For NEW system, how to re-partition AND make OKR (OneKey) Recovery work !!

I just bought a new Y400 sometime back. Win 8, OKR 8. 1TB HDD.

It had incovenient partition sizes - with a large C-OS, a D: Lenovo and no separate partition for personal files.

I like to keep personal files in a separate partition, so I was going to repartition the C drive, when I saw the threads about how OneKey recovery (OKR) will stop working if I did so.

So I was searching for answers and I read the long winded procedure for re-installing OKR for those who have already partitioned their HDDs and their OKR stopped working.

I also read something about serial numbers of the partitions, in some thread.

Here is what I did -

DISCLAIMER: Please do it at your own risk, what worked for me, may or may not work for you. I am not responsible if anything goes wrong.

Prepare:

A) Make a backup of your system using other cloning/imaging tools before you do this.

B) Be prepared that OKR backup and recovery will still not work after this, and you might have to take the longer procedure to get OKR functionality back.

C) I have just saved the backup image, NOT yet tried to recover from it, so cannot say for sure if that image will work. - TESTED WORKS

D) Even if it works, I do not know what parts of the system will be restored.



What I did -

1) I made System Repair Disc using Win's recovery system and also a system image using the same.

2) Wrote down the Serial Number of all the partitions in the HDD (I had 7, including 2 normal ones, 5 hidden (1 reserved)).

I used Minitools Partition Wizard Home Edition 8 for this (freeware). Probably other paritioning software also have this ability to show partition serial numbers, but I am not sure. I also had Easeus Partition Master, but somewhere I read a post where EPM messed up some partitions after it was done - like some paritions became visible, some became primary,etc. That might be a one off issue though.

3) Shrunk the C from about 900Gb to about 120gb.

4) Made an F drive from most of the unallocated space.

5) Increased the size of the Lenovo D partition to about 35gb , since I thought its current size might not hold the recovery image. (Before partitioning, OKR said estimated image size was 29Gb).

6) Once all this was done, as expected, OKR said this system cannot be back-ed up.

7) Checked the serial numbers of the partitions and noted that those of C: and D: had changed.

8) Changed the serial number of C: and D: back to their original numbers.

(I was scared at this stage, since I don't know much about partition serial numbers and the software said system might not boot!)

Serial numbers are shown starting with 0x in this software. But when you go to change it, 0x is not required to be written. Just copy paste the numbers after that.

9) Changing the serial number of C: needs a restart.

10) System did boot after this.

11) started OKR and it made a backup image and stored it in Lenovo D:.

Success.



2 points of concern -

1) I have not tried to restore the system using this backup image, so I am not sure if it will work !! - TESTED WORKS
-
2) When I started OKR backup, it said estimated image size is 26Gb, however after the process completed, it seemed to occupy only 15 Gb space. Is this normal ?

So, by using this at least the OKR is making a new backup image.
I will make a backup of this system using some other software and Win Recovery, and then try to recover using OKR and see how that goes. Will report back once that is done.

 

What is inconvenient about a "large C-OS"? Why do you need a "separate partition" for your personal files? What advantage, or security, do you think that gives you?

I never keep any personal information, or files, on the same internal hard drive in my laptop. You buy a laptop for portability, but I think laptops are the number one target, next to phones, for thieves. A separate partition don't do squat, for data protection. I keep my data on a thumb/flash drive, and keep the drive attached to my body with a chain, when mobile.

I guess I just don't understand why you would want to go through all of this procedure, and post it, when in your last "2 points of concern, number 1" you're not sure if it works!

Still, I guess whatever flicks your switch.

 

LOL.

ok, first thing is, after repartitioning, OKR is not supposed to work - meaning it refuses to even make a backup image.
I posted here, since with this at least it is making a backup image. So for those who have just got a new machine and want to partition, this could be a way to make OKR work again.
i did not test its restore function with this image because of time and courage constraints.
like i said, once i backup this configuration, i will try a restore using this image and OKR.

its good that you asked why i need a separate partition for files - just because you do not keep any files on your laptop because laptops could be easily stolen, does not mean I also use the laptop the same way.
mine is mostly at home - now u might cheekily ask, why I bought a laptop in the first place, why not a desktop, LOL !!
anyway, what i currently know is that if system files on C drive somehow gets corrupted, and I use some other way (DVD) to boot the laptop and reinstall the Windows, it would probably wipe that partition.
so in this case it is probably better to keep files on a separate partition.
of course if the HDD itself fails or in some other situation, then data isnt safe either.

since u r a "notebook consultant" , would u say Macrium Reflect or Clonezilla or Paragon or Easeus todo will be good for this ?
I don't want to buy Acronis or Ghost for this.
thanks

 

I like your attitude! :thumbsup:

I was afraid that you thought I was flaming you. I'm really not. I honestly don't know, what's the big deal about keeping multiple partitions, unless you're running a virtual machine.

And yeah, I have a confession for you too. I never take my laptop, off the desk in my house, but I still keep all my files on some external drive.

LOL Don't let that moniker fool you. I'm only a NC because I don't have enough posts to change it to what I want. There are posters around here, that literally live in these forums. Less than a year ago, they used to be a newbies such as you, and now, 9,000+ posts later, other newbies think their words come down from Mount Sinai.

A lot of us, have lives outside of the virtual reality. :yes:

P.S. I don't use any cloning software, or drive tools, so sorry I can't comment on that.

 

Thanks and :laugh: for those 2 sentences, respectively.
I'm going to use Macrium and will get back here once i check if the restore works on OKR.

So you don't think keeping files in a separate partition might be good, if u need to restore or reinstall the OS on C ? - that usually formats the drive.
I am also just following old advice, donno if newer systems don't need this.

 

Success.

I backed up this repartitioned system using Marcium and then proceeded to restore the earlier saved system image using OKR and Novo button.

It recovered the system to the earlier repartitioned state (not the factory state).
As expected all the extra software that I had installed at that time, like Firefox etc, were also restored and are working on my system.

So I can say that this procedure of using the original serial numbers of the HDD partitions for C and D is very likely to work.

I hope those people wanting to keep the OKR working and repartition their new Lenovo systems find this thread useful using their original HDD partition serial numbers.

 

My Lenovo Z710 1TB came pre-installed with Windows 8.1.
I wanted to resize C: from 900 GB to 240 GB
and resize drive D: from 30 GB to 690 GB.

I used AOMEI partition assistent 5.6 to make these partition changes.

First I made a bootable recovery USB-stick.
Then I made a bootable AOMEI CD.
Also made a system-backup on external HDD with OKR.

Used Minitool partition 9.0 to write down all original partition-ID’s.

Booted my laptop with the AOMEI CD (takes a while)
Then resized C: and made a partition F: with rest of the space.
Started Windows 8.1, and merged F: with drive D:\LENOVO.
Made sure that D: was the target drive to merge with.

Checked all partition-ID’s with minitool partition wizard.
All partition-ID’s were still the same.

Started OneKey Recovery 8.
Could perform a (saved) system-restore.
Could perform an initial system-restore.
All seem to work just as it should.

PS, alternative solution : AOMEI OneKey Revovery