Windows RE tools partition

[al3x]

So, if I'm reading this correctly, partition 5 is the one that isn't being used (see attached). What's the easiest way to delete that partition?

If you're absolutely sure you don't need the last partition (which is probably a left over or a OEM partition) and you want a clean way to remove that partition without any space left after your Windows RE partition, you can do the following steps. I verified those steps in a VM to make sure it works.

Be very careful though, it's important to do these steps exactly:

1. First you want to open an administrator cmd shell (cmd.exe run as admin)
   
2. Disable RE temporarily:
   reagentc /disable
   
3. Start diskpart utility:
   diskpart
   
4. Select your disk 1 (according to your screenshots, verify with list disk first):
   sel disk 1
   
5. Delete the old RE partition (according to your screenshots, verify with list part first):
   sel part 5 - then - del part 5 override
   
6. Delete the current RE partition (according to your screenshots, verify with list part first):
   sel part 4 - then - del part 4 override
   
7. Locate your "Windows" partition, this should be 2 or 3 (according to your screenshots):
   list part
   
8. Select your correct "Windows" partition (important!):
   sel part 2 - or - sel part 3
   
9. Extend partition to the complete disk:
   extend
   
10. Shrink partition to leave 800 MB on the right:
    shrink desired=800
    
11. Create a new GPT recovery partition (according to your screenshots you use GPT, not MBR, verify first!):
    create part primary id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac
    
12. Set GPT attributes to hide the new partition (make sure it's selected with list part first, it should be):
    gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
    
13. Format your new partition with NTFS:
    format fs=ntfs quick
    
14. Exit diskpart:
    exit
    
15. Re-enable RE:
    reagentc /enable
    

Now you should see the new recovery partition with ~800MB, something like that:



And reagentc /info should report the new partition as RE target:

[CDC9762]

Very nice instructions, Al3x!
Xeroid and anybody else using them be sure to take care at each step to ensure you are using them on the correct disk, partition, etc., Diskpart is very powerful and unforgiving.

[xeroid]

So, if I'm reading this correctly, partition 5 is the one that isn't being used (see attached). What's the easiest way to delete that partition?

If you're absolutely sure you don't need the last partition (which is probably a left over or a OEM partition) and you want a clean way to remove that partition without any space left after your Windows RE partition, you can do the following steps. I verified those steps in a VM to make sure it works.

Be very careful though, it's important to do these steps exactly:

1. First you want to open an administrator cmd shell (cmd.exe run as admin)
   
2. Disable RE temporarily:
   reagentc /disable
   
3. Start diskpart utility:
   diskpart
   
4. Select your disk 1 (according to your screenshots, verify with list disk first):
   sel disk 1
   
5. Delete the old RE partition (according to your screenshots, verify with list part first):
   sel part 5 - then - del part 5 override
   
6. Delete the current RE partition (according to your screenshots, verify with list part first):
   sel part 4 - then - del part 4 override
   
7. Locate your "Windows" partition, this should be 2 or 3 (according to your screenshots):
   list part
   
8. Select your correct "Windows" partition (important!):
   sel part 2 - or - sel part 3
   
9. Extend partition to the complete disk:
   extend
   
10. Shrink partition to leave 800 MB on the right:
    shrink desired=800
    
11. Create a new GPT recovery partition (according to your screenshots you use GPT, not MBR, verify first!):
    create part primary id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac
    
12. Set GPT attributes to hide the new partition (make sure it's selected with list part first, it should be):
    gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
    
13. Format your new partition with NTFS:
    format fs=ntfs quick
    
14. Exit diskpart:
    exit
    
15. Re-enable RE:
    reagentc /enable
    

Now you should see the new recovery partition with ~800MB, something like that:



And reagentc /info should report the new partition as RE target:

Thanks for your information! Your instructions are very detailed, but I got spooked right when I started.  So, I installed Paragon and gave that a whirl.  I think it came out ok! See attached.

[al3x]

Very nice instructions, Al3x!
Xeroid and anybody else using them be sure to take care at each step to ensure you are using them on the correct disk, partition, etc., Diskpart is very powerful and unforgiving.

Thanks!

Unfortunately I made 2 small mistakes in the steps 5 and 6.
I can't edit my posting anymore, so here's the correction:

5. Delete the old RE partition (according to your screenshots, verify with list part first):
  sel part 5 - then - del part override
6. Delete the current RE partition (according to your screenshots, verify with list part first):
  sel part 4 - then - del part override

It's del part override only, you select the partition just once with sel part x each.

Sorry for that!

[al3x]

Thanks for your information! Your instructions are very detailed, but I got spooked right when I started.  So, I installed Paragon and gave that a whirl.  I think it came out ok! See attached.

Looks good to me, reagentc is attached to the correct partition. Nice!

[Epictetus]

Perhaps a naive question, but why does one need the recovery partition anyway? I deleted mine a long time ago and just added the space to OS.

So long as you have an external (bootable) SSD/HDD with an image of your setup and a WinPE with HasleoBS, you can always recover from that if needed.

[al3x]

You don’t really need the partition, that’s correct. You could also disable RE with reagentc /disable, then delete the RE partition and reenable with reagentc /enable. That will recreate RE in c:\Recovery and it will work like before.

Or you could kill RE completely like you did. Technically that works, too. It’s just that I like to keep my Windows the most non-Frankenstein way possible to prevent possible later hiccups in case MS decides to do something weird with a new update. You never know.

[Epictetus]

You don’t really need the partition, that’s correct. You could also disable RE with reagentc /disable, then delete the RE partition and reenable with reagentc /enable. That will recreate RE in c:\Recovery and it will work like before.

Or you could kill RE completely like you did. Technically that works, too. It’s just that I like to keep my Windows the most non-Frankenstein way possible to prevent possible later hiccups in case MS decides to do something weird with a new update. You never know.

Yes, I see your point ("... in case MS decides to do ..."), but it would seem from reading the above posts that the trouble comes from having RE in the wrong place/geometry, rather than from not having it at all? At least up till now.

[al3x]

Yeah, that’s true for HBS. But missing a partition which should exist by MS definition might bring trouble in the future during Windows updates. That’s what you can’t predict. 

[Epictetus]

Yeah, that’s true for HBS. But missing a partition which should exist by MS definition might bring trouble in the future during Windows updates. That’s what you can’t predict. 

Yes - I see that too. In my case the RE partition has been missing for at least eighteen months, maybe more, so missing through a couple of "Feature Updates" and a host of the minor ones. But as you say, no telling in the future.