I'm attempting to install Ubuntu Linux alongside Windows 10 in a dual-boot configuration. However, my hard drive comes with four Primary partitions already created, as seen here in gParted:
Thus, I must remove a partition to allow for an extended partition, in which I can place my logical partitions for Linux. I'll shrink the Windows partition to create space.
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I created a recovery USB drive using the
HP Recovery Media Creation
tool desktop app. Does this drive fully replace the functionality of either the WINRE or RECOVERY partitions? If so, can I safely remove either partition without messing up my Windows 10 installation in any way (including boot process), voiding any warranties, or preventing myself from restoring Windows 10 in the future? -
I know that holding Shift while clicking the Restart button will restart your computer into a special menu where you can change certain settings or boot from removable media (source, step 4 in the article). Is this special menu reliant on either the WINRE or RECOVERY partitions? Is the computer in fact booting into one of these partitions to display this menu?
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What exactly are the purposes of these two partitions?
NOTE: I've read other questions regarding hard drives with four primary partitions already created. They don't resolve my issue, as they don't address the WINRE and RECOVERY partitions on a Windows 10 system specifically.
Best Answer
Windows 10 needs only 3 partitions:
If you install Windows 10 on a big disk, then it will allocate more space for these partitions.
The latest (approximately after 2015-12-20) Windows installation image will create the recovery partition at the beginning of the drive, before the unmovable reserved partition, and it makes it very hard to remove it. I only succeeded by interrupting a clean Windows 10 installation, moving the ESP to the beginning of the drive using gParted and then restarting the installation. 450MB recovery partition on a small Acer Iconia Tab is a huge drain on resources, considering that I would never want to recover anything from it.
From the image, you posted, it looks like you have a huge GPT partitioned disk, and you already have five primary partitions. Just delete WINRE and RECOVERY and resize Windows and you will have plenty of space for anything.