Guide: Samsung Recovery Solution 6 (SRS6) and Windows 10

Windows 10 comes in as an seamless upgrade to both Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1.
This means, that you essentially have to do nothing and just wait for the upgrade to finish.
All your previous programs, applications and drivers are fully compatible and the roll out for most users has been smooth.

But should you ever want to revert to factory settings, you're back on Windows 8.

Samsung has kept up with the pace and I never came across any problems during and even after the upgrade.
So, my computer, an NP550P5C machine is fully compatible with Windows 10.
Not only that, it actually runs Windows 10 way better than it did Windows 8 and 8.1.

Now, my only problem was the factory settings. If I ever wanted to start with a clean image, I'd have to go back to Windows 8 and then go through the upgrade process again.
After the Windows 10 free upgrade period of a year lapses, there is no way without paying for it.
Windows 8.1 in my opinion was a disaster and Windows 10 is the OS to be on.

So, what if, like me, you would like to start with a completely clean installation of Windows 10?
There are plenty of tutorials on how to start with a clean installation of Windows 10, but only using the "Reset My PC" function.

I did not want to just reset my machine.
I wanted to reformat, repartition and then reinstall Windows, and have Samsung Recovery taking me back to a clean install of Windows 10 whenever I wanted to.
While most people might argue that the "Reset My PC" function does the same thing, I would still prefer to format my hard disk and start afresh.
Think of it as an alternative to the Windows Recovery Environment.

I know for a fact that when I last tried to "Reset My PC" on Windows 8.1, it asked me for installation media, which as you know, you don't get any more.
With a factory image however, you don't need to worry about whether windows reset will work or whether it'll ask you for a product key (which again we don't have - or at least not directly).

So, a fresh, clean installation which can be carried out at any time without worry or hassle, gives me a certain level of comfort in the least.

And here's where I give full credit to Samsung - the creation and installation process of a Windows 10 factory image was flawless and barring a few points to remember here, smooth.

I use a Samsung NP550P5C machine.

Please keep the following points in mind.

1. When you're performing a fresh installation of Windows 10, you get the option of deleting all the partitions.
Windows will then create it's own EFI and recovery partitions automatically.

2. If you already have the samsung recovery partitions and wish to reuse them, delete and format only the Windows partitions.

3. If like me, you want to start anew, we need to create two more partitions for Samsung Recovery.
This is where the USB Admin Tool has to be used first.

BEFORE wiping your hard drive, you will therefore only need the USBAdmin Tool -
The Admin Tool can be created by booting into the samsung recovery environment (using F4) and then pressing Ctrl+Alt+F10 to get into advanced options. The password to use is either " secos" or " secclx".
Click on the option to create a USB Admin Tool.

If it's too late, you can download an image of the admin tool from here.

I would still recommend creating an image of your hard drive before wiping it, just in case the process fails for you.
I used Windows to create a system image.

Once you're ready and you know that there's nothing else to lose.

1. Plug in the USBAdmin Tool and restart your computer.
2. Get into BIOS setup (using F2), disable fastboot in the advanced menu, save the changes, restart and get into BIOS setup again.

3. Now select the USBAdmin tool (UEFI 0.00) as the first boot option under Boot Device Priority in the Boot menu and restart again.

4. The Samsung Recovery environment will now start and you will get a whole list of options to create the recovery partitions. Go ahead and check the first four options. Leave the last three unchecked as
a. a new image will be created after windows 10 is installed,
b. installation of windows is done separately and
c. the init date can be fixed after we create the new image.


5. Remember that the samsung recovery partitions are to be located at the end of the drive and not the start of the drive.
6. Leave the partition size allocations as default. i.e. Recovery Boot Partition at 1 GB and Recovery Data Partition at 10GB.
7. Click "Run" to complete the installation.

We're now done with creating the recovery partitions.

The next step is to install Windows 10 - Insert the Windows DVD or USB drive and then select this drive to boot from.
Remember that when presented with the options, do not delete the newly created recovery partitions.
These partitions will be labelled Samsung_REC and Samsung_REC2 and will be placed at the end/bottom of the partition list.

Let the windows installation complete and set up your computer.
Windows installation would have completed once you have booted into windows desktop.

What I did at this point was to make sure that all the drivers were downloaded and installed before I created a factory image. I also wanted to have an antivirus installed, so I went ahead and installed avast.

For the drivers, use Samsung Update, this can be downloaded from here.

I selected and installed all the drivers, got avast up and running and then carried out the following steps to create the initial image.

Please note that to create the initial image, you will have to download and install the latest version of Samsung Recovery (v 6.1.0.1)using Samsung Update.
Failure to do so will give you weird errors at the time the initial image is being taken.

To create the initial image, plug in in the USBadmin tool once again, this time while Windows is running.

1. Navigate to the WinClon folder and doubleclick on AdminTool.exe
2. Here again, you will be presented with a list of options, which have to be performed stepwise.


3. Step 2 is to finalize and initiate the F4 link. Clicking on this button will present you with a set of instructions. A file named RecoverySettingsSV.exe will be placed on your desktop.
Run this file with administrator privileges (right click and "run as administrator").
A command prompt window will now open and execute a set of instructions. This should take about a minute or two.
If the command prompt just flashes briefly, it means that this program is not being run as administrator.
4. Step 4 is to delete the recovery area and we don't want that,do we?
5. Follow the instructions closely and when the time comes you should have no problems with getting the program with creating the initial image. This process is automated and the computer will reboot into recovery to take the initial image. Nothing to worry about at all!

You should be all set now. The only thing left to do is set the init date, which can now be done by again booting with the USBAdmin Tool and checking only the "Fix init date" option.
All the other options are to be left unchecked.

Test the F4 link by hitting F4 when the computer starts.
Run Samsung Recovery in Windows to check and verify if recovery runs correctly and you are able to see your factory image available (with the current date).

It is noteworthy that Samsung Recovery v 6.1.0.1, does not allow you to create an image of your current settings like it used to back in Windows 8/8.1.
I guess samsung is working on this, but in the mean time, you can download the previous version (6.0.12.18) of Samsung Recovery to have this option again.
I have uploaded the installer and you can download it from here.

Cheers and Good Luck.

 

Hi @Gulfmaster,

Once again thank you for sharing this nice guide. Well done!

I would add that it is not just a guide for how to get SRS working in Win10, but also our most user friendly guide on how to use Admin Tool in general to (re)create SRS6. In other words, the steps are mostly the same for Win8.x (for those rare birds who might want to re-create an SRS6/Win8.x environment).

I have added your guide to the Samsung Forum sticky list, next to our general SRS backup/re-create guide (which also covers earlier SRS/Windows versions and other topics, but is not nearly as neat and easy to follow as this guide here).

 

Dear Dannemand,

you are, as usual, extremely kind and generous in your compliments.
I am honoured.

 

Hello, I upgraded to Windows 10 and selected to install without saving anything. I thought the entire drive and all partitions would be formatted. I think the Samsung Recovery partition with Windows 8 is still there. I am able to boot into Samsung Recovery with F4. Can you tell me what this screenshot shows? What should I do now? I want to get rid of the old recovery partition and leave the one that Windows 10 created. Thanks in advance for any help!

Screenshot (2) by eperelez posted Sep 3, 2015 at 2:41 AM

 

@eperelez
From your screenshot and from what you described, your samsung recovery partitions are very much still there and working (even the F4 link works since you could boot into Samsung Recovery).

I understand from your post that you want to delete the Samsung Recovery Partitions - labelled Samsung_REC and Samsung_REC2
In that case, you can simply try these options.

1. Uninstall Samsung Recovery and when prompted, delete the recovery partition.
or
2. Assign a drive letter to the samsung recovery partitions and then delete them. You can then extend your primary windows partition and recover the lost space.

To delete the recovery partitions, you can use the diskpart tool in an elevated command prompt.

Before I tell you how, I would really like you to confirm that this is in fact what you want.

 

I think I'm going to leave it alone for now, but I'm wondering what happens to the Windows 8 activation when I have upgraded to 10 and it's after the 30 days they give you to roll back? Also, where is the Windows 10 recovery partition in the screenshot I posted? Thanks for your help!

 

Your Windows 8 license has been converted to a Windows 10 license when you upgrade.
You have 30 days to roll back to your previous version of Windows after which I believe the option to roll back will be removed.
In that case, a system image taken when the previous Windows was installed would come in handy.

Windows 10 uses the recovery environment (RE) to carry out repairs to your windows installation. This is the Windows RE tools partition that you see.

 

Should this work on my Series 5?

I've done a clean install of Windows 10 and SRS5 is worthless there. So I've followed your guide (more than once) and still F4 will not work.

 

@Renfro
Hi, could you be a little more specific as to what is the problem you're facing?
are you getting any errors?
I use a series 5 too, but am running SRS6 - maybe you should try getting SRS6 for this to work, besides from what I gather from these and the many forums out there is that SRS6 is more refined with better features.

You can download SRS6 from my own Google Drive.
Don't worry, it's safe.

 

@Gulfmaster

Sorry for my confusing rant. I got frustrated after spending all day trying to get SRS6 working and my brain had just quit by the time I wrote that.

Got a new (to me) Series 5 (NP530U3B-AD1) from a friend and installed 4GB extra memory in it. The system had SRS5 and a very messed up Win7 install. So I upgraded to Win10, created the USB installer and went for a clean, fresh install. As I was doing this, I learned about the fact that SRS5 would not work with Win10, so I followed your guide to get SRS6 running, step-by-step, many times over.

Everything seems right, USB Admin tool works, drive get partitioned just like yours, windows 10 installed and the finalize runs normal. Yet after all of this, pressing F4 on boot does nothing, Windows comes up as usual...

The ONE thing I'm not sure about is the fact that I installed Windows in the large of the six partitions (5 - Data on your image above). Is that OK?

After all of this I wonder if having SRS6 is even worth the trouble and space...

On a side note and without trying to hijack your topic: Would you happen to know how to get the hibernate to write to the SSD? I was able to get Expresscache working but left 8GB free for that

 

@Renfro

Ok...here's what I think went wrong - your recovery hasn't been finalized or activated yet in the second to last step.

when you run Admintool.exe within windows and click on step 2, do you get a new .exe (RecoverySettingsSV.exe- or something like that) file on your desktop?
Did you run that file with administrator privileges? It is imperative that you do for the recovery partition to finalize.

From what you say everything else has gone well, so you're almost there!
You are right, Windows does get installed in the Data Partition.

I've never used hibernate, so I can only offer some assistance, but then I'm still going to need some more information.
e.g. are you getting the hibernate option in your power settings? and of course the ubiquitous question - what is the problem you are facing?

 

So in the end i decided to perform a full reset to windows 10 but maintaining the old recovery format as well as its content. My only problem now is that when i press F4 im able to enter the recovery but i receive errors about dll such as "api-ms-win-core-libraryloader-l1-2-0.dll" which in windows 8 were storaged in SySWOW64 but now in WinSxS. I copied it over and the error moved to another dll files.
I would like to avoid messing up with files, do you have a solution for me?

 

I've been attempting this to get a proper Win10 recovery (on a new SSD) in my 900X3C (running W10 x64) and this lovely guide seemed pretty foolproof, but I'm stuck on the USB AdminTool part. Creating it in the Samsung Recovery seem to work using a Kingston DT SE9 (16GB). I then disable the Fast BIOS Mode and restart (with the USB drive inserted in the USB 2.0 port) to alter the boot order but the AdminTool is listed not as "UEFI: 0.00" but as "Kingston DataTraveler 2.0". Restarting with it results in a slow load into the recovery mode, but as soon as it's loaded and I reach the Recovery window there is a popup saying "Exit Program" with "OK" and "Cancel" as options to choose. Regardless of if I click on either one or do nothing, the machine reboots.

Feeling a little stumped right now - do you clever people think its the thumb drive which is not compatible or what?

 

@TinyTurtle
Hi,
I don't believe it's the pen drive that's at fault.

If you're trying to create a new recovery image after installing Windows 10, use the admintool from windows itself.

Booting into the USBAdmintool only serves the purpose to partition your drive.

Please make sure that you've updated to the latest version of Samsung Recovery v6.1.0.1 first.

 

@fullyZ

hi, if you are trying to boot into your original recovery after upgrading to Windows 10, it could be that you need to update Samsung Recovery to v6.1.0.1 first.

Would you confirm that you have in fact update Samsung Recovery to the latest version?

 

Turns out I had the second-to-last version which was able to clone the existing installation to an external drive. I've updated to 6.1.0.1 and tried again and got the same result. Also did the same using an old old old 1GB Kingston Data Traveler DT1 (2.0) pen drive but got identical results. Your first tip with speed-pressing Ctrl+Alt-F10 didn't work either. Both pen drives were listed in BIOS as "Kingston Data Traveler 2.0" and not "UEFI: 0.00" - do you believe this is nothing to worry about?

You lost me on the partitioning there. Isn't it necessary to partition the new drive before installing Win10?

Currently I have this:
* The stock SanDisk 128 GB SSD updated to Win10 and the original Win8 recovery.
* A 256 GB Crucial M4, divided into two partitions (which will be scrapped) which I would like to install Win10 and a Win10 recovery on.
Are you suggesting installing Win10 on the new drive and after that create a recovery image?

Again, thanks a million for helping us less awesome people making this work!

 

@TinyTurtle

Thanks for your reply and description.
I first assumed that you already had Windows 10 up and running with old recovery partitions hence my suggestion that you upgrade recovery to the latest version. I now understand that,

1. For your SanDisk 128GB - since you already have the recovery partitions in place and windows 10 installed.
Therefore, all you have left to do is create a fresh Win10 recovery image and then activate it.
Have you had any trouble with this?
What is required is the update to the latest version of Samsung Recovery, and then running the admintool.exe from windows 10.

2. For the Crucial drive - I do suggest that you create your partitions first before installing windows. It's a whole lot easier that way.

I also used a Kingston Data Traveller 1GB as the USB Admin tool and even though it's listed as UEFI 0.00, I don't think it's anything to worry about because the drive is being identified as a boot device and you are able to boot from the pen drive.

Is Secure boot also turned off? - if not, you could try again after disabling secure boot in the bios setup, boot menu.
Choose CSM and UEFI.

 

Just to reconfirm - are you swapping the drives out or are they both connected and you have two hard drives to boot from?

 

I can confirm i have the version you posted in your OT.
To me all the functions seem there but i haven't tested them yet.
Can you confirm that your SysWOW64 hasn't the mentioned *.dll file?

 

@fullyZ

I could not located the file "api-ms-win-core-libraryloader-l1-2-0.dll"

I could however locate "api-ms-win-core-libraryloader-l1-1-0.dll" in multilple locations included WinSxS and SysWOW64

It is very strange problem that you're facing especially because you've maintained the old recovery image.
I do remember facing this problem but it went away when I updated to v6.1.0.1, which you have also done.

Do you want to create a new recovery image or do you still want the old one?

I could suggest that you run admintool.exe from windows 10 and create a new image from there, but if you want the old image working, you could try booting into recovery, getting into advanced options by pressing ctrl+alt+f10 and importing the factory image.

You will have to export the factory image first which you can do from windows 10.

 

Hello, thanks for the help.
I want to maintain the original win8 factory image. To be honest the image seems to be still there even when i boot into recovery... so apparently everything is fine. I just don't know if these missing dlls will affect somehow the recovery process. We will see the day i'll decide to restore it.
Can you briefly describe me the fastest way to remove the old factory image and create the new one?

 

I would like to suggest that you make a backup of your factory image on an external drive.
You can also choose to make this external drive bootable.
If ever you would like to restore the image, you won't have to worry. Simply boot from your external drive and the recovery process will take over.

I do have to warn you about creating a new factory image if you've upgraded to windows 10 since the image it will create will be too large to fit in the recovery data partition.
If you have clean installed Windows 10 and have not yet installed any other programs, then you can attempt creating a factory image by running the admintool.exe program from windows.

 

@Gulfmaster thank you for sharing.
Now, you're an expert, with me and Dannemand : The Three Musketeers ^^

But why do you use 6.0.6.5 version instead of AdminTool_USB_ 6.0.12.4 version available here :
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-have-a-hdd-backup.758403/page-3#post-9747850 ?

5.6.1.5 (just *.exe file under Windows)
http://orcaservice.samsungmobile.com/FileDownloader.aspx?FILENAME=BASW-11897A4E.ZIP

6.0.12.18 (just *.exe file under Windows)
http://orcaservice.samsungmobile.com/FileDownloader.aspx?FILENAME=BASW-83377A4V.ZIP

7.2.0.8 (just *.exe file under Windows)
http://orcaservice.samsungmobile.com/FileDownloader.aspx?FILENAME=BASW-A0419A09.ZIP

My job, now, is to find the latest AdminTool version (6 and 7). Not easy with :
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29350022
http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/23/samsung-stops-selling-laptops-europe/

 

dosibox ! - your reputation preceeds you greatly! and thank you for those very kind comments.

I made the guide based on the programs that I had with me so thanks for putting up these links too.

Yup - heard about that - Samsung has laready stopped selling laptops even here in India.

By the way - please do read through the problems other people have faced - your kind inputs please.

 

There is a much easier way (kudos to dosibox)

Requirements:
- Samsung 7.x Recovery
- GImageX (download from https://www.autoitscript.com/site/autoit-tools/gimagex/)
- USB-stick

1. Extract the Samsung Recovery 7.2 to an empty directory on your HDD
2. Using GImageX write SRS7_2WinPEx64.wim (in [directory from step 1]\Recovery\UpdateWinPE] to the USB stick
(see " http://www.howtogeek.com/196817/how...-go-usb-drive-without-the-enterprise-edition/" for more instructions)
3. Boot from USB stick -> Samsung Recovery 7.x will start
4. In the recovery console open the admin tools: Press 'Ctrl-Alt-F10', Password is 'secos'
5. You can now create your SRS 7.x admin USB stick.


*********************
The admin tool for 7.2 is all in your 7.2 recovery download, however quite tricky to extract.
Here is what I did to get a working SRS 7.2 Admin tool:

Prerequisite: A bootable WinPE5 environment (can use the one from SRS6)

1. Extract BASW-A0419A09 to an empty directory of your choice. This will also extract the needed WIM file SRS7_2WinPEx64.wim (in BASW-A0419A09\Recovery\UpdateWinPE).
Unfortunately you cannot mount this with DISM, so you will need WIMLIB instead.
2. Download WIMLIB (http://wimlib.net/downloads/wimlib-1.8.2-windows-x86_64-bin.zip)
3. Using wimextract extract the contents with SRS7_2WinPEx64.wim (image 1) to an empty directory of your choice
4. Mount the bootable WinPE5 environment to a logical drive letter (diskpart -> select volume -> assign letter [WinPE-Letter])
5. replace [WinPE-Letter]:\source\boot.wim file with the boot.wim from the extract of step 3 (make sure you keep a backup of the original boot.wim)
6. copy the extracted \Recovery folder (see step 3) to [WinPE]\ (root)
7. Boot your WinPE recovery environment. It will now boot into SRS 7.2
8. In the recovery console open the admin tools: Press 'Ctrl-Shift-F10', Password is 'SECOS'
9. You can now create your SRS 7.2 admin USB stick.

To restore the original WinPE environment:
1. Restore boot.wim from backup (step 5)
2. Delete \Recovery folder

 

hi @useless guru, @dosibox

Anything new with SRS 7? Samsung update on my PC only updates to SRS 6.1.0.1.

 

No really.
Newer is always better - isn't it?

 

@useless guru
So, there's still no option to make a backup on windows 10?

 

Yes, there is of course. But that's not new to SRS 7. Already SRS 6 did work.

 

@useless guru - SRS6 v6.1.0.1 does have this option anymore.

 

Hello! My english is bad, i'm sorry!
I need help!
My notebook is - samsung np550p5c with preinstalled SRS5 and Windows 7.
I trying to repeat your steps to upgrade to SRS 6 and Windows 10.
But i have a problem. After installing SRS 6 (from here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...t-have-a-hdd-backup.758403/page-3#post9747850 ) it is not loading! When i trying to load recovery menu, i get message :

With respect, Daeno

 

Hi @SVDaeno ...truly sorry for the delay in replying. Can you load into Windows 10 normally? or are you stuck with getting SRS 6 to run?

I've never seen an error like this before, but I would like to help you out.

Since SRS 6 is installed before Windows, if you have completed the steps in the same order as the guide, all you have to do now is complete the remaining steps and install windows.

I would like to ask you if you have completed all the steps.

 

Hello!
Thanks for the answer!
That's what I did:
1. Created USB Admin Tool with UltraIso and with CMD (from here http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...t-have-a-hdd-backup.758403/page-3#post9747850) Result is same.
2. Boot from USB and installed SRS
Step by step:












Installing complete. I unplug USB. Now I can to Install and load Windows 10. It work's without any problem, but I can't load Recovery (By pressing 'F4' at start up) I can't install SRS under Windows.

This I see, when I try to load recovery (By pressing 'F4' at start up)


My BIOS settings:

 

You could try clearing the UEFI variables. This did help me in a similar case.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/sflash64-patch-cvar-the-solution-to-many-problems.779991/

 

@SVDaeno - Thank for the detailed description. This really helps us.

You still have a little process to finish before you can boot to recovery environment - you have to install Samsung Recovery in windows, then run the Admintool.exe program with administrator privileges.

This will initialize and set up the SRS environment.
The instructions are written in this post and please get back to us if you have any problems.

 

Hello!
I do all steps of guide again. But result is same.
When I try to load system restore by pressing "F4" at boot. Instead system restore load Windows 10.
When I try to do "Step 3 Initial BackUp" notebook just reload.
While Step 2 I do screenshot

 

@SVDaeno -
we're getting closer. I think you do not have to go through the entire process again.

- what version of Samsung Recovery for Windows are you using? You need Samsung Recovery 6.1.0.1
- also, have you disabled secure boot? - you'll find this in the BIOS>BOOT Menu - use option CSM and UEFI and then try running the Step 2 again. Once again, please remember to run the RecoverySettingsCV.exe with administrator privileges and you will see the same command prompt window as you saw before.
- After this is done, please run the recovery program from windows and tell me what you see.

All the best!

 

Vertion Samsung Recovery 6.0.12.4
Where can I get 6.1.0.1???
Yes, Secure Boot is disabled. UEFI is Enabled. HDD at GPT, how else =)
RecoverySettingsCV.exe with administrator privileges, of course.
Now try reinstall BIOS. And then repeat all steps again...

 

@SVDaeno -
I believe this may be causing you the problem you're currently facing, however you can use samsung update and get the latest version from there.
Once you update to v6.1.0.1, carry out step 2 like mentioned above.
Please post back with your findings.

 

@SVDaeno - to save you some trouble - I've also included the link here.

Moderators - please remove if I've violated any rules.

 

Ou! Thank's a lot!

 

I'm sorry, but how can I update Admin Tool to 6.1?

 

@SVDaeno - No need. Use the admintool that you already have.
Please get back with your findings.

 

Many many thanks for such an info...

I have a small scenario. please give me the best suggestion for this.
1. I have updated my NP300E5C samsung notebook from win8->win8.1->win10->win10 1511
2. After installing windows 10 i have deleted the recovery partition n uninstalled the samsung recovery suit pre-installed in my pc. but still when i press f4 key it loads the samsung recovery mode.[no use as i already formatted the pre existing recovery drive]
3. I have installed so many softwares that i cant uninstall and reinstall as i dont remember key
4. I dont know which admintool to use
5. I have spoke with samsung care and they said nothing can be done as they have stopped selling samsung lapi in INDIA.

plz... pretty plz provide me a advice to create the samsung recovery partition to revertback to win 10/win10 1511 version in disaster situation.

 

Hi @samirm
I can recommend that you take a backup of your current image.
For this you can use Windows 10 system image on an external drive.

There is no point in trying to create a Samsung Recovery Partition because your data will be too much, especially since you do not want to start with a fresh installation.

Samsung Recovery V6.0.18 can also be used to create a backup of the current image.

As for removing samsung recovery in it's entirety, delete the SAMSUNG_REC partition.

 

Hey gulfmaster,

Thank you for quick response.
I have deleted all the recovery partition. But still f4 key is working.
And for the fact taking external backup will take alot space also.

Can I take backup of c drive temporaryly n after
creating recovery drive reinstall the c drive complely.
If so suggest the steps and tool.
Thanks in advance.

 

Your image being large, would take up a lot of your hard disk space.
Factory images are normally 9.5GB in size, so you would have to
1. Take a backup
2. Reformat your hard disk and reinstall windows.
3. Take an initial backup.
4. Reload your backup.

You would be better off if you kept the current image on an external drive. That way you can always get back your windows with all programs installed.

 

Hi there, gulfmaster! I just wanted to start of by saying thanks, you have clearly personally helped alot of people on this thread already !

I just had a few questions ! I followed your excellent guide, and although haven't checked it all went smoothly !! So thank you very much !

So my question is this , is the only advantage of having a recovery, the fact you don't need any extra media/usbs etc?

After doing all of that after getting my new 256gb ssd, I am now tempted to just get rid of the recovery all together ! Now I have reformatted windows 10 and installed drivers , and my essential programs. If I use windows to make a system image and then just keep it on my external HDD , does it amount the same thing ?( Only that I need the external HDD ?! ) In which case, I feel the extra space might be worth just getting rid of it. In which case I presume I could just use a partition manager to get rid of rec and rec _2 and then extend my c partition ?!

Also, this is not related but just thought I'd ask anyway ! Since I upgraded to an ssd , I presume it kind of defeats the purpose of the express cache disk. I used a partition manager to format it to NTFS and mount it. Is doing this OK ? Can I safely keep my files there now ?! I tried some quick googling but nothing much came up !

Thanks in advance for all of your kind help and effort !!

 

Hi @amishra123 , Welcome to NBR and thank you for your kind comments.

There are pros and cons to having a recovery image on the same drive and having a backup irrespective of where it's located does personally make me feel a lot better. If it is a question of dearth of space, then keeping the recovery partitions on an external drive completely mitigates this.

Windows 8 and Windows 10 don't come with installation disks and therefore having a recovery was the manufacturers way of giving you a factory image which is just as good.

Windows 8 and 10 also have options of "refreshing your PC", but when I tried it on Windows 8, it asked for installation media. This is something I was not prepared for. So I'd hold on to a factory image, created through multilple means just to be on the safe side, which is why I have a
a. Samsung Recovery created factory image.
b. Samsung Recovery created current image and
c. A windows system image.
all of these on an external hard drive in addition to a factory image on the recovery partition of my laptop hard drive.

I have used windows system image to restore my hard drive a number of times while I was on windows 8. I had also used Samsung Recovery's Disk Copy function when I swapped my hard drive with an SSHD, but the important fact to remember here is that both drives were of the same capacity.
People have encountered errors when trying to restore an image on smaller disks.
But, to answer your question, windows system images are just as good IMHO.

Before deleting the REC and REC_2 partitions, You could export a factory image and the current image to an external drive and make that drive bootable using samsung recovery. This works just as well as then you won't need the recovery environment installed on your laptop hard drive.

your methods to delete the partitions and extend C: are pretty much the way this is done.

From the way I understand how Windows works, irrespective of what kind of drive you're using, you're still going to need an express cache.
I'm almost sure you had to install a software to use the SSD to it's fullest and this is where I would not recommend messing with the way the drive has been partitioned. Besides, what is the size that we are talking about anyway?

 

So my SSD is 256gb. I have also just realised that the partitions the usb admin tool made seems bit weird as you can see in the screenshot. The biggest partition which I installed my windows on has been called "Temp_part01" and there is a 40gb partition called windows before that.

Disk 1 is the 256gb SSD which is my main drive
Disk 2 is the express cache /iSSD we are talking about. So as you can see formatting and mounting it gives me another 23gb, which is a 10% increase, without installing any extra hardware.

So I have now extracted my new factory reset image onto a bootable USB. Also made a windows backup aswell.

Would I be ok merging the d and c partitions? Then deleting all the partitions after c and then extending the c partition?