Can I delete new 5GB HP_Tools partition after successful BIOS update?

[Replytoken]

Thanks, Tom.  Will do.  I am wondering if they may allow me to resize the partition to a smaller level.

--Ken

[Replytoken]

Well, I spoke with HP Tech Support a few minutes ago and after explaining the partition to them (and what was in the partition), they said that it was OK to go ahead and delete it.

--Ken

[Grzwacz]

Hi Ken

Sounds good.

HP should know if it is expendable.

Tom

[Replytoken]

I was a bit surprised that  our conversation only lasted less than 2 minutes, so as a precaution, I am going to copy all of the files and store them off of the drive in case they are needed.

--Ken

[Grzwacz]

Hi Ken

Good call.

Better to be safe than sorry.

Tom

[Grzwacz]

Hi Ken

Quick question.

Do you also have an HP Recovery partition when viewing the hard disk in Disk Management?

I am still trying to understand why the partition is so large.

It should be around 100MB and contains diagnostics and a BIOS recovery image.

If you dump this partition you will not be able to recover from a bad BIOS update or BIOS corruption.

Tom

[Replytoken]

Hi Tom,

I do not have an HP Recovery partition when I view the HD in Disk Management.  I have the unnamed 100MB partition, the primary C: partition and the newly created 😧 partition.  I have not yet done anything to the 😧 partition, and your question now raises three questions.  First, should there have been one installed on the HD when I purchased the machine, or was I supposed to create one at set-up?  And, back to my earlier question - how likely am I to get a bad BIOS update or have BIOS corruption?  Finally, if I did delete this 😧 partition, can a new, and hopefully smaller, HP_Tools partition be created (perhaps with a letter other than D:)?

--Ken

[Grzwacz]

Hi Ken

I am not really sure what is happening. Maybe another forum member has a better handle on this.

If you go to this HP site you can download and create an HP Hardware Diagnostics 3-in-1 USB key.

This USB key supports hardware diagnostics and BIOS recovery.

Maybe this is what the HP_Tools partition on your HDD is?

Look for HP Recovery Manager software. This program would be used to create DVD or USB recovery media.

You do have the option to download the operating system from the cloud.  So you would not need to have recovery media on the local HDD.

Tom

[Replytoken]

Hi Tom,

Thank you for these links.  These are excellent resources.  Given that I am about to switch software for backup and imaging, I think that I will take these into account when I do so (and probably delete the 😧 partition.  so long as I have what I need backed up, the worst thing is that I spend time rebuilding from scratch.  It is a shame that HP does not do a better job with installing their utilities.  Lenovo used to do a really good job  with their ThinkPads.  One of the first things that yu did was to create a recovery media set.  I cannot remember if it was a requirement, but I know it was the first thing I always did.

Thanks again for your wisdom and patience - much appreciated!

--Ken

[Grzwacz]

Hi Ken

You are welcome.

Tom