My Recovery Drive (D:) Almost Full.....

kado897 · 28 Jun 2011

Good idea.

whs · 28 Jun 2011

papaniz said:

Hey there,

I'm just wondering about the recovery drive I have, the (D:) drive is almost full, and I was just wondering what should I do when it runs out of space? My friend has his recovery drive full as well and needs help, which is why I'm posting this. I was told not to modify or even touch anything in the drive because it is a backup of the system or something? Well I don't know what to do because my friend's recovery drive is full and he's getting a notification on his taskbar about it, I have 1Gb left and was just wondering as well since most of mine is used up. Should I just leave it? Thanks for the help.

The recovery partition contains an image of the system that serves for reinstallation. That partition should not be touched.

If it fills up, then that is due to user error - e.g. if the user does data backup and does not change the default drive letter which is D.

The recovery partition is usually small - about 8 to 10GB. In that case a 1GB free space is sufficient (10% is minimum before it shows a red bar in Computer).

If it fills up, you should open the partition and move all files that are not part of the system recovery setup.

papaniz · 29 Jun 2011

I have never actually used it for any personal things, I will get the screenshots in a couple minutes because I'm not home right now. My apologies for the late reply, but I always stored things in my documents and installed in my system drive. I never actually looked into my recovery drive up until now. So I don't think I'm using it for personal use.

kado897 · 29 Jun 2011

This is my HP recovery partition. Untouched in 12 months.

My Recovery Drive (D:) Almost Full.....-capture.jpg

My Recovery Drive (D:) Almost Full.....-capture1.jpg

papaniz · 29 Jun 2011

Okay here's my screenshots, actually had more than I explained, but still running out of space pretty quickly. Screenshots are messed up though...I believe you can just zoom in and look into it. Click onto the picture twice and it'll take you to a separate page and click to zoom in. I don't know why it came out that way...

kado897 · 29 Jun 2011

That looks similar to mine if I show system files. It shouldn't get any fuller over time.

Britton30 · 29 Jun 2011

The HP recovery partition is used to restore your computer to out-of-box state, with all the bloatware and various trial software. Its size should remain the same, is isn't a back-up.
If you system is fine and running just how you want it right now, format the D: partition and make an actual back-up image there with Macrium Reflect. You should also make a copy of your back-up on some external device or DVD's in case your HDD crashes.

See this tutorial for the partition steps: How to Delete a Partition or Volume in Windows 7

Your current D: partition appears to be about the correct size for recovery. If your friend's is filling up, it is due to his error or it is a different type of PC and partition.

seavixen32 · 29 Jun 2011

There appears to be nothing untoward in your Recovery partition and 1.91GB free out of 11.4GB is normal so I think you are worrying unnecessarily.

Providing you have some means of recovering your system by either a recovery disc or Windows DVD you can if you wish delete the partition (after creating a system image backup) and extend the Windows partition to take up the free space.

Also, have you created any recovery discs in the event of an emergency?

kado897 · 29 Jun 2011

I would say just leave it alone. It is a backup of last resort. Get yourself an external HDD and save any backups there with Windows backup and a third party backup of your choice Macrium Reflect FREE Edition is a good one.

whs · 29 Jun 2011

Your recovery partition is normal. HP always cuts it very close. Other manufacturers leave more room, but that is not really necessary. As long as the free space is 10%+, you are OK. There is nothing to worry about.