Solved Identifying partitions on HP Pavilion 15 HDD for SSD image

[Damaha]

Ah at this point I have to pause - the program started the process of creating the drive but then said it needs a 32gb USB and I don't have one here - only a 16gb one. The screen won't let me go further, only click cancel. I'll have to hold fire a moment.
I am kind of losing track of things a bit - just need a bit more of a walk through sometimes - not quite sure re the code whats going on. I created a System Image on a spare hard-drive earlier, and also a USB Windows File History boot drive, but there was no size requirement at that point. But that was before the command prompt thing (way beyond me) -- so are these redundant now... sorry, confused. It'll take me a while to get a new USB in play.

EDIT - ok I just saw your extra advice in your last- sounds good. I will just need to sort out the 32gb USB, it's a little early in the day here, back in a few hours to settle it finally...

I also now realise that the Control Panel 'Create Recovery Drive' option under 'Recovery Tools' is different from 'System Image Recovery' under 'File History'. When I first chose 'Recovery' on the latter screen, prior to making the command prompt alteration, I got a different set of options, but afterwards the link took me to 'Advanced Recovery Tools' with the top option being 'Create Recovery Drive'. I guess this became available after making that adjustment on command prompt. Ok, still playing catch-up!

 

[Damaha]

Slartybart, thanks for your encouragement in recent posts - I consider the adaptation of the recovery partition to be an extra precaution only, but as you advised am taking up KYHI's option 1. I confess I do not entirely understand what this process has entailed as it is rather over my head so would continue to value your clarity of explanation at this stage. I now have the 32gb USB and will complete the process of Option One though, as you have both recommended. Thank you again both.

EDIT - ok, the recovery disk has been created. Now the question is whether to delete the recovery partition on the HDD. I would like to tidy up that duplicate entry, remove it from the disk management. Am I right to think I can copy the files from the new Recovery Drive onto my E Storage drive (and even onto cloud storage?) where they will be accessible in future - in which case it seems the partition really is discardable.

It sounds as though I can do this if as you say:

Now you can create a "FactoryRecovery" folder on your data drive - and copy all the files on the usb into that folder... For safe keeping..

And that could be copied back onto a USB at any time and used?
The USB is only 20gb full in the end. I wonder if i could put that on a cloud drive....

 

[KYHI]

Now go to control panel - recovery - create a recovery drive..

this will create windows recovery media on usb using the factory install images

Once the process finishes - there will be a check box to remove the recovery partition.. Done..

Now you can create a "FactoryRecovery" folder on your data drive - and copy all the files on the usb into that folder... For safe keeping..

Now the question is whether to delete the recovery partition on the HDD.

yes, remove / delete same thing

And that could be copied back onto a USB at any time and used?

yes in a folder or the cloud for safe keeping - can be copied back to usb if neded

 

[Damaha]

Okay, all done.
If it can be downloaded onto a USB at any time, then I guess I don't need to have a USB reserved for holding this all the time - but can use my USB for other purposes til its needed?
And how is it used -- I think in HP you press F8 and then choose boot from USB, right? No other system image required, just the information from the cloud downloaded onto a USB will do it?

 

[KYHI]

yes, yes. yes

 

[Damaha]

Ok- that's valuable information. Sometimes you have to spell things out for the beginners!.
One step away from clicking 'solved' - just want to merge D (now empty) and E and change the drive letter to D I suppose for tidiness.
Once again, just to thank both and sorry if anyone's feelings got hurt - the first part of the project I just wanted to get the SSD in, and didn't care about the Recovery Drive (I knew I had at least two if not three back ups - USB, Partition, and 8.1), so there I was firing all ahead and thanks to Slartybart it all went brilliantly. The second step was to sort out and decide what to do with the Recovery Partition, and that was where I owe KYHI thanks for a neat solution - looks like I will still have plenty of safety nets this way. Much thanks and no disrespect intended to either of you - it all helped. Sometimes messages get garbled especially because I was racing ahead. But no harm done - seems actually this thread moves pretty quickly to a successful outcome. Many thanks again -- lastly, perhaps could use Partition Wizard to delete Partition D so it becomes 'Unallocated', then merge it with E. And then perhaps it would be neat (though perhaps not necessary) to change the Drive Letter for Storage to D?

 

[KYHI]

D would be the logicial choice after merging the two partitions

 

[Slartybart]

Good news,

No hurt feelings here. I'm tool old and thick skinned

My take on the forum is that the thread starter, you, gets to decide what they want to do. I can only make suggestions. Other members can make other suggestions. No member should get their feelings hurt or their ego bent if the thread starter decides to follow one path or another.

A member can post anything they choose to post - but if it is petty or snide, I will speak up. There's nothing added by making such remarks and I've seen the thread starter get frustrated and leave without solving the issue. This is not what the forums are for - they're for volunteers helping people solve issues on computers, those that received help often stay on and help other members.

I'm very glad that you were able to create a Recovery drive with KYHI's assistance. Thanks KYHI.

All that remains is the double D issue - which was more of a side comment in post#1 than the main topic of your thread.

Please post a Disk Management screen shot after you use Partition Wizard (I just find Disk Mgmt images easier to read).

We're good KYHI, it might be better to mutter under your breath than to post things like "I told you so"..."That's a dangerous assumption ..." "That's what you get when you assume..."

This sort of snark really bugs me "And Honestly - he does not need that recovery partition - as it is useless to him now.. " while in a subsequent post you use the d: recovery partion in the reagentc cmd.

..... Reagentc /Setosimage /Path d:\preload /Target c:\Windows /Index 1

If we are helping on another thread and I'm sure we will, and you try to tear me down to build yourself up, I will call you on it every time. I'm not telling you how or what to post, I just letting you know I do not appreciate some of your commentary. As long as everyone is adult about it, there shouldn't be any issue.

Anyway, we're good - you said what you said and I said what I said. I'll go back to helping members on Seven, Eight, and Ten forums as well as working with friends who want to take Win10 Technical Preview for a spin.

What matters is that damaha is happy with the outcome. I'm sure that once the double D issue is resolved and the thread is marked solved that damaha will be a satisfied EightForums member.

Good work everyone,

Bill
.

Sorry about the BS KYHI and I posted in your thread. It happens sometimes, hopefully we understand each other better and can avoid it in a future thread.

 

[KYHI]

You missed my talking points Bart,
My approach was a little more un-assuming and assuming this would happen

It would of been easier to create the recovery media - first - when the option was available with out issue..
Install SSD - clean install win 8.1
Reinstall HDD - wipe drive for use as Data drive

And yes, the factory recovery is useless - unless he wants to return his HDD to Factory Setting..
Or edit the Restconfig,xml file to allow factory recovery to a smaller drive

I always request that people - create recovery media from a known working system - Just in case something turns out not as OP planned or expected..

As it appears the OP wanted the factory recovery option - that was my take from post 1

Interested in identifying the different partitions and their importance to the system on this new HP Pavilion 15 in advance of moving OS to an SSD. Should it be tidied up before moving, what is crucial, and how many partitions should there be, and how easily is the OS and apps (no data - all in cloud) transferrable via Recovery USB

It appears you suggested a clean install - that was my take midway through post 3

This one you know . Win8 only takes up about 20 GB on my machine, but I did a clean install to get rid of the HP bloat.
You must have some other things installed on C: to get to 77 GB (I can't imagine HP bloats system by 57GB)

I did not chime in until post 5 after you suggested a clean install

Go to control panel - recovery - create a recovery drive.. That is your factory recovery image - and it is not the same as what you where provided..
then do your testing..

Which we just completed in a more round about way - Now he should have, recovery media, a clean install on SSD and a HDD Data drive

 

[Damaha]

Ok I'm just copying the Recovery USB onto my Data drive/Dropbox. This all takes me back to post 11 where you advised editing some of the files in the newly created Recovery drive to allow it to work on an SSD

once you create that media / in the sources folder / will be *resetconfig.xml / you need to open with notepad and edit

<MinSize>65536</MinSize>

as your number will be the size of your present HDD - so you need to lower the minimum Drive size to fit your SSD

65536 represents a 64GB drive size minimum, which means it will now restore to your 120GB SSD

(In passing, this is prob where I began moving towards the fresh install option, simply because I was blinded by science - I didn't feel confident of adjusting elements of the sources folder by editing with notepad (the codes still are mysterious to me) - self-adjusting re-installs seemed more idiot-proof... and the HP USB and Windows ISO were both available, tho the first failed.

Having now created the recovery files, guess the edit's still necessary to make them work on the SSD? Will have a go...
See below for a shot of resetconfig - have now changed the number in Minsize but puzzled because it seemed smaller than the one you suggest to insert...

 

[KYHI]

Then you are GOOD to go..

As I am not going to get into along drawn out explanation as to what the recovery image process entails..

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj126997.aspx

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn441534.aspx

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj127001.aspx

 

[Damaha]

That's cool - what we're up against here is the limit of my knowhow, and I appreciate that your guidance is based on real knowledge, so thanks for the tips -- like magic, but then so much is : )
I might download the files back onto a new USB and see if it gets me to the update page when I plug it in. But away from it for a few hours now, so will report back on final steps later

 

[KYHI]

If you have NO data on your HDD
Remove the SSD
And use the Recovery Media to Reset the HDD back to factory...
That way you can test on HDD and not mess up your SSD..

to restore HDD back to a Data Disk - Just do like you did before and remove the newly created partitions and format as one disk partition

 

[Slartybart]

I agree with KYHI - you just got your system the way you wanted it. Don't play with your live system!

You've already set up the HDD to house your cloud data, so that is not an option either.

If..... and I stress IF you want to play with Recovery, then I strongly suggest that you get a new HDD and use that as your sandbox.

IF, and again IF ... you do decide to play around, then I also suggest that you NEVER have our good data (the previous HDD) connected when your experimenting.

But ... why do it? It's always good to learn, and you've picked up quite a bit in this exercise. Digest all of that first and read more. The worst thing people do is gain new knowledge and apply it immediately after solving an issue - the end result is usually more issues and possibly more serious issues.

So as I suggested after the first 'ooops' - slow down, enjoy the fresh install on your SSD and think, rethink, read, re-read and about that time you might say "That was cool, but I'm not going to mess around just yet. Maybe in 6 months or a year - but not right now"

<MinSize> is defined in MB, so you're correct 25000 is less than 65536.

MinSize element

Specifies the minimum required size for the primary hard drive, in megabytes. If this element is not included, your user won't be able to repartition the hard drive. If the actual size of the drive is smaller than the specified size, an error message appears when your user attempts to repartition the drive.

It's a minimum control setting - the example scripts use 75000.

How that setting relates to the other parameters is left as an exercise for the 'student'.
As far as this exercise goes, you don't have to change it - KYHI used 65536 (64 GB) based on his experience to be sure that you didn't get the error documented above.

It's all moot now though. If you're interested - read the technical pages on TechNet. Remember - don't screw around on live data - use a test bench HDD to play with.

---

I'd like to know the status double D issue and see a current disk management screen shot. That should close out this issue if it is resolved. I was thinking that the issue was related to either a dynamic disk ooops or a partial mirror. These things happen when less experienced people play around with disk and drives. It's how I learned NOT to do some things

Bill
.

 

[Damaha]

Hey OK, I've got the Recovery files on Dropbox/HDD.
I was away and on reflection don't want to mess around with Recovery, as I guess you'd agree! Everything is working fine and there's no point in messing with it.
Having chosen to remove the Recovery Partition, the double D drive has disappeared - problem solved! Must have been some phantom Windows thing. It was there on my first Disk Manager screenshot, before I'd changed anything. Gone now, so another resolution.
It is satisfying to see everything looking good. Halfway through I was away and turned the machine off, turned it on again with the Recovery USB inserted and was taken to the page 'Choose Keyboard layout'. Good it works but of course didn't want to activate the recovery drive so turned the machine off again, removed USB, turned on again and came back to the working machine. A sign that that USB works. I can't copy the files from dropbox onto a neutral USB as I only have one USB big enough to carry them all. I wont wipe the USB I have until I can test the back up files on another USB of sufficient size.
Lastly, I prefer not to do the tests because putting the SSD into this model involves taking out lots of screws and prising up the lid of the keyboard, then shifting small connecting wires underneath. It was fun to do once, but everything is working fine and this is no good reason to do it again.
I get the impression that I have these back ups:
1 Dropbox/HDD copy of Recovery media
2 Recovery USB
3. Windows ISO.
This seems pretty thorough back up to me. So all good?
Here below -- first final Disk Management shot, also images of the Sources file on my Dropbox Factory Recovery folder.
I'm happy - thanks very much!

 

[KYHI]

pop open that PBR_Restconfig.xml with notepad
and the PBR_Diskpart.txt

those are the files windows RE wrote

 

[KYHI]

Bart, I do not know if you know how to read resetconfig.

But if you look at the factory one you see three cmd files..

Also notice that OS is partition 1 with a minsize of 25000MB - one of those cmd files MUST move partition 1 to partition 5 the recovery partition after the reset..

What that tell me is that the factory is expanding it own version of recovery tools first.. Thus giving the user the HP interface and option to restore windows and HP apps

Because as you know on UEFI systems the OS is partition 4

OP this is just banter / info - no need to test anything

 

[Damaha]

Here they are...

 

[KYHI]

Thank You D,

Just as I thought..

Now if you notice the MinSize it is 108479 = 106GB the size of your SSD
The OS partition is partition 4
the recovery partition is partition 5

those two files are correct for your current setup with the SSD and those two files are WHY the HP Recovery USB you purchased Failed..

And No Offense - The reason why we create the recovery media via control panel on a working system first..
We would of had to change that minsize to adjust for the SSD as winRE would of wrote a much larger size for the HDD

But since recovery media was created with windows on the smaller SSD it wrote the SSD size.. So a plus in a way.. But still in a round about way...

You now have the option to use that Recovery Media to Reset your SSD to the factory HP Settings..

 

[Damaha]

Ah very interesting, and neat - I see what you mean. Great it's all set to go. Ah so I guess if I'd made these adjustments to the HP USB then it would've worked? I'm glad I took it back - I had wanted to create my own originally. I have made the other adjustment that you originally suggested. I don't know if I'll test the recovery out - it seems like rocking the boat when everything is running smoothly. So it contains the OS and the HP extras? Maybe its cleaner without them. It's good to have it though, and the refund for the old one : )