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Question

Reinstalling Windows 8 (Laptop with 500gb SATA and 24gb SSD)

by Apr 6, 2014 8:09PM PDT

Hi everyone, I just got an Asus Laptop (S500C), it has a 500gb SATA Hard Drive and an additional 24gb SSD, as any other computer I have in the past, I would like to reinstall Windows since all the new Laptops or Desktops for sale came with a bunch of software installed, usually not even 5% is really good to keep. Beside the hidden partitions with the Factory Recover, that for people who like make their own customized installation, is a waste of space.
Disk Management in Windows shows me 8 partitions (6 on the SATA drive and 2 for the SSD), what wil be your best advise to start from schratch?, the SSD is too small to install Windows on it, but I know Windows can use it, thanks in advance for your help.

Here is two screenshots, one from the Windows Disk Management (showing 0 used space on all the extra partitions) and one with EaseUS Partition Master (showing used space in the other partitions):

Windows Disk Management
EaseUS Partition Master



Discussion is locked

4 Posts
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Answer
Back to Asus I fear
by Forum moderator Apr 6, 2014 10:15PM PDT

How to install Windows (any version) is on the web. But today's laptops are going to be custom installs with drivers and this is where most get lost -> the helper apps to get it all working.

I strongly advise you not fall into the clean install trap. There are apps you may not understand but provide a feature like battery life extension or something else.

I fear you are falling into the trap and hope you can avoid that.
Bob

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Answer
Well looking
by Apr 6, 2014 10:40PM PDT

the specs of your model the 24 GB SSD is used for caching. It would be a completely different setup to use the 24 gb SSD as a OS drive.

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Re: caching
by Kees_B Forum moderator Apr 6, 2014 11:01PM PDT

If you look at the Windows Disk Management screen, I see that it seems to use the hard disk for paging. So it's unclear if and how Windows has been configured to use that 16 GB on the SSD that's left in the non-recovery partition on that drive. Maybe for the "Exclusive ASUS Super Hybrid Engine II technology offers smartphone-like 2-second instant on from sleep or hibernate modes".

But I doubt if the OP can use it in any meaningful way, since he clearly intends to throw away 95% of the Asus provided stuff, and it's doubtful if he can isolate the super hybrid engine ii technology so it remains in the 5% he keeps.
My guess, if he does a clean install on his own: he gets a minor increase in disk space (which he probably doesn't even need) and a slower system. So I agree with Bob: don't.

Kees

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Answer
You
by Apr 7, 2014 2:54AM PDT

sound like someone who has done this before so I'll keep it short.

Use disk imaging software that is W8 compatible and capture the whole disk(s) before you start so that you can go back if necessary - always do this with any HDD that you intend to erase and reinstall. It's even better to remove the drive and do the imaging on a separate PC so that you don't accidentally boot it since most UEFI BIOS factory default won't set the optical as first boot device.

When reinstalling, see if you can erase the whole drive (best to use a utility but W8 installer might be able find partitions that you can delete). If you cannot delete all partitions and make it one continuous unpartitioned space, it means FW is set to operate the SSD separately from the HDD. W8 core and even Pro without other stuff can install within 24GB. After installation, see if you can move the C: partition, but not the System Reserved, to the HDD.

If you can get a continuous unpartitioned space you're good to go as usual. Good luck.

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