Removing the recovery partition....

[tbonecopper]

I finally bought a Venue 8 Pro, our local tigerdirect store has/had them for $189 bucks new... This weekend was also tax free due to back to school, in Florida, so it was a good deal, imo.

I'm pretty pleased (thus far) with the tablet, but after windows updates and minimal app installation, I have about 7.5 GB free on the SSD. I know there is a recovery partition there. I'd like to remove it to free up that 5-7 GB of space.

I already phone Dell and they are shipping me the recovery media, "a thumb drive", so I can restore if it ever goes haywire. However, I'm unsure exactly where to begin. Normally, I could boot into some prompt and run diskpart or similar, but with this tablet, I'm sure it's different.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[ven07]

This seems helpful

Step-by-Step guide to move Recovery Partition to USB and reclaim up 6+ GB without 3rd party software

 

[David P2]

Scenario: You need to do a restore. You've wiped the recovery partition and regained the space. You lose the thumb drive. It's urgent to get it back up and running ASAP. End result: you're pretty screwed.

In other words, I would leave it well alone - make use of SD cards, thumb drives and/or online storage - it runs Windows RT from what I gather so you can't really fill it with enough apps and games to munch 7GB. Also, because it runs RT I don't think you can boot off the USB into some form of Linux LiveOS to do the disk partitioning.

 

[tbonecopper]

Scenario: You need to do a restore. You've wiped the recovery partition and regained the space. You lose the thumb drive. It's urgent to get it back up and running ASAP. End result: you're pretty screwed.

In other words, I would leave it well alone - make use of SD cards, thumb drives and/or online storage - it runs Windows RT from what I gather so you can't really fill it with enough apps and games to munch 7GB. Also, because it runs RT I don't think you can boot off the USB into some form of Linux LiveOS to do the disk partitioning.

Thanks, but no thanks. The Venue 8 Pro runs "real" WIndows 8.1 not "RT".

As far as that scenario, it's highly unlikely. But thanks for your concern. Dell is shipping me the recovery drive + the cable needed to do it. It's a very easy process if you have that. And since I tend to hoard thumb drives and other misc. flash media, I'll be okay.

The tablet will likely never run anything that critical where I'd be panicky it died and I couldn't immediately restore it. I have a laptop and an iPad, in case of emergencies.

 

[RumoredNow]

Scenario: You need to do a restore. You've wiped the recovery partition and regained the space. You lose the thumb drive. It's urgent to get it back up and running ASAP. End result: you're pretty screwed.

In other words, I would leave it well alone - make use of SD cards, thumb drives and/or online storage - it runs Windows RT from what I gather so you can't really fill it with enough apps and games to munch 7GB. Also, because it runs RT I don't think you can boot off the USB into some form of Linux LiveOS to do the disk partitioning.

​It's not RT. It is Desktop 8.1.

 

[RumoredNow]

System Rescue CD has a strong partitioning tool that I've used more than a few times... You can create it as a bootable USB stick.

Sysresccd-manual-en How to install SystemRescueCd on an USB-stick - SystemRescueCd

 

[tbonecopper]

I wanted to add this image.. THis is what you get (or at least, what I received) when you call dell and ask for USB recovery media.

It also means I can return that OTG cable I bought

 

[RumoredNow]

What was the cost on that?

Have you plugged it in to ensure the USB drive does not kick off the "Supply Power to This Device" issue at boot up?

 

[tbonecopper]

Dell didn't charge me for the stuff in the image, or for shipping. And it was overnighted FedEx.

As far as getting it to work, that's a different story. The USB drive with the Windows hologram on it doesn't appear to be bootable. I've nearly bricked the tablet trying to get it to boot from that drive.

Oddly, my own home made USB Windows 8.1 32bit drive shows as a bootable device.

Edit: @RumoredNow - you're good luck! There is a trick to getting the USB drives to show in the boot list... The instructions on that blue card aren't telling the truth.

Really, you connect the microUSB to USB OTG adapter to the thumb drive. Insert it into the tablet.

Turn the tablet on.. and as you see the backlight come on but before the DELL Logo appears, push and hold the volume up button, for a few seconds, and let go. The boot menu will appear.

If you get to the self test/diagnostics mode, just exit and restart.

Edit again: Also it takes forever and a day to load the recovery environment from the USB drive.... just a note for anyone who attempts this in the future using the Dell media... be patient. It will look like it's not doing anything, but it is.

​Edit again: It's a no go. It wants you to connect to a power supply.

 

[tbonecopper]

i'm selling the tablet on Amazon or ebay... not keeping it, it's too much work to get it to be functional. I'd return it, but it'll cost me near $30 bucks in gas + $28.50 restocking fee. Not worth the drive.

 

[mrpuny]

i'm selling the tablet on Amazon or ebay... not keeping it, it's too much work to get it to be functional. I'd return it, but it'll cost me near $30 bucks in gas + $28.50 restocking fee. Not worth the drive.

Can you make a bootable microSD card from the USB recovery image? Not sure you can boot from microSD on the DVP8, but if so, that would allow for hooking up power at the same time. It's too bad that these devices don't have better recovery options. One thing I'm jealous of with recent Macs is that their firmware is sophisticated enough that if there's no operating system present, it can connect to the internet and download it from Apple's servers. No local OS install media necessary, provided there's a network available.

 

[David P2]

Moral of the story: don't play about with the recovery partition. :smile:

 

[RumoredNow]

Moral of the story: don't play about with the recovery partition. :smile:

LOLZ... But some of us just can't help tinkering. :winktongue:

 

[tbonecopper]

Moral of the story: don't play about with the recovery partition. :smile:

Well, when I started this, the recovery partition was still there. At this very moment, it's still there. But only because I'd have to move heaven and or earth to get rid of it.

The moral of the story should be: Dell should properly QA their products before sending them out.... especially before sending out recovery media to customers that requires a power source, something that is inherently impossible to do with a USB key plugged in.

 

[tbonecopper]

Can you make a bootable microSD card from the USB recovery image? Not sure you can boot from microSD on the DVP8, but if so, that would allow for hooking up power at the same time. It's too bad that these devices don't have better recovery options. One thing I'm jealous of with recent Macs is that their firmware is sophisticated enough that if there's no operating system present, it can connect to the internet and download it from Apple's servers. No local OS install media necessary, provided there's a network available.

I don't think you can boot from the MicroSD. It did cross my mind, since Dell could theoretically switch from their USB based recovery media to a microSD card for this very reason.

Apple's restore method is nice and to their credit, at least they'll send you working recovery media on request. Which is great, since their OS is fairly large as a download and many people around the world have capped internet connections at home.

 

[bigeduck]

I don't understand, was this when you were trying to pull of the recovery partition? I never had that issue when I removed it from mine, and I'm not sure what part your getting stuck at. Also there may be a battery threshold, did you have more than 50% left?

 

[tbonecopper]

I don't understand, was this when you were trying to pull of the recovery partition? I never had that issue when I removed it from mine, and I'm not sure what part your getting stuck at. Also there may be a battery threshold, did you have more than 50% left?

Battery was fully charged. I was trying to re install Windows without having to have the recovery partition on there, since I had their USB drives. Which, don't work.

 

[pankaj981]

I have successfully restored from the recovery USB multiple times. The trick is to boot from the USB and run a clean install rather than restore from a recovery

 

[tbonecopper]

I have successfully restored from the recovery USB multiple times. The trick is to boot from the USB and run a clean install rather than restore from a recovery

Using your own self created USB thumb drive with Windows 8(.1) on it? Or the Dell media? I tried both, and no go.

When I tried with my own USB key, it wouldn't let me get past the initial install screen because the touch display wasn't recognized as a valid form of input device. With Dell's media, you can see the result of that above.

 

[pankaj981]

Using your own self created USB thumb drive with Windows 8(.1) on it? Or the Dell media? I tried both, and no go.

When I tried with my own USB key, it wouldn't let me get past the initial install screen because the touch display wasn't recognized as a valid form of input device. With Dell's media, you can see the result of that above.

I moved my factory recovery partition to another device, created a bootable USB using the Windows 7 USB Tool. Next time when I had to reinstall the OS, I booted from the USB device and reinstalled Windows as a normal reinstall. To answer your question, I was performing a fresh install but from the original factory backup. Since my touch screen was responsive it could be that it has all the drivers needed for the touchscreen already