Windows Disk Defragmenter

[Gloria E]

I discovered recently that I did not need a third party Disk Defragmeter. For the first time I learned that Windows 7 has one installed that runs automatically. I went to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmentor.

It has been defraging my computer for a long time and I had no idea. I ran it manually and on the list of drives, there was the OS (C:) drive and another called Recovery. This is the one I'm concerned about, I have no idea what the Recovery disk is or what it's used for. Unless, of course, it's System Restore. I already have a third party defrag utility installed named Perfect Disk 10 which includes a drive map while Windows doesn't.

Will someone please clear this up and explain just what the drive named Discovery is? I also saw that name when I go to System Restore, listed under drives.

Gloria E

[HansV]

There is no need for you to run the Disk Defragmenter - Windows 7 runs it once a week.

Recovery is a partition created when Windows 7 was installed that enables you to repair Windows without needing to insert a Windows DVD.

[viking33]

Windows 7 creates a Recovery PARTITION, only if it is the only ( single ) partition on the HDD. If there are other partitions, then it creates a Recovery FOLDER in the root C:.
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This is for the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), which also shipped with Windows Vista only it was available from the Windows Vista installation disc only, although some OEMs made it available on a separate partition on their factory installations. In Windows 7, this feature is installed on all computers, and is stored in the 200MB partition if you install using a single partition scheme. However, if you install on a drive that has multiple partitions, the recovery environment is stored in a folder in the root of your installation drive, so if you install to a partition with a label of C:\ it will be located at C:\Recovery.

To access the System Recovery Environment in Windows 7, simply boot your PC, just before the system loads the Windows operating system; hit the [F8] Function 8 key on your keyboard which will launch the Advanced Boot Options menu. There you will see a new option 'Repair Your Computer', select this option and hit 'Enter' on your keyboard.
( underlines are mine )

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... 0bb0b459b9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Gloria E]

My thanks to Hans and Viking for this helpful information. Windows 7 was on my new compute when I purchased it from Dell and I don't know how many partitions it has, I do know it's factory installed (OEM). My son installed the computer, so he should know the answer, but I'd like to see it for myself.

Is there a way to discover this? Since Recovery is a seperate drive, I know I can use it but I need to understand what I'm doing first.

Thank you Viking for the link, the discussion was indeed relavant. Once I know how many partitions the drive has I then can use it if I need to repair Windows.

[HansV]

Click the Start button and type partitions in the search box, then press Enter. This will start the Disk Management utility.
You can see the partitions on each of your hard disks.

Be careful - don't click at random, you don't want to delete a partition by accident.

[viking33]

In addition to the method Hans mentioned, you can also go to Start and type in explorer, then enter. This will bring up Windows Explorer. Scroll down to the Computer entry and expand it. You will see all of your drives listed.

Capture.PNG

[PaulB]

Windows 7... new computer... Dell... Since Recovery is a separate drive, I know I can use it...

Gloria, if that disk is identified as Recovery, DO NOT USE IT. It is in all probability the recovery partition used to restore your computer to out-of-the-box condition in case you need to go back to square one. This is particularly true if the partition is up to 15 gigabytes in size. If it is identified as System Reserved and is about 100 MB in size, it is the partition that Viking is referring to. Again, do not use it. This is for Microsoft's use only.

You may conceivably have both partitions depending on how Dell sets up its systems.

[Gloria E]

Click the Start button and type partitions in the search box, then press Enter. This will start the Disk Management utility.
You can see the partitions on each of your hard disks.

Be careful - don't click at random, you don't want to delete a partition by accident.

Under Disk Management:
Disk 0 Basic 465 GB NTFS Healthy (System, Active, Primary Partition).
Recovery 14.65 GB NTTFS Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition).

Am I to assume that since Primary Partition, and no other, means I have just the one partition?

This tread has gone off topic and it can be moved to the subject of Partitions instead, if you care to move it.

[Gloria E]

Windows 7... new computer... Dell... Since Recovery is a separate drive, I know I can use it...

Gloria, if that disk is identified as Recovery, DO NOT USE IT. It is in all probability the recovery partition used to restore your computer to out-of-the-box condition in case you need to go back to square one. This is particularly true if the partition is up to 15 gigabytes in size. If it is identified as System Reserved and is about 100 MB in size, it is the partition that Viking is referring to. Again, do not use it. This is for Microsoft's use only.

You may conceivably have both partitions depending on how Dell sets up its systems.

Thank you Paul,

I should not have said that I could use it, but I understand that it can be used by me in case I need to restore the computer back to the way it was when it was shipped. Am I correct?

There is no System Reserved so it cannot be used by Microsoft or myself.

[HansV]

Under Disk Management:
Disk 0 Basic 465 GB NTFS Healthy (System, Active, Primary Partition).
Recovery 14.65 GB NTTFS Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition).

Is Recovery listed as Disk 1 or is it on Disk0?

[viking33]

Click the Start button and type partitions in the search box, then press Enter. This will start the Disk Management utility.
You can see the partitions on each of your hard disks.

Be careful - don't click at random, you don't want to delete a partition by accident.

Under Disk Management:
Disk 0 Basic 465 GB NTFS Healthy (System, Active, Primary Partition).
Recovery 14.65 GB NTTFS Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition).

Am I to assume that since Primary Partition, and no other, means I have just the one partition?

This tread has gone off topic and it can be moved to the subject of Partitions instead, if you care to move it.

You have ONE hard disk with TWO partitions.

[Gloria E]

Under Disk Management:
Disk 0 Basic 465 GB NTFS Healthy (System, Active, Primary Partition).
Recovery 14.65 GB NTTFS Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition).

Is Recovery listed as Disk 1 or is it on Disk0?

This is what I saw and wrote down:

Disk 0: Basic 465.76 GB 39 MB Healthy (OEM) Partition

Recovery: 14.65 GB NTFS Healthy (System, Active, Primary Partition

[PaulB]

I should not have said that I could use it, but I understand that it can be used by me in case I need to restore the computer back to the way it was when it was shipped. Am I correct?

I did not interpret it that way but if this is what you meant then yes, you are correct.

It would be very helpful if you could post a graphic of your Disk Management window.

Disk.PNG