Thinkpads Forum

Would it be stupid of me to delete both SYSTEM_DRV and the LENOVO_RECOVERY now that I'm safely upgraded to Windows 10 on a SSD? The prospect of gaining an extra 15GB has me licking my lips.

Have you created the recovery media for the previous OS? If the answer is "yes", then nuke the recovery partition...

The answer is No...but even so why would I want/need to go back my friend? Windows 10 is running happily so surely any future backups I create/use would be from W10?

Thank you!

VanZan wrote:The answer is No...but even so why would I want/need to go back my friend?

It's your call by all means.

Windows 10 is running happily so surely any future backups I create/use would be from W10?

Personally, I prefer having the ability to go back to the original OS for various reasons, especially that W10 is still in beta stage, but that's me.

Out of sheer curiosity on my end: which ThinkPad are we discussing here to begin with?

Be aware that the Win10 you're using is a Technical Preview and it's not recommended by Microsoft for use in a production environment, meaning as your daily driver. Even if it's unlikely at this point in Win10's development, things can change, and you can run into issues or regret. So if this was my laptop, I would definitely have taken the trouble to create these discs. Or even kept the partition.

You can of course make a clean install from a Win7 retail media, which can in some instances be a better choice, but original recovery media makes it a lot easier. But in the end: your laptop, your choice.

Edit: Too late with the submit-trigger finger. George beat me to it.

It's a T410 and I still have both the recovery partition and the system drive one. I'll wait so until the final release of Windows 10 before going wild deleting partitions!! Also I'm only using it in my home (I do realise it's a business machine).

Here are a few reasons you may want to keep the original OS.

1. Windows 10 is FREE upgrade from Windows 7 (which I'm guessing was the original operating system on your W410), so you will not have to buy (or steal) a copy when the release version comes out.
2. A technical preview is not licensed for permanent use. A technical preview will at the very best become unlicensed and you will cease to receive updates, or at worst cease to function at some point in the future and be deactivated by some sort of built in Windows license protection.
3. Even though the technical preview is working currently, a Windows update may render it incompatible with your current system hardware/software configuration. There have been similar scenarios in the past where a feature change has broken existing functionality in a pre-release version (driver compatibility), and only fixed towards the release of the final version.

Another reason to have recovery media...when you decide to sell at some point in the future, you may want to restore the machine to factory state, rather than sell with your current OS (or no OS at all) installed.