is it necessary to delete the recovery partition?

Question

I have Windows 7 on my HP laptop and I want to install Ubuntu.

I tried to shrink my boot and system partition, it does not allow me to shrink the partition more than 97 MB. Is it necessary to delete the recovery partition?

I want to know how to put this recovery on a CD or DVD to keep it and not to lose it.

You want to dual boot with Windows 7 ? When you set for the first time ubuntu you had only two partitions : one small of 100/200Mb and another that used all the remaining space ? — Antoine Rodriguez, Mar 06 '12 at 17:18
no i didn't set ubuntu yet but i hope cause when i go to shrink the system partition it tells me that i can't make a shrink more than 97 MB :S help me plz — Karim Tarek Ibrahim, Mar 07 '12 at 00:23
How large is your disk to begin with and what are the existing partition dimensions? — ppetraki, Mar 07 '12 at 14:55

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 10 '12 at 08:40

If you want your windows 7 operational you must not touch that partition.

If you simply remove it then your windows 7 won't boot ....

If you remove it carefully you'll be unable to use the recovery tools afterwards.

You can't backup that partition in order to deport it for later use on CD.

You Have various choices :

Removing the partition carefully understanding that I'll disable you some features of windows such as : bitlocker and recovery tools. And you understand too that you can loose all your windows install. There is no guarantee you'll be able to run windows 7 after this procedure : http://itcookbook.net/blog/removing-windows-7-recovery-partition
Re install Windows 7 so that it does not create the recovery partition ... Witch is safer way to do it : Create an NTFS partition that fit all the hard drive with gparted on ubuntu live, install windows and say yes when it ask you for creating supplementary partitions. After the installation of windows install your ubuntu with shrinking the windows partition.
Last option : shrink the windows partition, leave recovery partition as it is and install ubuntu.

Best regards,

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 06 '12 at 16:31

1

Usually there's a tool on the Windows desktop that facilitates the creation of recovery CDs, it will drive the cd burner program etc, prompt for extra blanks. Just read your documentation or visit your vendor's support page. Also, it's a good idea to test these discs before you wipe out that partition. If it were me, I would leave the recovery partition alone and shrink the windows partition instead.

answered Mar 06 '12 at 16:31

ppetraki

5,483

i did that but it tells me that i can't shrink the system partition more than 97 MB :S help me plz – Karim Tarek Ibrahim Mar 07 '12 at 00:21
1

What is telling you that you can't shrink past that point? Be specific. Windows generally needs lots of space to operate, Linux not so much, you could easily run Ubuntu with 40G. If you just split the disk down the middle as best you could you would probably be fine. However, you still need to backup your recovery partition and your data. Re-partitioning is an inherently dangerous operation. – ppetraki Mar 07 '12 at 14:54

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 06 '12 at 17:02

0

You might consider using Clonezilla live CD http://clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live.php

To copy that "recovery" partition to DVD then safely remove the partition without worries.

answered Mar 06 '12 at 17:02

Ringtail

16,127

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 26 '12 at 20:16

I know this is a old post but I have seen Windows not let you shrink very much like you said. Can't shrink more than 97 MB. A lot of the time this is due to your system needing a defrag. Most often a defrag will fix this issue.

If you want to back up your HD, try Trinity Rescue Kit. It has features that will let you clone your hard drive even over a network or you can use any number of drive cloners to make a complete copy of your hard drive.

I hope this helps the next person who has this issue.

is it necessary to delete the recovery partition?

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