Solved My not so amazing family computer


Haydon

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Windows 10 Pro
A Recovery (D) shows up in File Explorer (see first attachment) Disk Management shows non-default partitioning (see second attachment) I don't know what happened, computer (W10 Home) works well.

Nonetheless, what does it take to get the default partitioning with MSR and the like?

ScreenShot.PNG

Capture.PNG
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
I seem to be missing the obvious, I cannot see anything wrong. Are you on 11 as well?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware M18 R1
    CPU
    13th Gen Core i9 13900HX
    Memory
    32GB DDR5 @4800MHz 2x16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce RTX 4090HX 16GB
    Sound Card
    Nvidia HD / Realtek ALC3254
    Monitor(s) Displays
    18" QHD+
    Screen Resolution
    25660 X 1600
    Hard Drives
    C: KIOXIA (Toshiba) 2TB KXG80ZNV2T04 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD
    D: KIOXIA (Toshiba) 2TB KXG80ZNV2T04 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD
    Case
    Dark Metallic Moon
    Keyboard
    Alienware M Series per-key AlienFX RGB
    Mouse
    Alienware AW610M
    Browser
    Chrome and Firefox
    Antivirus
    Norton
    Other Info
    Killer E3000 Ethernet Controller
    Killer Killer AX1690 Wi-Fi Network Adaptor Wi-Fi 6E
    Bluetooth 5.2
    Alienware Z01G Graphic Amplifier
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware Area 51m R2
    CPU
    10th Gen i-9 10900 K
    Memory
    32Gb Dual Channel DDR4 @ 8843MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia RTX 2080 Super
    Sound Card
    Nvidia
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Hard Drive C: Samsung 2TB SSD PM981a NVMe
    Hard Drive D:Samsung 2TB SSD 970 EVO Plus
    Mouse
    Alienware 610M
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton
Well, I expect NOT to see a Recovery (D) in File Explorer.

Then, I expect to see a Recovery partition with content, an EFI system partition with content, the Microsoft reserved partition (usually 16 MB) and the C: partition.

Edit: It is not a dual boot system, it's a family friendly family computer :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
Well, I expect NOT to see a Recovery (D) in File Explorer.

Then, I expect to see a Recovery partition with content, an EFI system partition with content, the Microsoft reserved partition (usually 16 MB) and the C: partition.
Can you see files on D drive. It could be an OEM recovery partition, or just a normal data partition.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
Well, I expect NOT to see a Recovery (D) in File Explorer.

Then, I expect to see a Recovery partition with content, an EFI system partition with content, the Microsoft reserved partition (usually 16 MB) and the C: partition.

Edit: It is not a dual boot system, it's a family friendly family computer :)
You assigned it a drive letter.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SAM0A87 Samsung SAM0D32
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-S
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SAM0A87 Samsung SAM0D32
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-S
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
All partitions are empty except for C: as you can see from the screenshot. D disappearing like that is not what I want.

If I do a clean install, then the default partitions including their default contents should be there, correct? It's a couple of hours of work to restore the machine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
All partitions are empty except for C: as you can see from the screenshot. D disappearing like that is not what I want.

If I do a clean install, then the default partitions including their default contents should be there, correct? It's a couple of hours of work to restore the machine.
If you want the partitions to have their default settings and contents as set by Windows during the install, you could try a repair install before resorting to a clean install. Just a thought.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Professional
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microcenter B677
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-9400
    Motherboard
    ASRock H310CM-HDV/M.2
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Intel Kaby Lake - High Definition Audio / cAVS (Audio, Voice, Speech) [A0]
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG Model: GSM59F1
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1080
    Case
    Lian Li 205M
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky AV
The Recovery partition on my computers don't have a drive letter assigned, not usually enough free space on them anyway for practical use.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro RTM
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
    Memory
    12GB
    Hard Drives
    256GB SSD NVMe
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5890
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Dell
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD NVMe, 2TB WDC HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
Your computer does have a default disk layout for a factory-built system. The 980MB recovery partition is the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). The 11.31 GB recovery partition is the factory provided recovery partition that would be used for a restore back to off-the-shelf condition with all the factory software restored.

To remove the D: drive letter simply:
Code:
diskpart
select volume d
remove
exit
exit

That will not remove the partition, only the drive letter. You could completely remove all recovery partitions, just make sure to run the below command first:
Code:
reagentc /disable
then remove both recovery partitions, expand C: to fill the empty space, then reactivate Windows RE with:
Code:
reagentc /enable
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
I fear the command line stuff is above my skill level. I need a clean install where I can delete all partitions, i.e. a 'Custom Install' in W10 parlance, is that correct?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
I need a clean install where I can delete all partitions, i.e. a 'Custom Install' in W10 parlance, is that correct?
No, that is not correct at all. There is absolutely nothing wrong with your current installation.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
All partitions are empty except for C: as you can see from the screenshot. D disappearing like that is not what I want.
The partitions appear empty, because that is EXACTLY what is supposed to happen. The EFI System, Windows RE, and Recovery partitions are marked as hidden, just like they should be. Because they are marked as hidden, their contents won't show in normal disk management so they appear to be empty when they are not.

capture2.jpgcapture3.jpg
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
OK, why is there no MSR?

Edit: If I delete all partitions at the beginning of the clean install procedure and let the OS do the partitioning, then there would be something like RE, EFI, MSR, C: which I believe is the default (and which I like)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
OK, why is there no MSR?

Edit: If I delete all partitions at the beginning of the clean install procedure and let the OS do the partitioning, then there would be something like RE, EFI, MSR, C: which I believe is the default (and which I like)
There is an MSR. MSR does not show up in Disk Management. Again, your computer is in EXACTLY the configuration that is should be for a factory computer. Notice my screenshot in post #13. No MSR in disk management, right? But look:
Code:
C:\Windows\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.22000.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: RAIDER

DISKPART> select disk 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list par

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    System             100 MB  1024 KB
  Partition 2    Reserved            16 MB   101 MB
  Partition 3    Primary            443 GB   117 MB
  Partition 4    Recovery           980 MB   443 GB
  Partition 5    Recovery            21 GB   444 GB

DISKPART>

16 MB MSR (Partition 2) just like it is supposed to be. Your computer is configured EXACTLY correctly. All you need to do is remove drive letter D: from the factory recovery partition, which you are unwilling to do. Your computer's system disk is configured EXACTLY like my computer's system disk, except you have a drive letter assigned to partition 5 and I don't. And the solution is incredibly simple:

Code:
diskpart
select volume d
remove
exit
exit
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
OK, why is there no MSR?

Edit: If I delete all partitions at the beginning of the clean install procedure and let the OS do the partitioning, then there would be something like RE, EFI, MSR, C: which I believe is the default (and which I like)
My suggestion is to remove the drive letter D, then leave the drive as is.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SAM0A87 Samsung SAM0D32
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-S
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Edit: If I delete all partitions at the beginning of the clean install procedure and let the OS do the partitioning, then there would be something like RE, EFI, MSR, C: which I believe is the default (and which I like)
If you are so dead set on doing a clean install....nobody is stopping you. Please come back to this thread and let us know how it worked out so that others may benefit from your experience. Here is a Windows 11 clean install I did last week on a VM:

capture3.jpg

Code:
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22000.493]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.22000.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: RAIDER

DISKPART> sel dis 3

Disk 3 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> lis par

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------
  Partition 1    System             100 MB  1024 KB
  Partition 2    Reserved            16 MB   101 MB
  Partition 3    Primary            127 GB   117 MB
  Partition 4    Recovery           518 MB   127 GB

DISKPART>
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
Hm, I keep an empty test machine in my stable that I always reset after doing tests, so that I always have a default machine at hand. On that machine, MSR does appear in the Disk Management panel. Since I have done x resets on that machine, I took that as the default.

It's not that I am against doing things on the command line (I can type, LOL) just that if something goes wrong, I don't know what to do :eek1:

Let me think what to do, the machine does work well, so there is no urgency. Thanks for the responses! (y)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
Hm, I keep an empty test machine in my stable that I always reset after doing tests, so that I always have a default machine at hand. On that machine, MSR does appear in the Disk Management panel. Since I have done x resets on that machine, I took that as the default.
A Microsoft System Reserved partition has never shown in disk management. You might be confusing the Microsoft System Reserved (MSR) partition present on a GPT disk (which NEVER shows in disk management), with a System Reserved partition on an MBR disk, which is really just a volume label (not a partition type) which a computer boots from in legacy BIOS mode.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Homebuilt
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WiFi)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Education
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 7773
    CPU
    Intel i7-8550U
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce MX150
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 512GB NVMe SSD
    SK Hynix 512GB SATA SSD
    Internet Speed
    Fast!
The partitions appear empty, because that is EXACTLY what is supposed to happen. The EFI System, Windows RE, and Recovery partitions are marked as hidden, just like they should be. Because they are marked as hidden, their contents won't show in normal disk management so they appear to be empty when they are not.

View attachment 23518View attachment 23519
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0

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