Can I delete OEM partiton?

even if you have made backups and win7 repare disks,you still need the lenovo propriotory stuff on that hidden partition .

if your system ever crashes badly.

This is prpbably a recovery partiton created by the pc manufactuer.  it is used to restore windows, I wouldn't mess with it.  If it us deleted and you later need to restore the computer to the orginal, you will then need a recovery disk.

Windows won't let me. In Disk Management, the extended partition has a green border around it, and when I right click on it, the option to extend the volume is grayed out.

On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 16:34:19 +0000, galaxion2 wrote:

I have a new Lenovo Y570 laptop. I want to create a new partition, but there are already four partitions on the hard drive (4 is the maximum). Upon closer inspection of my existing partitions, I noticed that I had an empty partiton, 14.75 GB, and it said "Healthy (OEM Partition)." I want to know what this is, and if it's safe to delete it so I can create a new partition. In the disk management window it doesn't show a file system, and it doesn't have a letter assigned to it. Thanks in advance

See John Barnett's reply, and also note the following two points:

1. Yes, you can only have four partitions. But ...

if one (or more) of those partition is an extended partition, you
can have many logical drives within it. Each of those logical drives
is treated almost exactly like a partition, and in fact, many of us
loosely call them partitions. So, you might want to remove one of your
partitions, then recreate it as an extended partition.

2. Leaving aside the OEM partition, you already have three partitions
   and now want a fourth one. May I ask why? Even three is more than most
   people need or can make effective of, and having more than one, or
   sometimes two, is a mistake for most people. You might want to read
   this article on partitioning I've written: "Understanding Disk
   Partitioning" at
   http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=326

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP

Hello galaxion2,

The OEM Partition is your recovery partition. This is where the PC manufacturer has stored the Windows image. It is unwise to delete this partition as it is important if you want to return your PC back to factory conditions.

Regarding the number of partitions, you can have 3 primary partition,. The fourth partition should have been changed into a 'logical' partition (primary partitions have a dark blue border, whereas a logical partition has a green border. Partition within a logical partition have a lighter blue border.  Does the last partition have a green border all the way around it? If so have you tried shrinking the last partition to get some unallocated space so you can create a further partition?

To be honest Windows disk management application isn't very clever. Yes it does the basic but that isn't always good enough. Try downloading Easeus Partition Master Home free edition from http://download.cnet.com/EaseUS-Partition-Master-Home-Edition/3000-2248_4-10863346.html this will give you more control over your partitions.

This forum post is my own opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinion or view of Microsoft, its employees, or other MVPs.

John Barnett MVP: Windows XP Associate Expert: Windows Expert - Consumer: www.winuser.co.uk | vistasupport.mvps.org | xphelpandsupport.mvps.org | www.silversurfer-guide.com