WinRE (G:) Drive suddenly appeared in Windows Explorer?

The System Active boot files are contained on C so it's strange they would separate out WinRe - which normally resides in the Windows folder - onto a non-bootable partition. WinRE appears to be a Factory Recovery partition.

Could there have been any partitioning adjustments or repairs run on the computer? How confident are you this is the state it came from factory?

In addition to removing the drive letter from WinRe I'd mark the other HD Inactive as only the OS System drive should be marked Active: Partition - Mark as Inactive - Windows 7 Forums. If this drive has been previously a bootable System drive then I'd wipe it to clean the boot sector so it cannot interfere using Diskpart Clean Command since it appears to be empty.

Under the circumstances you should test WinRe to see if it works:

First make your System Repair Disc - Create.

Next reboot the computer and tap the F8 key repeatedly to enter Advanced Boot Options to see if the Repair console is on the menu. If so boot into it to see if it finds an installation to repair, if it has any issues it wants resolved up front. If not click through to System Recovery Options to run Startup Repair to see if it finds anything which needs fixing.

Once you know WinRe works correctly, see if Factory Recovery will cue up to run. If you tell us the make/model of your computer we can link the steps for this, or you can consult your manual. See that it cues up correctly and what options it offers. If not it may be that the partition is no longer bootable because of changes made to the partitioning. However this does not mean it will not run if it is marked Active when needed then rebooted into it.

Make your Recovery Disks now if you haven't already so you maintain another option of running Factory Recovery. You can also always clean reinstall if needed using a Win7 installer for your version with the Product Key on the COA sticker. Reinstalling Windows 7

Or you can fall back to System Restore points or a Win7 backup image you save externally in place of reinstall if Win7 becomes irreparable: Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

Make the disks, run these tests, feel free to ask back any questions and/or report what you find.

Solidwave said:

In disk management, right click on your WinRE partition and select "change drive letter and path." In the change drive letter dialog, select "F:" and click on "remove." This will hide the drive letter for your WinRE partition--making it inaccessible while you're running windows--but not delete the partition from the disk.

Thanks! It hidden the partition and the boot sequence works normally. I think my problem is solved, many thanks! But one question, is it normal for that drive/partition to have 12 GB space?

gregrocker said:

The System Active boot files are contained on C so it's strange they would separate out WinRe - which normally resides in the Windows folder - onto a non-bootable partition. WinRE appears to be a Factory Recovery partition.

Could there have been any partitioning adjustments or repairs run on the computer? How confident are you this is the state it came from factory?

This computer was sent only once to a repair due to Blue Screen of Death. I received it a few months ago, so It's not something that has been altered there I think, since I did not notice that problem before now.

gregrocker said:

In addition to removing the drive letter from WinRe I'd mark the other HD Inactive as only the OS System drive should be marked Active: Partition - Mark as Inactive - Windows 7 Forums. If this drive has been previously a bootable System drive then I'd wipe it to clean the boot sector so it cannot interfere using Diskpart Clean Command since it appears to be empty.
Under the circumstances you should test WinRe to see if it works:

First make your System Repair Disc - Create.

Next reboot the computer and tap the F8 key repeatedly to enter Advanced Boot Options to see if the Repair console is on the menu. If so boot into it to see if it finds an installation to repair, if it has any issues it wants resolved up front. If not click through to System Recovery Options to run Startup Repair to see if it finds anything which needs fixing.

Once you know WinRe works correctly, see if Factory Recovery will cue up to run. If you tell us the make/model of your computer we can link the steps for this, or you can consult your manual. See that it cues up correctly and what options it offers. If not it may be that the partition is no longer bootable because of changes made to the partitioning. However this does not mean it will not run if it is marked Active when needed then rebooted into it.

Make your Recovery Disks now if you haven't already so you maintain another option of running Factory Recovery. You can also always clean reinstall if needed using a Win7 installer for your version with the Product Key on the COA sticker. Reinstalling Windows 7

Or you can fall back to System Restore points or a Win7 backup image you save externally in place of reinstall if Win7 becomes irreparable: Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

Make the disks, run these tests, feel free to ask back any questions and/or report what you find

I have a Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo P PC. And thanks for your time to write out this, I will try everything and report back results. :)

That model came with XP so it must have had a clean reinstall of Win7 done at some point.

Look for the F-key given on first boot screen to tap to run Factory Recovery to see if it works, but it's doubtful it will run if it was clean reinstalled. The Manual says those units ship with Recovery Disks. http://uk.ts.fujitsu.com/rl/services.../Manual_uk.pdf. You can do your own research to find any key combination to press to run Recovery to see if it still has it's hotlink and will cue up to run. But it would be XP being restored unless this is a model of that PC which shipped with Win7.

It's entirely likely that if the Repair console cues up to run it is working from the Win7 partition and not WinRe partition which is sizeable enough it appears to be a Recovery Partition. When you post back the partition contents we can judge it better. There's a chance it isn't functional at all any longer but until you get ready to wipe the HD to clean reinstall Win7 I would just leave it hidden. Reinstalling Windows 7

Yes, this is correct. The WinRE partition is the recovery partition... and I have the disks for recovery... So I think I can delete the partition (and others) and reinstall Windows 7?

Okay, I have tested the recovery disks and they worked. So as of reading other threads, I just removed it along with all others and now doing a complete reinstall of Windows 7.

Thank all you for your help! This is solved for the moment.

Let us know how it goes.

Once you get your clean reinstall set up as you like using the steps I gave you to get a perfect Clean Reinstall, save a Win7 backup image externally you can use in place of ever having to reinstall again.

Sorry for not giving any feedback, I simply forgot about this topic.

Thank you for help everyone. After a fresh re-install there were no problems or issues. I have also created a image of the whole system in-case something goes wrong.

Appreciate the advice and support! Thumbs up!