[ltsb, 1607] Wiping and installing Windows 10 on new laptops...

[Koldov]

Hi All,

 

First NEW laptop in about 7 years!

 

I want to wipe this laptop as it has Win 10 Pro (including junk from MS and HP, Netflix (?), McAfee, Amazon, Booking.com, Dropbox etc.) and install LTSB, but I am thinking that I might keep the RECOVERY partition (just in case).

 

We have purchased HP care packs (3 years on-site warranty), so I'm also concerned about voiding that somehow...?

 

Please excuse the absolute noob question here, but I don't want to mess anything up...

 

I haven't dealt with an EFI partition, or needed to keep a recovery partition before and the way it is laid out in Disk Management is a bit confusing (these will also be our first Win 10 machines on the network).

 

 

So, is there anything in the EFI partition that I would lose if I delete it, or is it purely for the OS (like any other boot partition) that will be recreated with the new OS install?

 

Obviously, I have done a little Google:

 

The EFI system partition (ESP) is a small partition formatted with FAT32, ususally 100MB, where stores the EFI boot loaders for the installed system and applications used by the firmware at startup. If your hard drive was initialized as GUID Partition table (GPT) partition style, it will generate an EFI system partition after installing Windows

 

So, I also have a follow up question about whether GPT disk is the best option (256GB SSD)...?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Kol.

Edited February 19, 2018 by Koldov

[Koldov]

**BUMP**

 

I can't work out if this is just a low quality/stupid question, or nobody does this/it can't be done/it's too complicated?

 

Halp?

 

I have a constant stream of SLT asking me when they will be ready and I need to get started asap, so I can begin testing them on the network!

[Steve21]

Think you're making it more complicated than needed tbh Make a restore disk off one of them (so you have the original image/drivers etc if you ever want to wipe them back to default). Then just wipe them all,and use your normal setup, no point having a restore partition if you're not even using the OS it has on it.

 

Steve

[Fazza]

When you install Windows 10, delete all the partitions on the hard disk during the installation and then let Windows 10 set up the partitions it wants to.

[v01d]

Think you're making it more complicated than needed tbh Make a restore disk off one of them (so you have the original image/drivers etc if you ever want to wipe them back to default). Then just wipe them all,and use your normal setup, no point having a restore partition if you're not even using the OS it has on it.

Steve

 

Yeah, this. Not that I've ever really needed it, but out of habit I always take one of each new device we get and use MDT to capture an OEM image, using the model as a name, which I then store for safe-keepings.

[Koldov]

It sounded so easy

 

 

Created a 'Recovery Drive' and tried to restore it...

 

Helpful and informative as always, thanks Microsoft!

 

Must be doing something wrong!

 

Oh for the days of my tatty old battered CD with a dodgy copy of Ghost on it...

[arh1a]

I just created a recovery USB stick using the HP tool and also made an image myself using Acronis just to be on the safe side.

[Koldov]

I just created a recovery USB stick using the HP tool and also made an image myself using Acronis just to be on the safe side.

 

Yeah, I also made a copy with the HP tool, but I'm thinking that once the laptop is completely wiped there will be no HP app on the device to restore it with as it seems to use the HP software to do that (?).

[v01d]

Yeah, I also made a copy with the HP tool, but I'm thinking that once the laptop is completely wiped there will be no HP app on the device to restore it with as it seems to use the HP software to do that (?).

Are you using MDT?

[Koldov]

Are you using MDT?

 

No, we don't have anything like that set-up here.

 

Just a usb drive.

 

It seems to either go round in a circle if I choose the boot option 'USB Hard Drive (UEFI)' - Choose Language and Keyboard > Use a device > EFI USB Device > This takes me back to Choose Language etc... or if I choose Troubleshoot > Recover from a drive it gives me the error 'There was a problem recovering your PC'...

[Koldov]

There is also a difference when I disable 'Secure Boot' and enable 'Legacy Support'.

 

When I do that I see the USB drive, but with and without UEFI as an option and when I select the one without, I see a blue Windows logo instead of an HP logo.

 

However, it gives me less options on the next page (normally Continue, Use a device, Troubleshoot, Turn off your PC) it only has 'Troubleshoot' or 'Turn off your PC'.

 

Choosing 'Troubleshoot' gives me 'Recover from a drive', HP Recovery Manager' or 'Advanced Options'.

 

Choosing 'Recover from a drive' takes me to 'There was a problem'....

 

Choosing 'Advanced Options' only gives me standard 'Start-up Repair' options.

[LeMarchand]

Does the HP Recovery Manager let you use your HP backup? Might be worth trying and then creating a non-HP backup another way (Clonezilla?).

 

I'd probably just bite the bullet and install W10 from disk/USB, but don't want to be responsible it it makes matters worse for you!

[Koldov]

Does the HP Recovery Manager let you use your HP backup? Might be worth trying and then creating a non-HP backup another way (Clonezilla?).

 

I'd probably just bite the bullet and install W10 from disk/USB, but don't want to be responsible it it makes matters worse for you!

 

I can use the HP utility to create and restore a backup using the HP app, that's fine (I'm just conscious that once wiped, that app won't be there anymore).

 

Yeah, for sure I'm over thinking it, I am interested in why it isn't working though.

 

I'm sure I'll never even need it (famous last words). But....

[LeMarchand]

I can use the HP utility to create and restore a backup using the HP app, that's fine (I'm just conscious that once wiped, that app won't be there anymore).

 

Yeah, for sure I'm over thinking it, I am interested in why it isn't working though.

 

I'm sure I'll never even need it (famous last words). But....

 

In that case you could just back up the drivers in case you can't find them later (though the HP site is normally OK) and (maybe) use something like Clonezilla to do a "non HP" backup. Last time I used Clonezilla it was quite slow, so this will likely add a few hours to your process.