How to remove Recovery HD partition from Lion?

It may be Ronsonol 500GB. I know for sure that one works on my MBP

I would like to remove the Recovery partition for a different reason.

I don't use the Mac side of my machine

I am running Windows 7.

When I installed Lion it wiped out my D partition which held all my data.

I was able to retrieve my data using File Scavnger but now I want my D partition back.

Windows is telling me that that in order to create what would be a 5 th partition (windows OS, Mac OS, EFI, and Recovery HD) I would have to convert from Basic Disk to Dynamic Disk which I am told might cause other problems.

So if I could delete Recovery I am hoping that Windows 7 will allow me to make the fourth partition be the D partition and I can go back to the way my machine has always been setup where I keep data in a different partition then my OS in case of OS difficulties.

Can anyone confirm that I am on the right track here and that deleting Recovery HD is harmless to my overall dual OS machine.. MacBook Pro ?

Thanks

Bruce

This is the exact problem I have my bootcamp drive was partitioned as c: and D: lion puts a recovery partition drive therefore violating the 4 primary partition scheme in windows per drive. The simple question which has not been answered is CAN THE LION RECOVERY PARTITION BE REMOVED WITHOUT AFFECTING THE OSX AND BOOTCAMP CURRENTLY INSTALLED. This is not a logistical disk space argument this is an APPLE problem and brkatz and myself need this simple answer.

Rudolfensis wrote:

As you've already been told once, if you have such a space crunch that 650 mb is a problem, you have far worse issues on your machine.

What's with the tone? And when did I say 650 MB is a problem? Please, quote me.

" it makes the recovery partition (~5 GB) on my HDD quite a useless waste of space."

That is what you said, implying if not stating that the recovery partition is "useless space", you also got the size wrong.

Should the day come that you need the recovery partition that 650MB will not seem useless.

I have a somewhat similar problem to seedomang and brkatz on my MBP. I have a program that I need to run on Snow Leopard 10.6. So my drive is partitioned three ways. Lion partition, SL partition, & the hidden Recovery HD. Program won't install on Snow Leopard due to the recovery drive so I want it gone and my Lion data still intact.

My evidence why I think it's the Recovery Drive is for a few reasons.

First is that the same .dmg I'm installing from was used on another computer and the program runs great. The computer is to the T exactly the same, only differnece is that Lion never made the Recovery HD when it installed on the partion (which was made in Snow Leopard). My computer was Lion first so it has it already.

Second reason is that I had the same problem installing this dmg on a desktop. The install only worked after all the internal drives excluding the one it's being installed to were removed. Luckily I could just take the other drives out manually. Then the install worked.

So I want to know how to remove the Recovery HD data, merge the left over space with the Lion partition and do it without losing my data. I read Clone and reinstall above that seems like a mission. Someone else said there is an app or patch that makes disk utillity see the Recovery Drive. Will that method delete the data on my drive?

Second question. Will Lion run without the Recovery HD? Should I transfer the drives data to a thumb drive so I have it incase of disk failure? Will that even work?

Thank you if you read that entire essay. I'm frustrated and lost incase you can't tell.

Yep. Find my Mac requires the recovery partition and if you remove it, will no longer be available. RAID doesn't support the Recovery Partition either, so no Find my Mac for those running under those conditions. Other than that, I'm not aware of anything else that makes use of the parition.

There is no need to bicker and argue minutia on this topic.

It is far better and far more beneficial to apply technical facts.

After all.... this is technical issue and this forum is not a socializing site where all that matters is opinions and emotions.

With that in mind, let's proceed.

Technical facts:

ALL hard drives fail.

99.99% of these failures are Electro-Mechanical.

Focus on those facts ONLY.

The question is, should the Recovery Drive be removed?

The answer is YES.

Why????.... the simple answer is,.... in 99.99% of hard drive failure cases, the Recovery Partition is totally useless because the hard upon which it is located cannot be used.

In the backwoods where I was raised we had a saying for this condition, "it's as useful as teats on a Boar".

How big is the Recovery Partition?

One should observe the obvious before answering.

EVERY single person who has used Terminal to list this invisible partition has received the EXACT same message.

That message is, 650 MB.

Here is some earth shattering news.... your Operating System is vastly larger than 650 MB.

The actual recovery partition is 5 GB despite what Terminal reports.

For any person who has used computers for more than 10 years, a common sense has developed.

In non-diplomatic terms, if you don't have a backup, you are a fool and as it works out.... even more foolish if you believe a Recovery Drive on a failed hard drive will achieve anything but wasted space.

That leads us to the new kid on the block, so to speak.

The SSD.

Finally we have a drive that is not Electro-Mechanical and while the long term tests are still forthcoming, appears to be a much more reliable solution.

This changes things but the rough edges are currently present.

Specifically, the COST!

I use a 480 GB Mercury SSD as my System drive.

I paid twice as much for this drive as compared to a hard drive 4 times its size.

Byte for Byte, 4 times as expensive. (you "may purchase cheaper if you wish, I prefer quality)

The point is, this 5 GB of Recovery Partition suddenly becomes a significant issue.

In fact.... this issue will cause most users to avoid the SSD.

Lucky me, I have a Mac Pro.

My System and all its Applications are on a small SSD.

EVERY one of my files is on a totally separate hard drive. (actually a 1TB SSD)

This means, that my backup drives are actually 2 drives.

One for System and Applications ONLY.

One for User files ONLY.

This solves the SSD size problem and the fact is, using this technique allows for SSD's as small as 120 GB to be used as the boot drive and they are affordable.

For mobile device users.... an external drive is required. (Bummer!)

There IS a curiosity to be addressed.

Since the SSD is not Electro-Mechanical, the Recovery Drive may now actually be useful.

HOWEVER.... if your hard drive is an Electro-Mechanical device, the Recovery Drive IS useless except in the most rare of circumstances.

If, you need that extra 5 GB, then remove the Recovery Partition..... OR.... get a bigger drive.... OR.... backup your current files to an Optical Disc and remove them.... OR.... store your files on a separate drive.

So, is it wise to remove your Recovery partition from a hard drive?

The technical fact is, the Recovery Drive is useless on any drive except perhaps the SSD.

TODAY.... most all Mac devices have a "boot" system installed in Firmware that is launched using Command + R.

For ALL except Snow Leopard users, this IS the "True Recovery" option supplied by Apple with the annoying restriction that it is useless unless you have an internet connection and 3 hours of spare time. (all User installed applications will be lost using this method in the event of a failed hard drive except those purchased through the App Store)

Feel free to remove your Recovery Partition, it is technically useless and was technically a dumb idea from the start.

(Snow Leopard users simply install from an Install Disc)

In the end.... don't be foolish.

Make a backup and keep it backed up.

My advice????

The best advice I can offer is a bit complicated but can easily be done.

Make a Bootable Mountain and or Mavericks optical disc. (Install DVD)

I have both and they both work just fine.

Please note:

The backup DVD does not need to be bootable.

Simply download ML or Mav, quit the installer and burn the download now in your Application folder to a disc.

Reverse the process for Re-Install. (notice I said Re-Install?)

Re-Install requires that you have an Applications folder already installed.

This is why I chose to make Bootable Install discs. (complete install)

This new internet only system install is problematic and annoying.

So, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP,...

TOAO wrote:

How big is the Recovery Partition?

One should observe the obvious before answering.

EVERY single person who has used Terminal to list this invisible partition has received the EXACT same message.

That message is, 650 MB.

Here is some earth shattering news.... your Operating System is vastly larger than 650 MB.

The actual recovery partition is 5 GB despite what Terminal reports.

Totally wrong, but nice try.

The partition (Recovery) is 650MB, and yes, Os X is bigger than that which is why an internet connection is required for Recovery (as well as Internet Recovery)

You're right.... it is a total fluke and oddity in my case, sorry.

I correct myself.

Only MY recovery partition reports itself as 650 MB in Terminal but actually IS 5 GB when the partition is removed via Disk Utility method.

Oh Well....

I should have known my advice was useless and incorrect.

At least my intentions were good.

Wait a minute....!!!!

Do I really want to dismiss all that I have witnessed first hand?

Yeah.... that's fine.

Please ignore ALL that I said, its ALL wrong.

You're right, I'm wrong, Merry Christmas.... you win.

(stop the hair splitting crucifixions, you win, I'm an idiot, you are genius)

Merry Christmas

Thanks.

Out of pure curiosity.... I repeated the removal of the recovery partition on a couple of my other drives laying about.

Sadly, they are all Mountain Lion so I could not do anything in the way of comparison.

Curiously, each and every ML Recovery Partition was listed as 650 MB.

Perhaps.... the other recovery partitions I had removed had been altered.

I just don't know.

If you wish to check this.... type the following in Terminal.

defaults write com.apple.DiskUtility DUDebugMenuEnabled 1

Quite Terminal.

Launch Disk Utility.

Select the hard drive in question.

Just to to left of "Help" in the menu bar is Debug.

Under the Debug Menu choose "Show every partition".

There is your Recovery Partition and you can even mount it if you wish.

Getting rid of the partition is another story.

Disable Debug mode by typing the following in Terminal.

defaults write com.apple.DiskUtility DUDebugMenuEnabled 0

If the partition says 650 MB, it's 650 MB.

If it says 5 GB, it's 5 GB.

If it says you don't have a Recovery Partition.... you don't.

Then again, that wasn't what I was talking about was it?

Fact is.... the Recovery Partition is useless as previously caveated.

(in fact, it's "borderline" technically incompetent)

However, if you like deleting files from your system and hacking at the system, the Recovery Partition may be your best friend despite that it "recovers" nothing and does nothing more than point your computer towards the internet mother ship IF.... it is ever used.

It is.... teats on a boar. (the equivalent of a flat spare tire)

I have no interest in your imaginings.

Happy New Year

Thank you, psycho analysis completed.

Your psychopathy is clearly expressed.

You know software.

Time to ask, why so malicious?

This is a technical forum where people go to learn how to solve technical problems.

It is not an intellectual battle ground to see who knows more and who can insult who.

For that.... try any social site.

Having followed this thread from the beginning, I must say that I think your comments to Csound1 apply more to yourself then they do to him.

Please specify how this is technically beneficial.

Please specify any malice on my part.

I am not a software person.

I "typically" find this forum useful.

Aside from people sharing opinions and judgments and attacking people's feelings, it is useful.

At no point have I expected absolute perfection from any person.

I am an old man, a retired classified physcicist and hardware engineer.

As such, I have no expertise in software and make no such claim.

All I can share is what I have learned and experienced with software.

What I can say empirically with absolute confidence from over 30 years experience is this....

"Software is mankind's only means to introduce human error into perfectly functional hardware."

(it is my original quote)

I have actually designed a CPU on Xilinx PGA.

My first "computer" had zero software and no hard drive, booted from Off in 3 seconds flat and executed Real Time signal processing and control system interfacing.

Sound impressive?, it's not.

I still don't know software. (quite frankly, never will, I have no interest)

So, I go here to solve my software problems and share what I have learned.

The last thing I need is someone insulting my efforts by saying, "nice try" as though I am competing for some intangible intellect crown.

What is wrong with people?