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80472
October 28th, 2009 15:00
Clean install of Windows 7 and OEM Partition
I just installed Windows 7. I deleted all of my partitions except the OEM partition because I could not locate my original disk. Interestingly, after deleting 2 partitions Windows 7 installed without asking me to format the new larger partition. I assume this happened because you cannot have one remaining partition on the drive and it will not do a partial format.
It seems like I have a clean install with only the remaining OEM partition and the other partition holds Windows 7. All of my data and programs were wiped out. The machine is working well with no issues at this time.
My question is this, did I basically accomplish a clean install on the new partition or should I delete the OEM partition (I found the disk), format the partition and reinstall Windows 7?
Thanks.
GSWPITT
Mary G
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20.1K Posts
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October 28th, 2009 16:00
The OEM partition is very small and won't be worth the trouble. I think you should leave well enough alone. It's not worth the hassle. It's a diagnostic partition that you access from the boot menu. I'm not sure it will still work since I haven't tried it yet after installing Win 7, but it should since it tests hardware outside of Windows. You don't need the disk to access it.
GSWPitt
43 Posts
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October 28th, 2009 19:00
Thanks. My inclination is to leave it alone. What surprised me was that after deleting the partition, I was not prompted to create a new one or reformat it. The install was seamless, but I wanted to make certain it was fairly equivalent to a clean install.
Thanks.
Roosevelt.
crad54
10 Posts
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November 5th, 2009 13:00
Hi Roosevelt,
When you say you deleted the OEM partition do you mean the C: or D: Recovery Partition? The reason I ask is I have a D:recovery Partition on my HDD that is first on the drive and then the C:. I will be installing 7 soon and was wondering if I should delete the D: partition first and then choose the C: to install 7 onto clean? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
justinkel
21 Posts
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November 11th, 2009 21:00
I'd like to hear what others say on this topic too. The small partition does contain a hardware utility, but is it really needed? If you blow that partition away, then the D:Recovery drive is worthless.
What I'd like to know is if the hidden partition and the Recovery partition is kept in tact, will the recovery utility (F8) still be available upon boot up?
When installing Windows 7 on the C partition, will it replace the OEM MBR with a new one? I've heard of some pain-in-the-butt ways of inititiating a recovery even after the F8 option is broken, but if this is the case, I think it'd be worth it to just blow away all the partitions.