Random extra partition in Win10...?

[DevilishBooster]

Here's the deal....

My mom got an Asus F554LA-NH51 laptop in Nov and I was looking to swap in an SSD for her. (Turns out you have to tear the whole thing apart to get to it. Really smart design there, Asus... Guess I won't be upgrading it) Well, I noticed that it came pre-setup with two drives listed in Win Ex, a C: and D:. Having two partitions wouldn't have struck me as odd except for the fact that D: is titled "Data" and it is almost completely empty. There is no system backup folder and none of the User folders point to it (they are all located on C:) The only thing on it is a folder named "225811ac95ad7891e6a313", and the only thing in the folder is an application file named "MRT". From what I understand this is Windows Malware Removal Tool file, but I am really confused as to why it's sitting on an empty partition. I tried pointing the Windows System backup to the D: drive but it says that there are no usable drives for backing up to. Is there any way I can safely delete this random extra partition and have that extra 250GB of storage allocated to the C: drive without reinstalling Windows?

 

Normally I wouldn't need to ask help on this, but I've never seen this situation before, my brain is fried from studying, and I don't want to screw up her new computer.

[Sors]

My Asus laptop also came with 2 partitions, and that's exactly how I intended to set the drive, the 2nd partititon is for storing all my personal files and it was indeed named DATA, while the first is just for programs.

 

The strange folder with the random name does sound like malware though, I would get rid of it.

 

http://www.howtogeek.com/101862/how-to-manage-partitions-on-windows-without-downloading-any-other-software/

[DevilishBooster]

My Asus laptop also came with 2 partitions, and that's exactly how I intended to set the drive, the 2nd partititon is for storing all my personal files and it was indeed named DATA, while the first is just for programs.

 

The strange folder with the random file name does sound like malware though, I would get rid of it.

 

http://www.howtogeek.com/101862/how-to-manage-partitions-on-windows-without-downloading-any-other-software/

I thought is was too, but after Google'ing "MRT application file" I read a number of people saying that it's a file from Windows malicious software removal tool.

When you got your Asus laptop, did it already have the Documents, Pictures, etc folders already pointing to the D partition, or did you have to manually switch them over?

[techguru]

I thought is was too, but after Google'ing "MRT application file" I read a number of people saying that it's a file from Windows malicious software removal tool.

When you got your Asus laptop, did it already have the Documents, Pictures, etc folders already pointing to the D partition, or did you have to manually switch them over?

the partitions don't matter...if you put in a ssd..you can make it 1 partition

and you shouldn't have to take the whole pc apart to change the hdd..sounds like you might not be too sure of what you are doing there

 

that d drive is probably just a back up partition

[Moetrain]

To the best of my knowledge some malware tools do need to be on a separate partition from the boot directories in case any of those were to become infected. I believe it boots into the other partition so the files don't get a chance to run at startup and disable your antivirus/malware tools.

[Stuff_]

It could be a reserved partition from the manufacturer to restore your OS in case you flub it up greatly. Generally, those partitions are not able to be looked at.

[Moetrain]

the partitions don't matter...if you put in a ssd..you can make it 1 partition

and you shouldn't have to take the whole pc apart to change the hdd..sounds like you might not be too sure of what you are doing there

 

that d drive is probably just a back up partition

 

Some computers are built so the end user can take them apart and upgrade them, some are designed to be sealed units and never touched by the end user (insert fruit photo here)

[DevilishBooster]

the partitions don't matter...if you put in a ssd..you can make it 1 partition

and you shouldn't have to take the whole pc apart to change the hdd..sounds like you might not be too sure of what you are doing there

 

that d drive is probably just a back up partition

I do know what I am doing, I just have never encountered a random partition on an OEM system that didn't have at least one folder pointing to it, that is why I was confused. And yes, I have looked it up and the only way to change the drive is to completely take apart the computer. The only access on the bottom is for the single stick of RAM.

[DevilishBooster]

It could be a reserved partition from the manufacturer to restore your OS in case you flub it up greatly. Generally, those partitions are not able to be looked at.

That's what I thought too, but Windows won't let me use it as a system back up

[DevilishBooster]

To the best of my knowledge some malware tools do need to be on a separate partition from the boot directories in case any of those were to become infected. I believe it boots into the other partition so the files don't get a chance to run at startup and disable your antivirus/malware tools.

Yeah, but there are no system files on the partition.... whatever, I'm just going to move her personal document folders over to the second partition and call it good

[JefferyD90]

Here's the deal....

My mom got an Asus F554LA-NH51 laptop in Nov and I was looking to swap in an SSD for her. (Turns out you have to tear the whole thing apart to get to it. Really smart design there, Asus... Guess I won't be upgrading it) Well, I noticed that it came pre-setup with two drives listed in Win Ex, a C: and D:. Having two partitions wouldn't have struck me as odd except for the fact that D: is titled "Data" and it is almost completely empty. There is no system backup folder and none of the User folders point to it (they are all located on C:) The only thing on it is a folder named "225811ac95ad7891e6a313", and the only thing in the folder is an application file named "MRT". From what I understand this is Windows Malware Removal Tool file, but I am really confused as to why it's sitting on an empty partition. I tried pointing the Windows System backup to the D: drive but it says that there are no usable drives for backing up to. Is there any way I can safely delete this random extra partition and have that extra 250GB of storage allocated to the C: drive without reinstalling Windows?

 

Normally I wouldn't need to ask help on this, but I've never seen this situation before, my brain is fried from studying, and I don't want to screw up her new computer.

Its not reserved at all...  its a second partion so you can store your data.  (movies, pictures, and such)

 

This method is only useful for situations such as reinstalling the OS or something similar.

 

I personally, would go ahead and install the SSD (its not as daunting as you might think) do a clean install of the OS and POOF you're off to the races (and you have a spare HDD laying around for other things!)

 

And to answer your question, yes you can delete the "extra" partition and then "expand" another partition.

 

Edit: The extra partition cant be used as a back up because it is on the same physical drive.  Thus defeating the purpose of a backup.

[DevilishBooster]

Its not reserved at all...  its a second partion so you can store your data.  (movies, pictures, and such)

 

This method is only useful for situations such as reinstalling the OS or something similar.

 

I personally, would go ahead and install the SSD (its not as daunting as you might think) do a clean install of the OS and POOF you're off to the races (and you have a spare HDD laying around for other things!)

I've swapped over plenty of drives, I know that it's not hard. The problem with that part is that it's build like a Macbook so I would literally have to completely take apart the laptop to get to the HDD and I don't have the time for that, and my mom isn't worried about it.

[DevilishBooster]

Edit: The extra partition cant be used as a back up because it is on the same physical drive.  Thus defeating the purpose of a backup.

Well. that's how it used to be. Both of the laptops that I had for college had one drive with 2 partitions. 1 was the primary OS partition where everything was stored, and the 2nd was a recovery partition that stored a system backup. It must be something that they changed for Windows 10

[JefferyD90]

I've swapped over plenty of drives, I know that it's not hard. The problem with that part is that it's build like a Macbook so I would literally have to completely take apart the laptop to get to the HDD and I don't have the time for that, and my mom isn't worried about it.

You probably just need to take the keyboard off to get to it.  Most modern computers are actually easier to get to all the components than previously.  You just have to know how to maneuver them.

[JefferyD90]

Well. that's how it used to be. Both of the laptops that I had for college had one drive with 2 partitions. 1 was the primary OS partition where everything was stored, and the 2nd was a recovery partition that stored a system backup. It must be something that they changed for Windows 10

Why would you ever back up data on the same physical drive?

[DevilishBooster]

You probably just need to take the keyboard off to get to it.  Most modern computers are actually easier to get to all the components than previously.  You just have to know how to maneuver them.

According to all the guides I have found online, you have to completely remove the bottom, unplug several ribbon cables, and then remove the keyboard before you can get to the internals. It's a cheap laptop, so im sure they didn't plan on anyone servicing it at home.

 

Why would you ever back up data on the same physical drive?

Because that's how it was before laptops had the capacity for 2 drives. It was still encouraged to have an external backup of all your files (and I always did), but that doesn't change the fact that the primary system recovery partition was part of the same physical drive.

[Sors]

I thought is was too, but after Google'ing "MRT application file" I read a number of people saying that it's a file from Windows malicious software removal tool.

When you got your Asus laptop, did it already have the Documents, Pictures, etc folders already pointing to the D partition, or did you have to manually switch them over?

 

I changed the folder's location manually, my 2nd partition was completely empty.