Guide: How to Delete Hidden Recovery Partition on Vista

[hypertrophy]

I'm making this thread so i can use it as reference later if someone asks how it's done.

This only applies to Windows Vista.

*Make sure you have backed up your OEM keycode before deleting the hidden partition.*

The Lenovo Hidden Recovery Partition is a protected partition so you will not be able to delete it through Disk Management as you would with any other normal partition. You will need to use Diskpart. You can still use these steps to delete the hidden recovery partition if you have already done a clean install, but you'll need a 3rd party software to combine it with the primary partition. It is best if you delete the Hidden Recovery Partition first, then go through with a clean install using one of the many guides available on this board.

Step 1.
Burn Recovery Media. Type "Recovery Media" (without quotation marks) into search in the Start Menu. Open the application, and follow the instructions.

Step 2.
Open the Diskpart application by either typing in "Diskpart" (without the quotation marks) into the search, or type "Diskpart.exe" into Run by pressing the Windows key + R.

Step 3.
Now with Diskpart open, you must enter the following command lines:

I. Type "list disk" without the quotation marks and press enter.

II. Type in "select disk 0" and press enter.

III. Then type in "list partition" and press enter.

IV. Then type in "select partition x" x=the recovery partition you wish to delete (i believe it's 1, i dont recall) replace x with the recovery partition number and press enter.

V. Then finally type in "delete partition override" and press enter.

That should do the trick. Best of luck!

[unr1]

i'm sure this will be convenient for many folks

good work.

[sumitagarwal]

Worked beautifully on my X61t running Vista Business x64!

Thanks!

[hypertrophy]

Thanks for the positive comments guys.

Originally Posted by sumitagarwal

Worked beautifully on my X61t running Vista Business x64!

Thanks!

Hey no problem. I'm glad it worked out for you.

[stallen]

Just some suggestions for your guide. Mostly just typos... You have Steps 1,2, and 4. You might want to change that "4" to a "3". Also roman numeral VI change to IV. Yeah that's nit picky stuff but it might confuse somebody.

Otherwise it looks great thanks for putting this together.

[hypertrophy]

Originally Posted by stallen

Just some suggestions for your guide. Mostly just typos... You have Steps 1,2, and 4. You might want to change that "4" to a "3". Also roman numeral VI change to IV. Yeah that's nit picky stuff but it might confuse somebody.

Otherwise it looks great thanks for putting this together.

Done! Thanks for the feedback.

[timd75]

Originally Posted by hypertrophy

I'm making this thread so i can use it as reference later if someone asks how it's done.

Good idea!

Originally Posted by hypertrophy

The Lenovo Hidden Recovery Partition is a protected partition so you will not be able to delete it through Disk Management as you would with any other normal partition. You will need to use Diskpart. You can still use these steps to delete the hidden recovery partition if you have already done a clean install, but you'll need a 3rd party software to combine it with the primary partition. It is best if you delete the Hidden Recovery Partition first, then go through with a clean install using one of the many guides available on this board.

Just to add an extra warning to this, even if you do use 3rd party software to re-combine the extra space from the hidden partition with the primary partition:
a) it takes something iro 6hours, and
b) you will probably mess up some fundamental parts of Vista (such as System Restore).

Don't bother, just reinstall Vista, it'll be quicker and your system will be more stable as a result.

[eyecon82]

Thanks!

When using this with Stallen's guide...it should work perfectly! I used playmakers and forgot to reformat the HD while clean installing vista..so therefore, I was still stuck with the hidden partition...even though it was empty...so make sure you delete it first before doing a clean install and make sure you delete the main partition and then reformat! Thanks again

[braddd]

Originally Posted by eyecon82

Thanks!

When using this with Stallen's guide...it should work perfectly! I used playmakers and forgot to reformat the HD while clean installing vista..so therefore, I was still stuck with the hidden partition...even though it was empty...so make sure you delete it first before doing a clean install and make sure you delete the main partition and then reformat! Thanks again

Eyecon I did the same thing you did.. I'm wondering if you ever got around to going back and using some sort of partition editor to get your 7GB back. If so let me know because I need some help with this.. Thanks.

[eyecon82]

Originally Posted by braddd

Eyecon I did the same thing you did.. I'm wondering if you ever got around to going back and using some sort of partition editor to get your 7GB back. If so let me know because I need some help with this.. Thanks.

Sorry, I haven't. I don't like having my HD in partitions, so I never had a reason to revert back