[SOLVED] Safe to un-partition SSD after Windows 10 install?

[xxshugs87xx]

Hello!

I built a new PC recently (specs at the bottom of the post). When installing my operating system, I partitioned 20GB of my SSD onto which I placed Windows 10.

Now that my computer is up and running, am I able to safely un-partition my SSD and have my operating system and games on the same drive (unpartitioned), or will I run into problems if I try that? I just want my drives to be as uncluttered possible, and having the 20GB partition showing up as its own drive is a bit of an eyesore.

Thank you for any assistance!

Disk Management Screenshot

https://imgur.com/qIGpZDz

Network Drive Screenshot

https://imgur.com/Ub1HbYa

MOBO
ROG Maximus XIII Hero (WiFi 6E) Z590 LGA 1200(Intel11th/10th Gen) ATX Gaming Motherboard (PCIe 4.0, 14+2 Power Stages, DDR4 5333+, Dual 2.5Gb LAN,Thunderbolt 4 onboard, 4X M.2/NVMe SSD, Aura RGB)
CPU
Intel Core i9-11900K Desktop Processor 8 Cores up to 5.3 GHz Unlocked LGA1200 (Intel 500 Series & Select 400 Series Chipset) 125W
Cooler
MSI MAG CORELIQUID 360R - AIO RGB CPU Liquid Cooler - Rotating Cap Design - 360mm Radiator - Triple 120mm RGB PWM Fans.
GPU
EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
HDD
Western Digital 2TB WD Blue PC Hard Drive - 5400 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, , 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD20EZRZ
SSD (with Windows 10 partition)
WD_Black SN750 1TB NVMe Internal Gaming SSD - Gen3 PCIe, M.2 2280, 3D NAND - WDS100T3X0C
RAM
Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3200MHz C16 LED Desktop Memory - Black (CMW16GX4M2C3200C16)
PSU
Corsair RMX Series, RM750x, 750 Watt, 80+ Gold Certified, Fully Modular Power Supply (CP-9020179-NA)
Case
Thermaltake Core X71 Tempered Glass Edition SPCC ATX Full Tower Tt LCS Certified Gaming Computer Case with 2 140 Blue Front Fan + 1 140 Black Rear Fan Pre-Installed CA-1F8-00M1WN-02
External Monitor
Alienware NEW AW2720HF 27 Inch FHD IPS LED Edgelight 2019 Monitor - Lunar Light (Full HD 1920 X 1080 240 Hz, AMD FreeSync)

 

[USAFRet]

What, exactly, is in that 19.53GB partition?

The way those partitions are set up...."fixing this" is not trivial.

 

[GoofyOne]

That looks somewhat awkward to fix.

D: 19.53GB NTFS ..... not too clear what is on that
100MB EFI ..... needed for UEFI booting .... needed
C: 911.38GB NTFS .... this is where you operating system and programs live atm .... needed
498MB Healthy (Recovery) ..... needed by MS WIndows 10

Except for the D: partition, the other 3 partitions are normal, and are always present after MS Windows 10 installation. It may be awkward and time consuming to get rid of the D: partition though because it is right at the beginning, before the other required partitions.

Is there anything stored on the D: partition?


{GoofyOne's 2c worth}

 

[mdd1963]

Delete all, start over, and never think again that Win10 will be fine with just 20 GB...

 

[USAFRet]

How long ago did you do this OS install?

 

[xxshugs87xx]

Thank you for the quick replies folks!

The only thing on the D:/ is the operating system setup. Windows made me partition a component of my SSD for the install or it wouldn't install. This was about a month ago, so it wouldn't be too upsetting to restart and try again.

Can anyone point me to a link with some good instructions on how to reset everything and start with a fresh windows 10 install onto the SSD?

Thank you!

 

[USAFRet]

Do it over.
Delete ALL partitions in the process.

I don't know how you were required to partition it like that, but no...you read something wrong.

Start over, just like this:

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

One and only one drive connected.
Delete ALL eexisting partitions in the process. Section II, Step 6-7 outlines that.

 

[xxshugs87xx]

Thank you for the info and link, wish me luck!

 

[ClapTrapper]

Delete all, start over, and never think again that Win10 will be fine with just 20 GB...

hehehehe! Good advice!

 

[xxshugs87xx]

Thank you for the link, after the clean install it seems to be exactly what I want.

https://imgur.com/lAPxRU8