New HDD install--one partition?

[sverne]

Just installed a new HDD on Lenovo and disk management states:
*Disk 0 465 GB NTFS
*healthy system, boot, page file, active crash dump, primary partition.


My question: is only one partition adequate? On my other pc, there are 3 and one is for recovery, and that is specifically why I'm asking, shouldn't there be a separate partition for recovery?

I have the Lenovo onekey recovery.

 

[Paul Black]

Hi sverne,

My question: is only one partition adequate? On my other pc, there are 3 and one is for recovery, and that is specifically why I'm asking, shouldn't there be a separate partition for recovery?

I assume that you have clean installed. During installation you can delete all the partitions leaving a single partition of un-allocated space which Windows then formats and installs Win 7 onto.

As far as having a recovery partiton, you could create a new partition [on the HDD] and image your system to it. This way, if things go wrong in the future, you will be able to restore your OS back to the exact same state that it was when the system image was made in a very short time. There are two imaging programs which are very popular among members here, the first is AOMEI Backupper Standard [FREE], and the second is Macrium Reflect [FREE].

I would however, recommend that you create a system image to an external HDD or USB in case your HDD fails completely.

I hope this helps!

 

[sverne]

What about shrinking/adding a partition through disk mngmt? Are there any tutorials here about that?
I do have an external.

 

[Paul Black]

Hi sverne,

What about shrinking/adding a partition through disk mngmt? Are there any tutorials here about that?

Here you go => How to Shrink a Partition or Volume in Windows 7.

 

[Paul Black]

Hi sverne,

I usually use => AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition [FREE] for this type of task.

 

[sverne]

Thanks for the ap info Paul.
I understand I can image to a new partition, but my main question is: how can the factory recovery have its own partition (as I see it on other pc's?

 

[torchwood]

Hi Sverne,

Recovery partitions are created by the OEM's, (Dell etc) during the factory production stage, purely as a Back-up.
for want of a better description its part of the Bloatware they install, accessed via an "Fx" key

I would never expect to see 1 one on a clean install


Roy

 

[sverne]

Hi sverne,

I usually use => AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition [FREE] for this type of task.

Thanks for the links to AOEMI, I'm going to try the partition assistant. I looked through it and it seems straighforward.



I have a question: If I take some space from a partition and create a new letter, how will I be able to put the image on this specific drive, and also if I need a recovery after HD failure, how will I access this?


I'm also definitely doing an external backup on my Seagate as that would be more secure and hopefully simpler if the "catastophic" day arrives. FYI I've been using the seagate manager, but is so confusing and unfriendly as it it has multiple files with with hidden folders and lacks an orderly nomenclature system. I will run AOMEI backup on the drive instead.

 

[Paul Black]

Hi sverne,

[1] If I take some space from a partition and create a new letter, how will I be able to put the image on this specific drive, and also [2] if I need a recovery after HD failure, how will I access this?

[1] You can do this during the system image process. You need to set the system image drive in Step 2.

[2] This is why I said...

I would however, recommend that you create a system image to an external HDD or USB in case your HDD fails completely.

You can create a recovery CD and keep it somewhere VERY SAFE!

I hope this helps!

 

[sverne]

Hi sverne,



[1] You can do this during the system image process. You need to set the system image drive in Step 2.

[2] This is why I said...



You can create a recovery CD and keep it somewhere VERY SAFE!

I hope this helps!

Which one do you prefer?
*sytem or disk image?
And a big Thanks!

 

[Paul Black]

Hi sverne,

Which one do you prefer?
*sytem or disk image?

I use system image [to an external HDD or USB]!

If by disk image you mean cloning, then that is different to system image!