Does this look right to you?

[idonteven]

Hi, everyone.

I've been using Windows 7 for a few days now and everything's been great. No problems at all. Today I started looking around the Computer Management Console in an attempt to familiarise myself with things a bit more, and came across this.

Can someone please explain methodically what's going on in the attached picture?

What is the empty, untitled 15GB recovery partition volume all about?
What is the 100MB 'SYSTEM' volume exactly? (of which 70MB is free - I really don't understand that at all)
Why isn't the 'C' partition listed as the active one? Should it be?

Like I said, I've no problems with functionality at all, but when I noticed how things looked in this section, it seemed a bit odd.

Is this an irregular looking layout, or am I worrying about nothing? Thanks in advance.

 

[garysgold]

Hello idonteven,

Welcome to Seven Froums.

Looks ok to me. Did you buy this computer from a manufacturer. They usually put a 15 gig partition that contains all the files needed to return the computer to the factory setup. The 100 MB partition contains some boot files and possibly the app to facilitate this recovery. As you can see, it is active.

Hope this helps.

Gary

 

[reghakr]

You must have done an upgrade rather than a "clean" install for that partition to be left over.

The 100MB partition?

I've heard of a 10MB boot partition ,. but never 100GB

The factory partition would contain the previous operating system which is of no use at all.

 

[idonteven]

Thanks for the responses, chaps.

Just to clarify, the laptop in question was purchased brand new with Windows 7 pre-installed, from Amazon a few days ago.

As far as taking any action is concerned, is it worth tidying up the apparent free space, or should I just leave everything as it is?

 

[reghakr]

Well I';ll have to correct my post. If it came pre-installed with Windows 7,. then the factory partition should be left alone.

 

[SIW2]

Looks OK to me.

I assume D is a separate partition put there for you to keep data on.

Worth keeping the Recovery partition - in case you need to restore the pc to factory state.

 

[Etihtsarom]

Hello, your system is fine. Manufacturers normally have a recovery partition which contain an image of the system as you bought it. If something goes wrong, the image in that 15GB partition will be able to put you back at factory condition. If you delete that partition, you might think about using a third party imaging application like Acronis' and store an image of the system on an external drive. Doing that will give you back 15GB of space that you can absorb into the Data drive.

The 100MB partition is created when Windows 7 is installed, it contains the boot files that are used to repair the boot sector incase Windows can't boot. It can be deleted if you're using thirdparty boot managers and ISR software, but highly NOT recommended.

I have to ask what's on the D partition? It is probably data files. I think you would benefit more from this setup by shrinking the C drive to its appropriate size, may be around 60~70GB, and absorbing the extra space into the D drive. This will allow you to map all your user data and system images onto the D drive, making the system more crashproof.

 

[garysgold]

I have to ask what's on the D partition? It is probably data files. I think you would benefit more from this setup by shrinking the C drive to its appropriate size, may be around 60~70GB, and absorbing the extra space into the D drive. This will allow you to map all your user data and system images onto the D drive, making the system more crashproof.

I agree except to say that how large the C drive should be is dependent on how many programs you plan to install. I have used nearly 70 gigs of my C drive and so consider 100-120 GB to be minimum for C: If you need to reinstall the OS for some reason, your personal files are safe on another partition. Still should have good backups, but a lot less chance you'll need them.