Comp: HP Laptop
OS: Windows xp Media Center

I have the recovery on disk's (So can bring back to factory setting whenever.)

There is a 12 Gig partition for recovery on HD, I have 32 gig left of HD space. Should I get rid of the partition and just hope the the disk's hold up? Comp is 5 years old, so most likely going to be getting a new one within the next 2-4 years, if this lasts till then.

Thanks in advanced for your comments.

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Comp: HP Laptop
OS: Windows xp Media Center

I have the recovery on disk's (So can bring back to factory setting whenever.)

There is a 12 Gig partition for recovery on HD, I have 32 gig left of HD space. Should I get rid of the partition and just hope the the disk's hold up? Comp is 5 years old, so most likely going to be getting a new one within the next 2-4 years, if this lasts till then.

Thanks in advanced for your comments.

Just get yourself another HDD, like a 20 or 40 Gb, and slave it for whatever you were going to use the recovery partition for and leave the recovery partition alone, it's there for a reason.

You are talking about a personal decision. If it were me, I would back up your files and remove old files & programs.

If you do re-size your partitions, I would say to leave a partition that is 1.6 times to size of the max RAM your system will accept. Put as much RAM in the machine as it will accept. Set your Paging file to a custom size with a max and min value of 1.5 times the physical RAM and store the paging file in the new partition. You may be happy with the performance boost.

Hi,
If you delete the backup partition and you need to reinstall Windows, you will then need to buy a new OS or computer so it is best left alone.
A lot of your space on you current drive is probably wasted on old program files. Uninstall all programs that you have not used in 3 months. Download Ccleaner and clean up your machine, defrag your HDD and you should have more space. A used HD as Adamsappleone suggested is good for reinstalling any big programs on you current drive (Office etc) Uninstall, then reinstall on new drive. Or, buy a new 500GB + external drive and use it now and also with your new machine when you get it later.

Hi,
If you delete the backup partition and you need to reinstall Windows, you will then need to buy a new OS or computer so it is best left alone.

Not true. I lost my HD on my HP computer, called HP tech support and they mailed me a DVD that restores the os (Vista Home Prem) back to factory settings -- cost me $25.00 but it worked. I could have saved myself that money and made it myself when I first got the computer, but dummy me didn't do it. It also took me about 24 hours to completly reinstall Vista.

Originally Posted by Bob_180_Bob
Hi,
If you delete the backup partition and you need to reinstall Windows, you will then need to buy a new OS or computer so it is best left alone.

Not true. I lost my HD on my HP computer, called HP tech support and they mailed me a DVD that restores the os (Vista Home Prem) back to factory settings -- cost me $25.00 but it worked. I could have saved myself that money and made it myself when I first got the computer, but dummy me didn't do it. It also took me about 24 hours to completly reinstall Vista.

You are correct as usual, I should have said, "If you delete your backup partition and you need to reinstall Windows, you will then need to pay $25.00 for a new disc to reinstall your OS so it is best left alone"
And not "you will then need to buy a new OS"
Either way he is best to leave it alone.
Just as a point of interest, how do you lose a hard drive? lol

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