Should I include all partitions in my Macrium image backup


wiganken

wiganken

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My Asus laptop has six partitions (photo) but I suspect partitions 4 and 5 ('Recovery', 'Restore') partitions never change. I'm not sure if partition 6 ('MyASUS') changes when MyASUS app is run.
All I am really interested in being able to recover the laptop, all apps and and my user files in event of a failure and I feel that I do not need to include partitions 4 and 5 in my Macrium image backup. Not sure about partition 6. This will reduce the image size considerably since 4 and 5 take up 22.77 GB disk space.

Am I right that I only need to include the first three partitions in my images?

Asus has 6 partitions.webp
 

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wiganken said:
Am I right that I only need to include the first three partitions in my images?
Click to expand...


The only partitions you "need" to be able to boot Windows are partitions 1 and 3, counting from the left.
The SYSTEM and the C:\ partitions.

Ofc you can include the useless 16MB partition if you want. :-)



These are the default Windows partitions...

00000 Default Windows partitions.webp


Personally, I removed the 16MB and the Recovery partitions.
The 16MB cause it's not needed, and the Recovery partition because I use backup software religiously.
 

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Ghot said:
The only partitions you "need" to be able to boot Windows are partitions 1 and 3, counting from the left.
The SYSTEM and the C:\ partitions.

Ofc you can include the useless 16MB partition if you want. :-)



These are the default Windows partitions...

View attachment 184330


Personally, I removed the 16MB and the Recovery partitions.
The 16MB cause it's not needed, and the Recovery partition because I use backup software religiously.
Click to expand...
I do the same. I just have the EFI and Windows partitions and backups with Macrium work just fine.
 

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Windows 11 Professional 25H2Intel i5 8th Gen
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Thanks for replies. I'll change my Macrium to only image the first 3 partitions.

The ASUS is under warranty until end of the year so I intend to delete partitions 4, 5 and 6 after it expires and extend C: partition. This will enlarge C: by 23 GB. I don't need the space but it will simplify things having fewer partitions.
 

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    GMKtec K11
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    AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS
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    Windows 11 HomeIntel® Core™ Ultra 7 - 255H processor16 GB LPDDR5 SDRAMIntel Arc 140T onboard graphics
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    Windows 11 Home
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    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED 14" Laptop - UX3405CA-QL192W
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 - 255H processor
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5 SDRAM
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Arc 140T onboard graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 (16:10 WUXGA resolution) OLED Touchscreen
    Hard Drives
    1TB SSD
    Antivirus
    Bit Defender Total Security
The restore prtition looks like it contians a factory image. I didnt know oem's wee still doing that.
 

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SIW2 said:
The restore prtition looks like it contians a factory image
Click to expand...
Yes, I can't see me wanting to restore back to that state at any time. (y)
 

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    Windows 11 ProAMD Ryzen 9 8945HS32GB DDR5 SO-DIMMIntegrated AMD Radeon 780M (4.00 GHz)
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    Windows 11 Pro
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    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    GMKtec K11
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS
    Memory
    32GB DDR5 SO-DIMM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated AMD Radeon 780M (4.00 GHz)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 2250HM
    Screen Resolution
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    Hard Drives
    1 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD
    Antivirus
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  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeIntel® Core™ Ultra 7 - 255H processor16 GB LPDDR5 SDRAMIntel Arc 140T onboard graphics
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED 14" Laptop - UX3405CA-QL192W
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 - 255H processor
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    16 GB LPDDR5 SDRAM
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Arc 140T onboard graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 (16:10 WUXGA resolution) OLED Touchscreen
    Hard Drives
    1TB SSD
    Antivirus
    Bit Defender Total Security
wiganken said:
My Asus laptop has six partitions (photo) but I suspect partitions 4 and 5 ('Recovery', 'Restore') partitions never change.
Click to expand...

Windows Update can update the WinRE image (Winre.wim) stored on the Windows Recovery Environment partition and, when necessary, may resize the recovery partition to accommodate an updated WinRE image.

To check whether Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is enabled, run the following command as an administrator:

reagentc /info

If WinRE is enabled, it should report "Windows RE status: Enabled" and display the "Windows RE location" for the recovery environment. It also displays the WinRE version.

The Microsoft Reserved Partition (MSR) does not appear in Disk Management, but it does appear in DiskPart. Therefore, the partition numbers shown in DiskPart may not correspond to the apparent order of the partitions shown in Disk Management.

To view the partitions on a disk in DiskPart:

diskpart
list disk
select disk #
list partition
exit

1.webp

2.webp
 

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Ghot said:
Personally, I removed the 16MB and the Recovery partitions.
The 16MB cause it's not needed, and the Recovery partition because I use backup software religiously.
Click to expand...
wiganken said:
Thanks for replies. I'll change my Macrium to only image the first 3 partitions.
Click to expand...
The 4th partition, the Recovery partition, contains your only copy of WinRE.wim. While you may not need the recovery functions, you do need WinRE.wim. This is the base WIM that Reflect uses to build its default RE rescue media.

If you want to exclude the Recovery partition, or even delete it, it is essential that you first turn off the recovery environment. Doing so will remove WinRE.wim from the recovery partition and store it in C:\Windows\System32\Recovery. Reflect will be able to find it there when needed.

www.elevenforum.com

Enable or Disable Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) in advanced startup options in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is a recovery environment that can repair common causes of unbootable operating systems. Advanced startup...
www.elevenforum.com www.elevenforum.com
 

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  • My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.

    My SYSTEM FOUR was a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e (1st gen) type 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device. This has now been sold. It has been replaced by my System Eight.

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    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro, Hyper-V host machine. Updated to 25H2 on 30th September 2025.

    My SYSTEM SEVEN is a Lenovo Thinkpad T580, 1920x1080 touchscreen, Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 2nd 512GB NVMe SSD, a supported device for Windows 11. This is my current general purpose 'main machine'. The installed Windows 11 Home from my System One has been migrated to this machine. As its new home has an existing digital licence for Pro I've been able to upgrade the migrated OS from Home to Pro.

    My SYSTEM EIGHT is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e (5th gen) type 20LN, Celeron N4120, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, a supported device for Windows 11. Currently running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds as native boot vhdx.
You may as well include all partitions. The ones you excluded are pretty small.
 

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    Windows 11 Pro 25H2 26200.9550AMD Ryzen 7 5825U with Radeon Graphics16GB
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    Windows 11 Pro 25H2 26200.9550
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    Brave
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    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.2506Atom N450 1.66GHz2GB
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    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.2506
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    HP Mini 210-1090NR PC (bought in late 2009!)
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    Atom N450 1.66GHz
    Memory
    2GB
    Browser
    Brave
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    Webroot
  • Acer Swift SF114-34 laptop
    OS Windows 11 Pro 26200.8894
    CPU Pentium Silver N6000
    RAM 4GB
    BIOS v1.17
    SSD Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 2TB (an upgrade)
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