time) also let windows backup your libraries using file history so you can restore them quickly after. Then custom install increasing your EFI partition to 260MB. should only take about an afternoon to reinstall everything. That's still much faster than Windows 7 and earlier.
I definitely don't want to do that.

I was thinking of this. Fixing a Corrupted UEFI Partition in Windows 8 or 8.1
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8, 7 & Xubuntu 13.10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell 9000
Maybe KYHI can help you with this. He's really with command line partitioning. Write him to come to this thread to help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
You can also use diskpart to assign a drive letter to that 100MB volume so you can browse its contents

Type> diskpart
type> select disk 0
type> list volume

you will see a lot of volumes without drive letters assigned..
Now find the 100MB volume #

type> select volume # (# being the volume number without a drive letter)
type> assign letter=s

now you can browse the partition contents
 

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
You can use > Free Partition Manager - AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard to increase the size of the efi partition so you have 50MB of free space
That doesn't work as the EFI Partition is not accessible to be enlarged. Same goes for the the Recovery Partition.

I have no clue how to proceed. Any ideas?

Aomei does allow EFI partition selection...
View attachment 58926

you would first have to shrink "Resize" C by 50MB (Did 10GB for my test)
View attachment 58929

then "Move" the C partition over to fill the free space
View attachment 58930

move the 128MB partition over into the now create free space

then expand the system partition to fill free space

and click apply
 

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
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 Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Jimmy I would guess GRUB from his dual boot w/mint, but even that is actually not that large: Capture.PNG
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
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