4 Partition Install?

[Diggs]

I'm used to seeing Windows 10 install with 2 partitions. It's always a 500 MB "system" partition and then the remainder of the drive in the next partition. I'm doing a N&P with my same 1709 media on a blank drive and it insists on 4 partitions. Why the 4? What don't I understand?

 

[glennd]

I'm used to seeing Windows 10 install with 2 partitions. It's always a 500 MB "system" partition and then the remainder of the drive in the next partition. I'm doing a N&P with my same 1709 media on a blank drive and it insists on 4 partitions. Why the 4? What don't I understand?

View attachment 8530

Windows 10 was always four partitions as best I can remember.

From: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3262871/win-creates-partitions.html

Uefi installation mode creates 4 partitions, 1st one is efi partition which installs the boot files and the others are for storing encrypting keys and stuff like that. Yes it is normal.

 

[Diggs]

Ahhh! UEFI is probably the difference.

Thanks.

 

[LostBit]

@Diggs

Here is a detailed info from M$: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...configure-uefigpt-based-hard-drive-partitions

 

[GTP]

Windows 10 uses GPT partitioning scheme, so usually 4 but I have seen 5.

 

[Diggs]

I obviously have been using legacy MBR quite a bit and have just blown by GPT installations without even looking I guess.

Thanks

 

[LordIntruder]

Windows 10 uses GPT partitioning scheme, so usually 4 but I have seen 5.

Only if using UEFI. If you switch to legacy boot and then install Wintendo 10 you'll see the well known two partitions. On 1709 the first one is greater than 500 MiB, iirc.
Hab the machine with the 5 partitions been preinstalled by the manufacturer? Then the 5th one may be a recovery partition.

 

[Markverhyden]

Only if using UEFI. If you switch to legacy boot and then install Wintendo 10 you'll see the well known two partitions. On 1709 the first one is greater than 500 MiB, iirc.
Hab the machine with the 5 partitions been preinstalled by the manufacturer? Then the 5th one may be a recovery partition.

A lot of the OEM's have a utilities partition.

 

[NETWizz]

In my opinion, delete them all, click on the unallocated space, and then next.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Just here to say yes, that's normal.

2 partitions, recovery and OS for a BIOS based installation.
4 partitions, recovery, EFI, OS, and Microsoft reserved.

5 partitions, or more can be seen on EFI based OEM systems because the OEM can add their own partitions for various purposes, Dell has several systems that have a portion of the BIOS in one of these partitions. So you'll often see 5 partitions on Dell gear.

NETWizz's suggestion is a good one too, always let the installer do what it feels is best. Even on the Dell if you lose that utility partition it isn't the end of the world, it doesn't break much it just removes the Dell hardware diagnostics.

 

[GTP]

5 partitions, or more can be seen on EFI based OEM systems because the OEM can add their own partitions for various purposes, Dell has several systems that have a portion of the BIOS in one of these partitions. So you'll often see 5 partitions on Dell gear.

Got an ACER laptop with 5 (or 6?) partitions sitting here.
256MB EFI, System
930GB Boot, Crash Dump, Page File, Primary
980MB Healthy (recovery)
17.25GB Recovery, Healthy (OEM Partition)
2.9GB Healthy (Utilities)

...and also 1 small partition with no size stated and no description.

 

[NJW]

...and also 1 small partition with no size stated and no description.

That's the transit partition. It's just there to keep the others in place during manufacture and delivery and it should have been removed before putting the machine into service. Isn't there a piece of yellow tape attached for easy removal?

 

[GTP]

Yeah, I tried to remove the tape but it tore off so I just left it. Client can store their USB drives in it while its in the backpack.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I think my personal pet peve is Asus right now... They have an annoying propensity to split the main partition into two, so you end up with a 250gb C and whatever the rest of the disk is on D... and right between the two? That's where they put the recovery partition. So you can't just blow away D and grow C in drive manager... no... it's nuke D, boot to G parted, move that recovery partition to the end, save the change... hope the thing boots THEN grow the C drive.

And I should have been more clear, there's no limit on the partitions that an OEM can create, so you have 4 from Microsoft on an EFI install of Win 7+, and whatever the OEM thinks it needs for whatever. That Acer looks like it's got the recovery installation media in one of those partitions so you don't need media to refresh the thing.

 

[LordIntruder]

there's no limit on the partitions that an OEM can create

There is a limit on gpt at 128 partitions that can't be exceeded even by OEMs. ;-)

 

[GTP]

There is a limit on gpt at 128 partitions that can't be exceeded even by OEMs. ;-)

Hmmm.... so if I got a 10 TB drive I could have 128 Linux distro's in their own 80 GB partitions!
Make one hell of a boot menu?

 

[LordIntruder]

Make one hell of a boot menu?

Don't be scrooge, buy a bigger display instead of using a 5 inch one ;-)

 

[Sky-Knight]

Full disclosure, the GPT itself doesn't have that limit.... WINDOWS imposes that limit.

So... you might be able to get those linux boxen to multiply further.