Creating additional partition makes all partitions non-bootable

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  1. Posts : 16,119
    7 X64
       #11

    The 300mb partition was just to get people "used to" the idea tha MS implements a separate system partition for UEFI/gpt systems. You don't need a separate "system" partition.
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  2. Posts : 125
    Win 7 Pro 32-bit
    Thread Starter
       #12

    That's heartening, and may explain the presence of an EFI folder somewhere on the drive even though the machine will reliably boot on everything including legacy media. And there seem to be enough complete-drive backups around for recovery if anything goes wrong - there's Win7's own image, HP's factory settings, and Ghost can also do the whole drive. . Avoiding UEFI is a big part of the reason why I got a win7 machine, rather than 10. Hard to know which w10 models will really allow legacy boot options. I gather if it's a bargain then it probably won't.
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  3. Posts : 3,772
    win 8 32 bit
       #13

    As I said you can copy files of up tools if you want to keep them. It's simpler to delete that so you don't need to mess with boot files the system partition is were it boots from then hands over to c
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  4. Posts : 7,349
    Windows 7 HP 64
       #14

    Beware.
    System partition on OEM disks normally have the boot loader and the possibility to launch other programs like diagnostics, tools and system restore.
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  5. Posts : 125
    Win 7 Pro 32-bit
    Thread Starter
       #15

    Yes zapping the HP Tools partition sounds a little safer, so far at least. A genuinely complete backup of the whole drive ought to render everything safe, but with that 300mb partition looking like some kind of master partition, I don't feel quite so sure. On an XP machine I wrecked the built-in Samsung recovery partition when I took a bit of space from C and gave it to the (existing) data partition. No apparent reason why that would have affected Samsung, which was on a partition I never knowingly touched.
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  6. Posts : 7,349
    Windows 7 HP 64
       #16

    My personal opinion: Don't play with partitions. It's a OEM disk with diagnostics, tools and system restore.

    - You should create the factory recovery boot able USB flash drive to be able to restore the OS in any disk.
    - Use Macrium Software | Macrium Reflect Free to generate a disk image on an external HDD.
    With these two tools you can rebuilt your disk if disaster happens.

    If you want to improve your laptop, buy a small (120G) SSD and a caddy to replace the ODD with a HDD.
    Put Windows and programs on the SSD and data on the HDD.
    9.5mm - ORICO Hard Drive Caddy 7mm 9.5mm 2.5 SATA 2nd SSD HDD Hard Disk Internal Caddy Adapter Tray Enclosures Optical Bay Drive Slot for HP,Dell,Lenovo,ThinkPad, ACER Gateway ASUS SONY SAMSUNG - Newegg.com
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  7. Posts : 125
    Win 7 Pro 32-bit
    Thread Starter
       #17

    Sure, an external copy of a complete drive image is the best rescue, and the utility has to be able to restore whatever has happened to the drive. Win7's imaging utility reversed my partitioning work and its damage to the bootability of the internal partitions with no trouble, because it ran from the Windows boot CD. Ghost runs from a bootable flash drive, it wouldn't let me select the computer drive to restore it, but that image was of the C partition only, so it seems quite likely that it'd have done the job if I'd used a drive image instead of a partition image. Won't try to use that without checking if I'm right first. If there's any reason to suspect neither option will restore all partitions, Macrium will be worth a look. Clever to think of a different drive for the OS, though that'd be a lot of unfamiliar territory for me.
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  8. Posts : 16,119
    7 X64
       #18

    Making C system and deleting the litlle 300mb thing is fine. I have done it hundreds of times.

    I have no idea why the other posters are contradicting me. They should know better.

    As an alternative, you could get rid of the HP recovery partitions, which would get you even more space. It contains reinstallation media, with relevant drivers, and various HP applications. It also contains the cert and product key that matches your slic table - for automatic activation.

    If you are going to delete the recovery partition(s), make sure you have reinstallation media and a product key.

    It is good idea to make regular images of your drive - I recommend Aomei backupper as it is the simplest to use, and does a good job.There is a free (standard) version which may be all you need.
    Best Windows Backup and Restore Software | AOMEI Backupper
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  9. Posts : 7,349
    Windows 7 HP 64
       #19

    A SSD is the best upgrade since multi core CPU.
    Have done it on a friend's computer and will be glad to guide you.
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  10. Posts : 16,119
    7 X64
       #20

    Yes, an ssd is a worthwhile upgrade for most laptops.

    That wasn't the original question.
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