I don't know where these partitions came from . . .

Hi Everyone -
I was looking at another posting on this forum, on a question about a drive not showing up, and someone suggested hitting the Win and X buttons and choosing disk management. I tried it. I haven't been in disk management for a while, and I was surprised to find so many partitions on my drives, all that I didn't put on the drives. Please see the image. The red arrows indicate the partitions, even on external drives. I am pretty sure my internal SSD did have one partition when I bought the computer from Dell. I don't know which one that was, and how were these partitions added, and will this be a problem? Will more partitions form, and will it hamper my computer? Did MS do this? I frequently check for malware, and antivirus.

Lots of weird things seem to be happening, ever since my last 2 MS updates, and updating my Nvidia driver - it was even hard to get a screenshot of the disk management screen. I had to make it a large window (it would not work on full screen), and click my cursor in the desktop area to get a screenshot at all.

Thanks.

The 3 EFI partitions are boot partitions. I'm guessing these other disks came from other systems that had Windows installed on them at some point. The two smaller recovery partitions are likely WinRM (windows recovery environments) and the larger recovery partition is probably an OEM recovery partition.

One of the recovery partitions is orphaned.

It can be left as is or deleted.

neemobeer said:

The 3 EFI partitions are boot partitions. I'm guessing these other disks came from other systems that had Windows installed on them at some point. The two smaller recovery partitions are likely WinRM (windows recovery environments) and the larger recovery partition is probably an OEM recovery partition.

Click to expand...

Hi Neemobeer -

Thanks. I don't remember if the external drives were ever attached to my Win 10 computer, but never had partitions on them in the past, on this computer.

Are you saying that the Windows updates, like from 22H2, 2232, and 2242 caused these partitions in the C: drive?

Also, why does one external drive (I: drive) show no partitions, while all the others do? It is not my newest, or largest drive. The L: drive is!)

zbook said:

One of the recovery partitions is orphaned.

It can be left as is or deleted.

Click to expand...

Hi Zbook -

Which one would that be? I have noticed since the last updates, that the computer takes longer to finish booting up completely after the desktop comes up. Are these partitions part of that problem?

I don't remember if the external drives were ever attached to my Win 10 computer, but never had partitions on them in the past

Click to expand...

They must have. Cant use a disk until it has been initialized and partitioned.
From your screenshot it seems they had only one partition that was lettered and therefore visible to you in explorer.

SIW2 said:

They must have. Cant use a disk until it has been initialized and partitioned.
From your screenshot it seems they had only one partition that was lettered and therefore visible to you in explorer.

Click to expand...

Hi SIW2 -
I have looked at them several times in disk management (you are correct about explorer) on this Win 11 computer since I got it probably about 2 years ago. This is the first time I am seeing all these partitions. It has been several months, since I last looked at disk management. Can MS updates make their own partitions? Also, I have gone thru and filled up several Seagate External hdds, and have never partitioned any of them, or have seen this before.
Thanks.

backup software settings maybe? what backup software do you have and who set it up?

The storage drive: (disk 1 ) may have one or two partitions (disk management does not display hidden partitions)

The other drives have EFI partitions and are each 200 MB.
(The default size is 100 MB)

If there is only one Windows installation the only one EFI is needed.






If you want definitive information on the disk drive partitions then run diskpart commands or run these scripts:


1) Please run disk partition info > post a share link






2) Run Tuneup plus > post a share link






3) Run the V2 log collector > post a share link

retiredat44 said:

backup software settings maybe? what backup software do you have and who set it up?

Click to expand...

Hi Retiredat44 -

I am using the Win 7 Backup program from the control panel. It backs up to the L: Drive. Never had a problem with it.

zbook said:

The storage drive: (disk 1 ) may have one or two partitions (disk management does not display hidden partitions)

The other drives have EFI partitions and are each 200 MB.
(The default size is 100 MB)

If there is only one Windows installation the only one EFI is needed.






If you want definitive information on the disk drive partitions then run diskpart commands or run these scripts:


1) Please run disk partition info > post a share link

https://www.tenforums.com/attachments/bsod-crashes-debugging/355861d1640707960-batch-files-use-bsod-debugging-diskparinfo.bat

Batch files for use in BSOD debugging - Windows 10 Help Forums

Information This thread is for use by the BSOD team to store batch files that can be used to collect additional data, fix settings or anything else that is useful in debugging BSOD problems in Windows 10. The way I see it working is the first

www.tenforums.com

Batch files for use in BSOD debugging - Windows 10 Help Forums

Information This thread is for use by the BSOD team to store batch files that can be used to collect additional data, fix settings or anything else that is useful in debugging BSOD problems in Windows 10. The way I see it working is the first

www.tenforums.com

2) Run Tuneup plus > post a share link

https://www.tenforums.com/attachments/bsod-crashes-debugging/360137d1645183388-batch-files-use-bsod-debugging-tuneup_plus_log.bat

Batch files for use in BSOD debugging - Windows 10 Help Forums

Information This thread is for use by the BSOD team to store batch files that can be used to collect additional data, fix settings or anything else that is useful in debugging BSOD problems in Windows 10. The way I see it working is the first

www.tenforums.com

Batch files for use in BSOD debugging - Windows 10 Help Forums

Information This thread is for use by the BSOD team to store batch files that can be used to collect additional data, fix settings or anything else that is useful in debugging BSOD problems in Windows 10. The way I see it working is the first

www.tenforums.com

3) Run the V2 log collector > post a share link

BSOD - Posting Instructions

BSOD - Posting Instructions This will show you how to help provide needed information about your system and dump files. It will not contain any personal or sensitive information about you or your data. To get better help with your Windows BSOD issue, please read these instructions and follow...

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

Hi Zbook -

Thanks, but why run BSOD crash scripts, when I only want to know if the new drive partitions are harmful, cause draining of resources, and where they came from? I am, at this time, not experiencing any BSOD. Thank goodness.

And, there is only one Windows installation!

The V2 is a log collector.

It collects multiple files that can be troubleshooted.

archfoto said:

Lots of weird things seem to be happening

Click to expand...

Hi All -

I want to thank each and every one of you for your input. I really appreciate the time you took to write and help me.

Looking at the total partition sizes on each of the affected drives, they really aren't eating up that much hard drive space. I am quite averse to fixes that involve deletions, or updating, as I need this computer for communications, and my workflow will be interrupted, and a slip-up or bad choice on my end can make for a very bad time. I checked on Google to see if anyone had this problem and it actually came back to this forum at Mysterious Disk Partitions . That was back in 2023. What I really wanted to know is if anyone has had this same thing happen to them, and if they did, how did they fix it. Apparently, that did happen to someone else, and apparently, these partitions are needed. Fortunately for me, I have a 1TB SSD, so there is still quite a lot of room left on the drive, as I keep almost no sizeable data on the C: drive. There is still a lot of headroom on the external drives, as well.

The only problems I have had since my updates seem to have been annoyances at the worst, and may, or may not be related to the partitions. It is like going to the doctor for intestinal problems. He says, "Let's run some tests." We know the tests will be expensive, inconvenient, intrusive, and possibly involve pain and discomfort. We ask, "What if the tests don't show anything?" The doctor says, "Then you have IBS!" You say, "What is the cure for IBS?" The doctor says there isn't any, and you have to live with it!

I feel, for now, I have to live with the partitions.

Thank you all, again.

archfoto said:

I am using the Win 7 Backup program from the control panel.

Click to expand...

Probably not the best option. By Microsoft's own admission this program has been severely deprecated, and other 3rd party options are suggested/recommended.

Plenty of posts in multiple forums about problems with this program, particularly with restore/recovery attempts

Options
- imaging software like Macrium Reflect, AOMEI, Hasleo (all have freeware versions available) - best for systems backup
- native format backup like SyncBackFree - only for user files
- built-in system restore points

idgat said:

Probably not the best option. By Microsoft's own admission this program has been severely deprecated, and other 3rd party options are suggested/recommended.

Plenty of posts in multiple forums about problems with this program, particularly with restore/recovery attempts

Options
- imaging software like Macrium Reflect, AOMEI, Hasleo (all have freeware versions available) - best for systems backup
- native format backup like SyncBackFree - only for user files
- built-in system restore points

Click to expand...

Thanks, Idgat -

I will consider them. Usually, since all my data is backed up on three external drives, the only thing that's on the C: drive is apps, drivers, etc. I usually wind up clearing the drive and reinstalling Windows and the apps without the backup, anyway. BTW, I do create system restore points with every new app, and update that I make.