Queries Re: BIOS Partition & SSD Maintenance

[PJB]

Hi All

Many thanks to all that read and helped me in getting my partition sorted and I now have a laptop that boots without error, thank you.

Couple more queries (for now!) if you don't mind:
- My BIOS partition is red on my computer as it only has 206 MB free, should I extend the partition or will it make no difference?
- I've read that you should keep an eye on and maintain your SSD, is this correct and if so how do I do it or can anyone recommend some software please, preferably free!

 

[Kaktussoft]

What is a BIOS partition?? Please show me a screenshot so I understand.
How the heck can you maintain a SSD?! Don't understand what you're requesting.

 

[gregrocker]

You should not start a new thread about the same issues. I was waiting for your screenshot of the content of the BIOS partition in the other thread. You also had two other partitions without drive letter that needed to have one assigned to see what they contained before deleting them. We could not see the content because the Disk Mgmt screenshot did not include the size-on-disk listings.

 

[PJB]

Sorry Gregrocker I posted the last message on the other thread and marked it as solved and then when I went back I could not see that message so assumed it had been deleted as it was a new query or the thread was locked as it was solved.

Managed to delete the other partitions thanks to your advice Greg in the other thread and using the partition wizard.

Here is the image from my computer with the sizes/space:

And this is the content of the BIOS partition, sorry my error, it is titled the BIOS partition but is clearly the recovery partition:

With regards to the SSD maintenance it was something I read about software that optimises it for longevity and makes it less likely to fail etc. Probably a load of BS but as people here know what they're talking about and are kinf enough to assist us less educated I thought I'd ask!

 

[gregrocker]

It's irritating that this case is now spread across two threads.

It looks like bootable Recovery partition. If it's bloating then it's likely because it was assigned a drive letter something has been able to write to it.

So we look at the dates and most recent activity was something writtten in March to the Boot folder. Look in there to see if something is there that shouldn't be on that date.

What I would do is decide if I really want a Factory Recovery partition since the factory install is a horrible install that almost no tech enthusiast would run anyways, preferring to do a Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

Then I'd test Recovery by tapping the key given on first screen to run Recovery to see if it will even boot which is when you'd need Recovery most anyway. If it queues up and gives decent options you want then I'd abort it and keep it. If it doesn't run or you don't want it anyway I'd delete and recover the space or just leave it to see if it can be booted later by adding it to a Dual Boot with EasyBCD from the OS, or running the Recovery Manager from All Programs, or the application.exe file you can see in the folder. You might want to test those first to know what works and doesn't.

Meanwhile if you decide to keep it and can't figure out what was written there to bloat it, I'd remove the Drive Letter in Disk Mgmt and then extend it 1-2gb into C using How to extend partition easily with Partition Wizard - video help.

 

[PJB]

Thanks Greg, I am very sorry about the second thread and that it has irritated you. That said I am even more grateful that you are still helping me, thank you.

Regarding the decision to have a factory recovery partition, thinking about it I am not sure that I do actually. I have a 2TB external HDD and think I'll be better off back up my system to there as then it backs up my data, programs etc, would I not?

Can I ask if you agree with me that I'm better off backing up if you can suggest a reliable (reliability being the most important for me) program please.

when I tested it it just went into the 'Windows Boot Manager' screen and gave me the option to enter ‘Windows 7 Home Premium (recovered)’ or press F8 which done nothing apart from asking me to put in the OEM disk.

Regarding the last entry in the Boot partition it was 3rd Nov 2014 and it was BCD, but thank you for saying that as there was some acestream files which I have deleted, rechecked F3 Recovery and did the same.

It now looks like this:

EDIT: Sorry further to the above I've removed the drive letter and extended the partition for now. The partition now does not show in my computer but does if I go to (right click) manage or partition wizard.

 

[gregrocker]

It appears you did a Startup Repair which rewrote the boot files recently which explain those. What were the other files you said you deleted? A Backup program? This is often the culprit when Recovery is given a drive letter.

But deleting Recovery partition to recover its space with Partition Wizard to Resize Partition is the best possible option if you have an install you are happy with or plan to the Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 to have the best install possible.

That's a very good idea to save image to external since having the backup image on the same hard drive is not the best idea in case of drive failure.

Windows Backup Imaging is fine but lacks some flexibility - you can't recover the image to any but the present offset (position on disk) even if you replace the hard drive.

To have more flexibilty about where you can reapply the image partition-wise you can use a preferred app like free Macrium Imaging - Windows 7 Help Forums.

 

[PJB]

I think the other files were dodgy, from a program called Ace Stream and definitely not supposed to be there but that's what you get for streaming sport!

I'm going to get rid of the recovery partition at some point by want to clean up the drive first, have alot of old files and duplicates that really do not need to be there. On that point can anyone recommend as good program for finding duplicates and old/unused programs and files?

Thanks again