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XPS 8500 Windows 8 partitions and installing an SSD
Can someone explain what the different partitions that come default are for? My system was purchased with a 1TB drive (no SSD nor caching drive)
On my system I have:
1) EFI System Partition - 500 MB
2) OEM Partition - 40 MB
3) Recovery Partition - 500 MB
4) Recovery Partition - 10.63 GB
5) Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition 919.74 (OS C:)
I understand about 2 (Dell diagnostics), 4 (factory images), and 5 (OS), but what are 1 and 3?
Also, I'll be installing an SSD (256 gb) as the OS drive. I did order the OS media from Dell but also created the factory image DVDs. So the question is can I restore the factory image to the SSD from the DVD set I created, or do I use the OS media kit on that drive? Would this last part recreate the OEM partition? I would imagine it would not create the recovery partition however.
Thanks in advance.
DELL-Rajath N
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January 1st, 2013 05:00
Hi su_A_ve,
EFI System Partition(1) is a partition on a data storage device that is used by machines that adhere to the Extensible Firmware Interface. It contains the boot loader programs for all operating systems installed (in other partitions) on the device, device driver files (used by the firmware at boot time) for other devices, and system utility programs that are intended to be run before an operating system is booted. The partition 3 is the Recovery Partition for the EFI System Partition.
You will need to install Windows from the OS Media that you have ordered on the SSD. The Recovery DVD’s created can only be used to restore the computer to the factory settings and this can be done only on drives with a storage capacity of 1TB. Installing the Operating System from the OS Media will not create the OEM partition.