Hidden C: Drive Partition contents. How to safely reduce size


Fozzie Bear

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Windows 10 Home 22H2 (Build 19045.4291)
I did a Win 11 installation on unsupported hardware following advice elsewhere on this forum on a Dell Inspiron Laptop. Under normal circumstances I would do a clean install but there was software on the laptop I needed to retain as I don't have the serial numbers.

I now have a running Win 11 install but the disk partition structure is "non standard". I believe this is because Dell create an OEM recovery partition that their proprietary recovery software uses. (Note this was a windows 7 laptop that was automatically upgraded to Win 10 during the free rollout) As a result during the install of Win 10 and then upgrade of Win 11, the installer used the OEM recovery partition as the system partition. The System partition is therefore very large at nearly 8GB. As the SSD is only 128Gb I could do with removing the old Dell backup image and software. Below are images of the hard drive and each partition in order.

Can anyone recommend a safe GUI based tool that can delete files on hidden partitions and which ones are part of the active boot process I should leave alone?

Screenshot 2024-10-24 081327.png


First 309 Mb Fat Primary Partition.png

Screenshot 2024-10-23 173550.png


OS C Partition.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Home 22H2 (Build 19045.4291)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Gigabyte B85M-D3H
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770K CPU @ 3.50GHz (8 CPUs)
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B85M-D3H
    Memory
    16.0 Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
    Sound Card
    Intel Digital Audio (S/PDIF) (High Definition Audio Device)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ G2420HD
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Primary: Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB Secondary 1: Seagate ST31000524AS (NTFS) Secondary 2: Seagate ST1000DM005 HD103SJ(exFat)
    PSU
    OCZ 550w
    Case
    LianLi
    Cooling
    ThermoLab Trinity
    Keyboard
    Dell (Logitech) Wireless keyboard
    Mouse
    Dell (Logitech) Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    100mb FTTP
1) Macrium Reflect and/or AOMEI Backupper (both freeware) to create image(s) of the existing system (so it can be restored if anything goes pear-shaped)
2) As multiple posts show in this forum, a search will reveal the GUI software of choice for partition management is Minitool Partition Wizard. Another popular one is AOMEI Partition Assistant (both freeware)
3) delete the Recovery partition, but make sure you maintain a future regular regime of system imaging
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 2xH2 (latest update ... forever anal)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Slim S01
    CPU
    Intel i5-12400
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GT730
    Sound Card
    OOBE
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 32"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    512GB KIOXIA NVMe
    1TB SATA SSD
    PSU
    OOBE
    Case
    OOBE
    Cooling
    OOBE
    Keyboard
    BT
    Mouse
    BT
    Browser
    Brave FFox Chrome Opera
    Antivirus
    KIS
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 2xH2 (latest update ... 4ever anal)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion 15
    CPU
    i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Hard Drives
    Samsung NVMe 512GB
    + numerous/multiple SSD Type C USB enclosures
    Internet Speed
    NBN FTTN 50
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    KIS
Those would appear to be the Dell Diagnostics and OEM Recovery Partitions..... What you need to figure out is if any of them or which one is the Boot Partition... Although it Might Be C:\ > which if that is the case, you can remove both those partitions..

Open Command Prompt (Admin) and type > bcdedit
see what Partition "Windows Boot manager" is on
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows
Have you tried with Disk Management and doesn't allow you to delete it? I think you can just click to select it and then delete or right-click and select delete from the list. Then expand the Windows partition to take the available space, so restart required.

No it is not the boot partition. However, if anything happens and you cannot boot in Windows 11, use your Windows 11 USB to Repair and you are OK.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (build 22631.4249) test laptop, Windows 11 Pro v24H2 (build 26100.2605) main PC
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Extensa 5630EZ
    CPU
    Mobile DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, 2000 MHz
    Motherboard
    Acer Extensa 5630
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Mobile Intel(R) GMA 4500M (Mobile 4 series)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC268 @ Intel 82801IB ICH9 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB SATA Device (250 GB, SATA-III)
    Internet Speed
    VDSL 50 Mbps
    Browser
    MICROSOFT EDGE
    Antivirus
    WINDOWS DEFENDER
    Other Info
    Legacy MBR installation, no TPM, no Secure Boot, no WDDM 2.0 graphics drivers, no SSE4.2, cannot get more unsupported ;) This is only my test laptop. I had installed Windows 11 here before upgrading my main PC. For my main PC I use everyday see my 2nd system specs.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro v24H2 (build 26100.2605)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom-built PC
    CPU
    Intel Core-i7 3770 3.40GHz s1155 (3rd generation)
    Motherboard
    Asus P8H61 s1155 ATX
    Memory
    2x Kingston Hyper-X Blu 8GB DDR3-1600
    Graphics card(s)
    Gainward NE5105T018G1-1070F (nVidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti 4GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD audio (ALC887)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia KDL-19L4000 19" LCD TV via VGA
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 32-bit 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    WD Blue SA510 2.5 1000GB SSD as system disk, Western Digital Caviar Purple 4TB SATA III (WD40PURZ) as second
    PSU
    Thermaltake Litepower RGB 550W Full Wired
    Case
    SUPERCASE MIDI-TOWER
    Cooling
    Deepcool Gamma Archer CPU cooler, 1x 8cm fan at the back
    Mouse
    Sunnyline OptiEye PS/2
    Keyboard
    Mitsumi 101-key PS/2
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Legacy BIOS (MBR) installation, no TPM, no Secure Boot, WDDM 3.0 graphics drivers, WEI score 7.4

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