Why Do Users Reformat or Reposition The OEM Format On Their Hard Drive | NotebookReview

Dragnoak Notebook Evangelist

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Dear Forum Members,

 Ive read many threads, where the user started out by saying Ive reformatted my C: / or D: / drive, and now (something) doesnt work.

I dont understand why a user would want to mess around with the recovery portion of their hard drive. If the user needs more storage capacity, why didnt they order a bigger drive in the first place, or use an external SATA? Is the extra 2, 4, or 14 GBs you get after changing your recovery drive structure, worth the headache when something goes down the tubes? (Usually One Key Recovery)

I dont use multiple operating systems, or VM ware, but if a user wants to use Ubuntu, or any other removable disk mounted Linux OS, do they have to reformat their drive to accommodate its use? I understand the use of partitioning your C: / drive to use different versions of Microsoft software such as XP, and Win 7. In that case, do you need to delete the D: / partition?

Is there a valid reason to increase/decrease the size of the OEM partitions? If so, why? What advantage does it give you? Ive always said that if its not broke, dont fix it.

Im really interested in your opinion for adjusting your drive structure, and the reasons for doing it.

Thanks for all replies.

DragonRider

Dragnoak, Oct 9, 2011

#1

bogatyr Notebook Evangelist

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I think it is wasted space as the recovery partition doesn't offer me anything. If I need to recover, I have a custom image on a thumb drive which takes less time to recover with.

I also replaced the drive with an SSD and recycled the original drive.

bogatyr, Oct 9, 2011

#2

Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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Some people do not want all the Lenovo software, and for them nuking the drive is the easiest way. Honestly for me, I stick with the stock image and I optimize and for me that has worked.

An SSD upgrade is different, cloning or using recovery discs does not ensure the drive is properly aligned, which is crucial to SSD longevity and performance.

Tsunade_Hime, Oct 9, 2011

#3

zackor Notebook Consultant

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Most users do it to save space as the previous guys stated and they feel it is useless to waste it.. I would do the same to save the space..but few days ago I wished the person who sold me the refurbished thinkpad didn't do it because now I cannot recover my system to the factory default OS and there is no way to create recovery disks and the only thing I can do is backup or clone the system that has already been used by someone else..

Edit: I forgot to mention that I have Windows 7 on it but originally it was Windows vista so Lenovo won't send Windows 7 disks and I have to buy them..

zackor, Oct 10, 2011

#4

Dragnoak Notebook Evangelist

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Zackor,
I think you hit the nail, right on the head. Im not thinking about the resale value, although that has to be a part of it. I usually give my old machines, as hand me downs, to my family. If I keep the machine as pristine as possible, my family wont have any problems to deal with.

At one time I was offered a used PC from someone who had created 6 partitions on the drive. I asked him why he did that. He stated that he created the partitions so each user profile could boot their own version of Windows containing their individual settings, and this was more secure than the normal Windows configuration. What was even funnier, each partition had XP loaded! Needless to say, I walked away chuckling.

Tsunade Hime,
Yeah, thats what I do. I keep what I want, and uninstall the bloat ware.

bogatyr,
How long does the SSD drive last? I remember reading that there is a limit on the number of writes that those type of drives can handle. I think that figure is at 1-5 million, so if you use it only for boot up, it should last longer than your PC.

Thanks for your responses.

DragonRider

Dragnoak, Oct 10, 2011

#5

kirayamato26 Notebook Deity

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I shrank my C:\ partition to 50GB in order to make space for my Ubuntu installation, and a data only partition so I can recover the OS without having to backup my files. I also have a 1TB external HDD which I use for large data storage. I leave my recovery partition alone, though.

kirayamato26, Oct 10, 2011

#6

Colonel O'Neill Notebook Deity

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There's also the "why not" reason, the "I should do it because some people on the internet told me to" reason, or the "everyone does it so I should too" reason.

Colonel O'Neill, Oct 10, 2011

#7

bogatyr Notebook Evangelist

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Dragnoak said: ↑

bogatyr,
How long does the SSD drive last? I remember reading that there is a limit on the number of writes that those type of drives can handle. I think that figure is at 1-5 million, so if you use it only for boot up, it should last longer than your PC.

Click to expand...

Well, I still have every flash devices I've ever purchased and none have failed yet. Some I've overwritten hundred of times.

My 2.5" SSD and mSATA SSD are both only a couple months old. I can't really say about them though. I keep backups of all my data, if one fails, I'll warranty it and restore my backup.

I run a lot of VMs and having all of my data on SSD instead of just my OS is a godsend. If the drives last me 2-3 years, that's beyond plenty for me as I'm sure I'll be buying larger SSDs by then.

bogatyr, Oct 10, 2011

#8

Jarhead 恋の♡アカサタナ

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I'm sure most users do it for either recovering that space taken by the factory image (after burning discs, of course), or because the Internet told them to.

I stuck with the OEM image when I used my W520 with the stock hard drive, only messing with the image after installing a SSD. Before my W520, I wiped the recover partition in order to make more room on my HDD to create a Windows 7/Ubuntu 10.10 dual-boot (50GB, 30GB, and ~240GB for data).

Jarhead, Oct 10, 2011

#9

AofI Notebook Geek

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I hate to do this but, I think it's the difference between Mac users and PC users.

PC users say, "I can do this better and have it more closely suit my needs", so they reinstall the OS and all the programs they know they want. I am one of these people, I don't like the idea of anything running that I don't need or want.

Then there are Mac people, who just want the system to do what they paid for it to do.
PC's with Microsoft products are a much less expensive option to a Mac so long as you have a few techs to support them and the users. This is why they own so much of the market.
Lenovo tries to cater to both sides, offering enough in the box utilities to keep not so savvy users, and enough flexibility and power to attract the geeks like me.

AofI, Oct 11, 2011

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JohnsonDelBrat Notebook Evangelist

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AofI said: ↑

Then there are Mac people, who just want the system to do what they paid for it to do.

Click to expand...

Yah and the fact that a good majority of mac users don't know how to optimize a system.

JohnsonDelBrat, Oct 11, 2011

#11

Jarhead 恋の♡アカサタナ

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JohnsonDelBrat said: ↑

Yah and the fact that a good majority of mac users don't know how to optimize a system.

Click to expand...

Or use a computer, period. Excluding many of the NBR Apple Core users, I seem to find a lot of people who seem to have only bought these things for the "cool" factor, not bothering to realize that OSX != Windows, and thus will get confused with how to change basic settings.

Jarhead, Oct 11, 2011

#12

Exkallibre Newbie

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Most PCs and laptops come with so much bulky software that I personally do not use. It is such a hassle to uninstall them and then go search the registry to delete the rest of the program. I personally find a fresh install of windows to be less problematic. Of course there is always a chance something won't work when you do a fresh install, such as the internet, so you should have a back up computer.

Exkallibre, Oct 17, 2011

#13

oneday Notebook Guru

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When I get a new laptop, I start the system, make a set of recovery disks, then do whatever I want to the hard drive.

The recovery disks will restore the hard drive to its original state, including the hidden recovery partition. So anytime I want things back to original, like for return, repair or resell, I can simply restore the HDD.

I think all laptops came with tools for you to make these recovery disks, at least all the ones that I have bought.

oneday, Oct 18, 2011

#14

Dragnoak Notebook Evangelist

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Dear Posters,
All of your replies have been greatly appreciated. At least you didn’t call this a “dumb question”, as the only poster answered over at the Lenovo forum did. This only confirms what I suspected before. If you want intelligent, informed information, hang out, and ask your question here. If you want venting, and stupidity, use the Lenovo forum. Even their moderators tend to give you the run around.

I honestly wanted to know the reasons to mess around with the drive structure. I never had, although I’ve been thinking of getting a mSATA SSD installed in my Y470, so I may have to. I don’t know why the mSATA SSD appeals to me. I already get 30 second boot up time, under my current configuration. I guess I just want to see what a mSATA SSD could do for me.

My only other question is, if I created the recovery disks in One Key Recovery (OKR) under the Factory Recovery scheme, will the disks restore all the partitions needed (C, D, OEM, etc… without having to do it manually? I guess what I really asking is, if I mount the restore disks, and boot up, do the disks REALLY do all the tasks necessary for a clean install?

Once again, thank you for all of your intelligent and useful responses. I really didn’t know why so many users did this. I knew that there had to be a valid reason, other than “just because I can” although that is a somewhat “valid” reason.

DragonRider

Dragnoak, Oct 18, 2011

#15

oneday Notebook Guru

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I haven't tried recovery using DVDs on my new T520 yet, but for my other laptops, the recovery disks restore the hard drive to the exact state when the computers were new.

It's really simple to restore, just put the first DVD into drive and boot from it, then its all automatic except change disks. You just watch the progress bar goes and change to next disk when asked, that's it.

oneday, Oct 18, 2011

#16

Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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Exkallibre said: ↑

Most PCs and laptops come with so much bulky software that I personally do not use. It is such a hassle to uninstall them and then go search the registry to delete the rest of the program. I personally find a fresh install of windows to be less problematic. Of course there is always a chance something won't work when you do a fresh install, such as the internet, so you should have a back up computer.

Click to expand...

ThinkPads are business machines and are NOT loaded with the crap you'll find on consumer PC's. They include like Flash, and Adobe Reader preinstalled as you'll likely need both. Only bloatware on my T410s was Corel which I promptly uninstalled.

Also I don't like clean install as there is a TON of ThinkVantage stuff to redownload, Rescue and Recovery is 300 MB+ by itself.

Tsunade_Hime, Oct 18, 2011

#17

Why Do Users Reformat or Reposition The OEM Format On Their Hard Drive?

Dragnoak Notebook Evangelist

bogatyr Notebook Evangelist

Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

zackor Notebook Consultant

Dragnoak Notebook Evangelist

kirayamato26 Notebook Deity

Colonel O'Neill Notebook Deity

bogatyr Notebook Evangelist

Jarhead 恋の♡アカサタナ

AofI Notebook Geek

JohnsonDelBrat Notebook Evangelist

Jarhead 恋の♡アカサタナ

Exkallibre Newbie

oneday Notebook Guru

Dragnoak Notebook Evangelist

oneday Notebook Guru

Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow