Dell Venue 8 Pro 5855 - Delete recovery partition?

There are some useful guides, and much commentary, as to this at the tabletpcreview.com Dell forum--I think you would find it helpful. 

This is the way I did it: 1. Run Diskpart (from Run or CMD Prompt), don't worry it will prompt for elevation to Admin 2. Type: select disk 0 (main SSD) 3. Type: list partition (to see the available partitions) 4. Type: select partition 6 (my Recovery partition, yours may be different) 5. Type: delete partition override (deletes partition 6) 6. Type: select partition 5 (my Windows partition, to reclaim deleted space) 7. Type: extend (reclaims space) 8. Type: exit  This worked for me on the DV8P 5830.

Okay. I ran Diskpart and I am seeing two recovery partitions 4 and 5. 4 is 450 MB and 5 is 7321 MB. Can I delete both, or is that smaller one needed?  Thanks!

Thanks. I will try this.

I checked first of all to make sure that I could reboot using my USB recovery disk. The first time I tried, my USB recovery drive didn't show up as a reboot option. Then I shut down my Dell and rebooted it normally. The second time I tried to reboot to my USB drive, it showed up as an option. I was then able to reboot to it.  

I totally agree with making the image backup. I used Macrium Reflect (fee edition) to perform the image backup. Although you did not state why you wanted to delete the Recovery partition other than to reclaim storage space I had to delete mine in order to gain enough space to do the Windows 10 Upgrade. In addition the Recovery partition would have been useless in Windows 19 since it was the original Recovery partition (4.6 GB) from Dell for Windows 8 even though I have later upgraded to Windows.8.1. When I upgraded to Windows 10 a new Recovery partition (449 MB) was created. If I didn't delete my original Recovery partition I don't know if I would have two Recovery partitions now.

Thanks for your reply. My only reason for wanting to delete the recovery partition was for more storage space. I bought this Dell Venue 8 Pro recently and it came with Windows 10 already installed. So, I have only the recovery partition and that winretools partition.

Windows 10 can make a system image, from what I've seen. I agree that making a system image is a good idea. What are the advantages of going with Macrium Reflect?  Thanks.  

I totally agree with making the image backup. I used Macrium Reflect (fee edition) to perform the image backup. Although you did not state why you wanted to delete the Recovery partition other than to reclaim storage space I had to delete mine in order to gain enough space to do the Windows 10 Upgrade. In addition the Recovery partition would have been useless in Windows 19 since it was the original Recovery partition (4.6 GB) from Dell for Windows 8 even though I have later upgraded to Windows.8.1. When I upgraded to Windows 10 a new Recovery partition (449 MB) was created. If I didn't delete my original Recovery partition I don't know if I would have two Recovery partitions now.

Macrium Reflect offers more options and functionality compared to the limited system image capabilities of Windows 10. I may give it a try. That will be a little project for tomorrow or late run the week. Thanks again!

With Macrium Reflect you can backup individual partitions and create a USB rescue media (in Macrium Reflect, select "Other Tasks", and "Create Rescue Media") to restore the image of the partition. You can also select which partition to make a image of, including the System partition. After I created the rescue USB I tested it and I stored the backup images on my microSD. If interested I can post the procedure for creating the rescue media.for the DV8P.

I am not familiar with the capabilities of Windows 10 system image. Can you make an image of any single partition or do you have to image the whole disk? Is Windows required to restore the image? With Macrium Reflect you are not dependent upon Windows.

Hi, since you decided to give Macrium Reflect a try, I decided to post the procedure I used to create the rescue media. I did not develop the procedure myself, but I updated and modified it [see notes].

1) On your DV8P, install Macrium Reflect and use it to create a USB rescue media using the defaults options with a 1GB USB drive or larger. [Note: In Macrium Reflect, select “Other Tasks”, “Create Rescue Media”, choose “Windows PE 5.0” under “Change PE Version”, change PE Architecture to 32-bit, and select “Download” if prompted to download from Microsoft.]
2) Download the Dell Venue 8 Pro Win 8.1 Driver Cab - 5830-win8.1-A00-9Y5Y5.CAB to your DV8P. (Latest version is 5830-win8.1-A07-VW1H3.CAB dated 08 Feb 2016)
3) Extract the CAB file (Total Commander can do this) [Note: Used WinZip]
4) From the extracted CAB file, copy the "chipset" folder and its contents to the Drivers folder on the USB rescue media. [Note: Also copied the contents of the “network” folder, although not sure those drivers will do anything.]
5) You can boot with this USB rescue media now but to save boot loading time and disk space, you can traverse the rescue media chipset folder deleting all inf folders except for the pmic.inf folder. [Note: Optional step, not executed.]

Now you can use this USB rescue media to restore Reflect images stored on your D drive [microSD]. There is no need for a USB hub, mouse, or keyboard. All you need is an OTG cable and USB rescue media. [Note: Once Macrium Reflect loads, the USB drive can be removed and a USB mouse connected. With attached mouse, launch Macrium PE Explorer (on the taskbar) then navigate in Explorer to x:\Program Files\FreeVK to launch the virtual keyboard, FreeVK.]

Well, I found the Windows 10 CAB for my 5855! I'm getting somewhere.  

Thanks for posting this procedure. I suspect I will have to modify it a bit, because there are a few differences between your 5830 and my 5855. But it gives me something to begin with.