Recovery Partition: safe to delete?

rychas · 12-10-2008, 11:02 AM

Hi,

I have an Asus notebook, X53Sa, which comes with Windows Vista Home Premium. The thing about Asus notebooks is, they supply both the 'Recovery DVD' and a hidden 'Recovery Partition', so we can restore our system both ways.

The things is, this partition prevents me from installing any other OS, including other Vista releases. I want a free system, so I can install another version of Vista (one I actually own) and even Ubuntu.

I know it is possible to delete the hidden partition, but would it be wise? Would I really then have a free system and be able to install any kind of OS I want? I really don't being stuck with a "fake" OS Asus provides.

Please give me some feedback, I've tried Asus official forums and no one says a thing.

**TriggerFinger** · 12-10-2008, 11:33 AM

Personally I think it is wise to keep it intact. I would rather install another hard drive. But if you said you have the recovery discs already and they are able to restore your system back to factory without the need of the recovery partition, then I guess it is OK... Just remember to have ALL the drivers ready (SATA drivers and others that you may need during installation of another operating system).

rychas · 12-10-2008, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TriggerFinger

Personally I think it is wise to keep it intact. I would rather install another hard drive. But if you said you have the recovery discs already and they are able to restore your system back to factory without the need of the recovery partition, then I guess it is OK... Just remember to have ALL the drivers ready (SATA drivers and others that you may need during installation of another operating system).

Thanks for your reply.

In fact, the Recovery DVD only works WITH the partition. It's stupid, but I know it's true. Which doesn't matter, since I got an original Vista copy of my own and all the drivers in a separate cd.

I just fear that even after deleting the recovery partition, something else has to be done and I'm not even able to install there any kind of OS... because if I buy another hard drive, it would be the very same thing, so it has to be doable.

I think!

**TriggerFinger** · 12-10-2008, 02:55 PM

AFAIK with a new/blank HDD you can install any operating system that you want. You will need the drivers for Windows to identify the devices during and after the installation.

As for the original drive with the recovery partition, I think (IMHO) you can delete the partition and install Vista (considering you have all the needed drivers ready) without any issues. If you encounter one, post back the error.

**simpswr** · 12-10-2008, 03:02 PM

How large is that recovery partition? . . they are usually very small

rychas · 12-10-2008, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simpswr

How large is that recovery partition? . . they are usually very small

About 7GB.

The issue is not the size itself, it's the limitation of not being able to install any OS other than the recovery image... it just doesn't allow it. I wanna be free! :D

But I'll try to delete it anyway, it should work fine. I hope...

12-10-2008, 11:02 AM	#1 (permalink)
rychas Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 21 OS: vista home premium	Recovery Partition: safe to delete? Hi, I have an Asus notebook, X53Sa, which comes with Windows Vista Home Premium. The thing about Asus notebooks is, they supply both the 'Recovery DVD' and a hidden 'Recovery Partition', so we can restore our system both ways. The things is, this partition prevents me from installing any other OS, including other Vista releases. I want a free system, so I can install another version of Vista (one I actually own) and even Ubuntu. I know it is possible to delete the hidden partition, but would it be wise? Would I really then have a free system and be able to install any kind of OS I want? I really don't being stuck with a "fake" OS Asus provides. Please give me some feedback, I've tried Asus official forums and no one says a thing.

12-10-2008, 11:33 AM	#2 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,784 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Recovery Partition: safe to delete? Personally I think it is wise to keep it intact. I would rather install another hard drive. But if you said you have the recovery discs already and they are able to restore your system back to factory without the need of the recovery partition, then I guess it is OK... Just remember to have ALL the drivers ready (SATA drivers and others that you may need during installation of another operating system). __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE

12-10-2008, 02:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,784 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Recovery Partition: safe to delete? AFAIK with a new/blank HDD you can install any operating system that you want. You will need the drivers for Windows to identify the devices during and after the installation. As for the original drive with the recovery partition, I think (IMHO) you can delete the partition and install Vista (considering you have all the needed drivers ready) without any issues. If you encounter one, post back the error. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE

12-10-2008, 03:02 PM	#5 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 11,862 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Recovery Partition: safe to delete? How large is that recovery partition? . . they are usually very small __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?