Retro Gaming Computer

File Under : Dumpster Tech

It's the depth of Canadian winter so time to do some projects. The idea was to build a small, portable gaming machine to run old skool windows games - the kind that you could play by yourself without an internet connection and a PS or MS online account.

The project goals were to build a true to the era machine with components from that period (no emulators running on an i7) which mean all the parts should be free or low/no cost. Thus the term 'dumpster tech', this kind of tech gets thrown away all the time, so let's recycle and have some fun.

First choice was deciding on an OS, we have win95, win98, win2000 and winXP. For the widest possible game choice i decided on win XP with service pack 3 and DOSbox to run dos games. While i have original MS cd's for all these OS's there is a better option, the releases by Lil Fella (https://lilfellauk.wordpress.com/) which strip out the crap, saving you a lot of time doing it yourself. Their gamer edition also includes the driver packs in case you don't have them already downloaded.

The hardware we settled on was an old Shuttle XPC, about the size of a lunch box. It boasts an intel 845 chipset, P4 cpu at 2.66gz and two DDR ram slots, which gave us 2gb of ram. We added an 80 gb ide hard disk and an Nvidia Geforce FX5200 AGP video card with 128mb of ram. We removed the floppy drive and mounted a cooling fan under the hd and installed a DVD, although it heat is a real problem an external optical can be used. The shuttle as has firewire so we can use additional storage if needed. And it has optical audio out, so using a headphone dac/amp can be done for quiet time gaming...the only thing it needs added is a carrying handle. (easily added)

The metal black look is kinda cool too. We dug out a PS/2 keyboard and PS/2 mouse to complete the unit and plugged in an old Cambridge Soundworks 3 pc sound system, 2 satellite speakers and a small sub. You could use a USB keyboard and mouse once you tell the BIOS it is ok.

Note that the video output is limited to VGA so you need a monitor, television, or data projector that accepts a VGA input. Right now i am using a Dell 27" gaming monitor....cost $150 which is 10x cheaper than my first 12" VGA tube monitor with 256 colors. It's cheaper to be at the trailing edge!

Next stop was to download the Shuttle drivers from the web and do the install. Easy install, xp even picked up the correct video card. One mistake was to download and install the FX5200 driver from the nvidia site, thinking it was better. It screwed up the graphics totally so had to back it out and restore the windows xp driver. I played with different screen resolutions and settled on 1024x768 as the most useful. I also reduced the color depth from 32bit to 16bit to accomodate some windows games. We also downloaded and installed DOSbox (https://www.dosbox.com/) and headed to the abandonware sites to grab some old friends.

I thought of building a DOS only machine and may make that a project for an old laptop, but this was to be a desktop single person gaming box. Mmm if i had 4 of these boxes then multiplayer can be done, just like those old LAN parties we used to have with four 386 computers in the basement.

With DOSbox running let's kill some wee beasties...

Take that! and that!...ok let's get move on to some turn based strategy....first we rebuild the roman empire ....

then we refight the first world war...

and finally world war II....

time well wasted....ok now we just have to wade through the 18GB of downloaded games to see what to play next... see you next year!

Dell Precision System Thermal Solution Compromised FIX

Yesterday my old windows 7 workhorse, a Dell Precision 690 (2 x Quad 3.75 ghz Xeon's/32 gig ram) started booting with a BIOS error:

"System thermal solution compromised. Replace system cover and reboot"

A side effect is that all system fans (they are many and large) go into ludicrous speed and the result is 100db of noise, so you can't really use the computer!

Some quick googling revealed this is related to the system intrusion detection switch located at the rear of the case:


The switch has a plastic plunger that is depressed when the case in closed, open the case and the plunger goes up - triggering the system intrusion function.

No problem - right? I go into the BIOS, system, security, and set the intrusion detection to OFF.
Save and reboot and...same ERROR

Internet suggestions included:

• removing all USB devices - what  how would that help?
• Cleaning out the dust (done in the spring during it's annual maintenance &checkup. You do this right?  But it is not a heat problem as it occurs at boot. It the CPU was overheating you would get either a boot at reduced speed or a cpu thermal event error message
• resetting the cmos

The last one seemed reasonable so i did it by removing the battery and the password jumper. No joy, same ERROR at boot.  I was contemplating removing the massive heat sinks and cleaning the cpu's and re-pasting them as a measure of last resort when my brain finally started working. It's the intrusion detection mechanism that is causing the problem...so

First i removed the mechanism entirely by unplugging the cable and taking it out. Rebooted and the same ERROR. (even tho the intrusion detection is turned OFF in the bios)

So if the bios setting is overridden by the mechanism we have to make sure the mechanism does not continue to think the case is open - viola!  The mechanism is at fault - maybe the plunger is not being depressed far enough or something...

Turning to the IT person's secret weapon - duct tape, we tape down the plastic plunger so it is fully depressed and then put the intrusion detection mechanism back into the computer BUT place it sideways facing the front pressed up against the metal so there is no way the plastic plunger can not be depressed.

We boot and SUCCESS - no error message and the PC is purring along so quietly like it used to do when new...

This problem seems common with all the precision workstation models so try it on your 380 or 490 or what have you.

Digital Music Project - Part 2

Ok after a brief interlude with LP pressings from early 1960's (love how they list the microphones, tape deck, and cutter used to make the record!) we are back with the project. We purchased a TEAC 501 DAC to replace the existing emotiva DAC 1. This DAC has 24/192 on all inputs, rca and XLR and supports DSD (and is reasonably priced - although it has been replaced by the 503).

My goal was to check out HDtracks digital files and DSD files for comparison to other formats. I wanted to integrate this into my existing Kodi media center as much as possible.

Equipment: Dell SFF 765 8gig/SSD/win7 x64 --> Teac 501 --> Emotiva XSP-1 --> Wyred monoblocks --> Waveform Mach + Paradigm Active Servo 15.

First test was hookup to an ancient Pioneer cd/dvda player using digital and optical outs to listen to a bunch of old DVD audio discs. Impressive.



Second test was hookup to Emotiva ERC-3 cd player using digital and optical outs. No real difference noted.

Now to the meat - hooking it up to the PC. The first and biggest problem was installing the driver . Teac seems to have committed a serious boo boo by letting the digital certificate expire so that their driver is unsigned.

Once installed if you go into the control panel's device manager you see the problem. The teacahsd.sys driver is disabled by windows because it is unsigned. This is the latest version 108 of the driver, and i have not tested this on other versions of windows besides win7 x64.



So how do you fake windows into thinking a driver is signed?

The workaround is to sign the driver and thanks to Zhang Pei at http://www.yiiyee.cn/Blog/64signer/ you can download his app and enable test signing of the teacahsd.sys driver. So now i have a working device on my PC that i can select in the Sound Control Panel as the output device. I tested VLC, JRiver, the included TEAC player and Media Monkey and they all worked fine and the TEAC displayed the proper bitrate.

In Kodi you have to go to system, settings and make Audio adjustments to let it pass the bitrate of the source file and not to fix it lower or upscale it. Once i got that set right and choose the proper audio output we had 24/192 audio going to the TEAC 501. Before i did this the bitrate was fixed at 44. The benefit of Kodi is that the display scales well to the LCD TV and the remote operates everything from your armchair, plus once you setup a music source it extracts all the metadata into the library - making browsing easier.

The HD version of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, in particular with the Dreams track. The vocals were ethereal, the acoustic guitar floated above the throbbing bass line and the occasional bongo drum was very distinct. I was disappointed in the HD version of Billie Jean from Thriller as the bass line seemed slower and had less impact that the remastered CD version. But the opening track sequence on Bad was an awesome bass/drum combo. So i spend the evening sampling a number of HD files and the results were hit and miss, when good they were really, really good - better than anything else i have heard but many were not as good as my CD copy and some were rather annoying - overly harsh treble seemed a common culprit.

I left the FIR settings alone and have not done any fiddling with the box, next steps would be to try and figure out what the optimal settings are?

The external hard disk with all the DSD files plugged into the e-Sata port was not recognized by the PC. To be fixed... as a workaround i copied all the files to the local PC after cloning  the SSD to a larger hard drive and putting that in the box.

Then down to listening. First off the old test standard - Dire Straights Brothers in Arms. I have this on lp, cd, sacd, hdcd and now dsd so it is a good test. The money for nothing track lacked the punch of the remastered CD but the crickets at 3:10 on Across the River were very distinct - much more than on the LP or original CD.

Continuing on with the first Dire Straights i much preferred this digital file to the cd versions. Anyway to cut a long evening short, after listening to all the DSD files i had i came to the following conclusions:

• Some sounded better, ie more range, cleaner, clearer than the CD or HDtracks version
• Some sounded worse that the CD or HDtracks or LP version, in particular less dynamics, ie the intro to Billie Jean on Thriller is a good test - the kick drum and bass line should be in your face (or at least in your room)

This may be due to a number of factors, not sure how many of these besides Pink Floyd's the Endless River are native DSD, most are rips from SACD discs and i think some have been converted to DSD from ripped CD's or vinyl. I have no DSD128 files for testing right now as i don't think anything is available yet in that format.

It may also be that the original sources were different (original cd vs remastered cd or lp). Typically i have found that re-mastered CD's usually sound better but not always (for example, i find the Steve Hoffman remasters have rather excessive treble). When we think about it recorded tracks can be re-mixed, boosted, equalized, compressed etc in many different ways and the result sounds different. A good recording/mixing will sound good no matter what. In fact, when switching between JRiver's pure DSD output and Kodi's DSD to PCM output, i really could not hear a distinct difference.

So the TEAC does as good job decoding digital audio from the PC to my analog 2.1 setup. Some recordings are reference quality some are meh. Does this replace my CD and LP collection? No. But it does add a great convenience factor as by using Kodi as the media center i can surf my digital music collection from my armchair using the remote and the sound is quite good. I can also use internet radio and get a good sound (esp from Radio Switzerland, bye bye CBC2), plus the sound from streamed movies and TV shows is quite acceptable.

The only part left to research is the filters which are named fir1, fir2 etc - great naming job! I am sure marketing pushed for names like Tube and Vinyl. Actually, that is what i want - a filter than would make some of the digital files a little softer... maybe this fall/winter may start researching inserting a DSP unit to the chain to pre process the sound before converting to analog.

PS - at first i found the lack of a remote control somewhat disturbing but now i don't. Before listening i turn on the Teac and after listening i turn it off and since it is only used for pc audio no switching inputs is needed and i don't change settings on the fly so all is good.      

And now back to the 50's with Sarah Vaughan....oh my

Digital Music Project

Ok this is to document a new project on digital music. I need to get my thoughts in one place and also record the steps i am taking and the rationale.

Introduction

I've had digital audio files since the day Napster was born. There are old cdrw's (some unreadable now) with downloaded 128bit mp3's in no particular order. At one time i used to import them into iTunes before that program became an unwieldy beast and one that did not scale that well. Later on i started digitizing my audio CD collection into MP3 and then FLAC and storing them on a NAS. I tried various things from running dlna servers on a PC to serve up the files, to linking the NAS to my ethernet capable receiver but nothing really worked that well. When i moved to XBMC i used it as the media player. This worked well for albums that i had converted into a single MP3, but the library was a mess because the metadata in the files was a mess.  I also found it did not scale particularly well when i pointed it at a NAS box containing 3gig of singles. Ouch! And my conclusion after playing with 11.1 multi-channel music is that it is not worth it. There are only a few titles listening to and the expense and space required is too much. You can create a killer movie system in a small space and reasonable expense but it is not optimized for most music listening. So i put together a 2.1 audio only system, first with a turntable and tape deck as source and then a differential CD as source.

Project

Anyway, so i've decided to go in a different direction. The goal is to build a collection of music in hd format to be stored on a USB 3 external drive hooked to a SFF pc running Kodi with the audio output being sent via USB to an external DAC feeding a 2.1 audio-only system in the living room. I don't need multi-room access but i can get to the music from the home theater room pc running kodi, if i had to. The goal is a digital music delivery system to an analog 2.1 channel audio system.

The files would be organized into folder, each folder being an album. The file naming convention would be Artist - Album Title (YYYY)

I envision two possible approaches:

1. Do not use the library function but set up the drive as a source and Browse using the Files option. Each folder would contain an image of the album cover as folder.jpg 
   I may also create NFO files with the metadata but i'd rather have it in the actual files. This approach would seem to be quicker and less work, albeit less metadata is displayed.
2. Use a third party program to tag the files and set Kodi to use local information only. This ensures the library operations do not use scrapers and overwrite the existing metadata.

Hardware

The first steps are complete in that most of the final system is in place and the test hardware has been set up.  Here are the components for the test phase:

• Dell optiplex 760 SFF pc running a striped down version of windows 7 x64 using wired ethernet (although tests using wifi n were successful)
• Kodi (latest version)
• Insignia 32" LCD for viewing the collection
• Windows MCE remote (HP one) and Logitech k400 wireless kb/mouse for navigation
• Emotiva XDA-1 differential DAC
• Emotiva XSP-2 gen 2 differential pre-amp
• Wyred4Sound SX 1000 differential amplifiers

See http://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/dac/introduction-to-the-emotiva-xda-1-differential-reference-dac-for-the-audiophile/ for a review of the Emotiva. A good value for the price but the USB input is limited to 16/48 resolution and we need higher. Once the system is set up that unit will be replaced by either the Emotiva XDA-2 which does 24/192 over USB or the Wyred DAC-2 which does the same but can be upgraded to DSD capability.

Initial tests indicated that option 1 worked reasonably well, although the list of albums gets too long for ease of browsing quite quickly. Which means as the collection grows, we have to investigate using the library functions of Kodi for enhanced browsing (genre/artist/year) and searching. Concerns over scaling remain, a flat file database (like iTunes or Kodi) will always have scaling problems. Which means either finding a different software product or researching the use of a back end mySQL database for the metadata.

Hopefully i can put in place a system that functions well and can easily be updated with a reasonable procedure. If so i can dump all the physical CD's and rip the ones i want to keep and buy any new stuff from HDtracks or other online sources (they should come with good metadata).

Metadata

I had used MP3Tag (http://www.mp3tag.de/en/) before for tagging MP3 files but found it a bit of a chore, especially when i tried to tag the thousands of MP3 singles on the NAS. Ideally i would like to find an automated solution in which i could point a program at the hard drive of digital audio files and have it index them.  Kodi supports musicbrainz tags so i downloaded and installed the Musicbrainz Picard app (https://picard.musicbrainz.org/) and it seems to work fairly well, but can be really slow at times. I think the problem is at their server end as the app goes back to their database to look up files and then to download and write the metadata to the files. 

However, you can download and install musicbrainz on linux (about 10 gig) and since i have a linux box....

1. Install and configure musicbrainz database on linux and figure how to direct client to use local.
2. If that works, test if a batch job can be done overnight against a large directory of files
3. Connect hard drive to audio kodi pc and add as a music source with 'local file metatadata' 
4. Report results

Idea - if the network traffic between the client on windows and the server on linux overloads the switch i could always VirtualBox it so that traffic is only on localhost...hmmmm  although those computers are on a separate switch from the router so as to not interfere with Liam's PS4 and Steam machine which are on a different switch...home networking nightmares?

Update: on hold till i can find the DAC i want. Too many are uber expensive for a couple of chips, and a lot are old tech. So right now doing analog music projects while i wait...

Cloning the HD to SSD

We decided to try a carbon copy cloner like tool for windows call EaseUS Todo Backup which has a free trial version

download and install
Set the sata windows hard disk as the source
Set the SSD connect via a firewire dock as the target
Tick the Optimize for SSD check box
Tick the shutdown the computer when done
Start the clone

We notice it will not resize or remove partitions on the SSD which has an 83gig unformatted one that the windows 10 upgrade did not use...We could have re-partitioned the SSD before starting the clone, but we are assuming we can do that after the clone is done.

When clone is done:

- replace sata hd 500 gig with SSD
- reboot computer

Configure windows so it knows it has an SSD

re-run the Windows Experience Index.
Click "Re-Run the Assessment" and it should turn off de-fragmentation and turn on TRIM

Test by running de-frag
Click on "Disk Defragmenter"
"Select Disks".

Windows should  realize it's on an SSD and your SSD won't even be an option in this menu but if it still thinks it is a hard drive then...

disk speed rating went from 5.5 to 7.8

open terminal session and do:

fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify

It will either give you a 0 or a 1 as a result. If you get a zero, that means TRIM is enabled.

OK everything works except that windows cannot 'extend'the partition to take in the 113gig unallocated space. I could create another partition but i want just one. So we need to boot to gparted and resize the partition.  No problem, good old gparted!

now we have a zippy game box for skyrim....

Clone Windows 7 Hard Drive to an SSD

Like everyone else i have been gradually moving my hard disks to SSD's.  The current project was to move one of Liam's gaming computers to SSD.

The windows hard drive is 500gig, the SSD is 250 gig. On a mac this is not a problem as carbon copy cloner can easily move a larger drive (assuming it is not full) to as smaller one. On the PC side i have been using clonezilla for a long time but it is really set up to clone smaller drives to bigger.

However, its advanced options can be set to clone partitions, so i thoughi i'd just fire up the windows disk management tool and shrink the windows primary partition from 465gig to 130 gig to make it fit on the SSD. I assume this would be no problem as there is only about 60gig of files on the drive.

As it turns out, windows is very stupid - when it encounters an 'unmovable' system file or folder it cannot shrink the partition, so out of the box i could only get a 400gb partition, too big to clone. How to delete the file stuck at the 400gig point?

Defragging the drive does not help as windows won't move/re-locate these files. The solution is to find out which files are unmovable and delete them manually.

First i did these:

• Disable System Restore (Right click on Computer => Properties => System Protection => System Restore)
• Disable Virtual Memory (Right click on Comptuer => Properties => Advanced System Settings => Performance (Settings) => Advanced Tab => Virtual Memory (Change) => No Paging File => Set.
• Ran Disk Cleanup to get rid of Thumbnails, Temporary Internet Files, and other crap
• Turned off the trash so it deleted stuff immediately
• Reboot and defrag just in case
• And run the shrink disk analysis again, only slightly smaller - as expected no joy here
• Right click on Computer => Manage => Event Viewer => Windows Logs => Application.
• Click on Filter Current Log, and put ‘259’ for the Event ID
• Bingo - the culprit was a 16gig hibernation file! (the file is = the amount of ram)
• Ran terminal as admin and used:

     powercfg.exe /hibernate off

Then i deleted the hiber***.sys file in the disk root level. (you have to turn on hidden/system files to see this)

Now re-ran the disk managment and did another shrink analysis and yes - we can now shrink the primary partition down to 60 + gigs.

So the problem is that windows is not smart enough to move files when shrinking a partition....

Notes - as i have to do this again when i upgrade main work system to SSD

Windows 10 Upgrade Test

I wanted to test out Windows 10 so during the xmas holidays i built a box and installed windows 7 64bit and then upgraded it to 10.

CONCLUSION:  DO NOT upgrade from windows 7 to windows 10 using the 'upgrade' option unless you have a computer with only 4 gig of ram. Why? Because you get the 32bit version and those lose access to your 8/16/32 gigs of ram and the default windows partitioning is not optimal but changing it is a pain.

Best Practice:

Create 64bit version on usb stick and boot to that to do a clean install. I made a bootable stick with 32/64 bit versions in case i need it someday.

Other Conclusion:

For technical types this is an incredibly annoying OS, it is designed for noobs, it is increasingly and constantly chatty.  Win 10 will not increase your productivity. Any having live tiles of ads/news/cat videos and social stuff on your desktop? This is a consumer/tablet release, not for people who work for a living.

But with a lot of work you can turn off and remove most of the new 'features' to get it to work the way you want. The questions is - are the new features worth the effort?  My answer was NO - there is nothing really in there to make me switch my main work machines from win 7 64bit to windows 10. Someday i will have to but there is no compelling reason to do so now. My main gripe with windows is it's awful network file operations - it takes forever to 'discover' directory listings and to manage many large files over a network. Win 10 is slightly better but not enough to make me upgrade.

Here is my journal notes in case i need to refer to them again...

Download and run the media creation tool

Select "For another PC" to create bootable flash media or download an ISO to burn to DVD with Windows Image Burner.  Now you have media for reinstalls or needed repairs.  But to run the Upgrade it must be opened in Windows 7/8.1,  right click Setup file to Run as Admin. 

To improve the Upgrade's chances turn off everything at Startup:

In Windows 7, type msconfig in Start Search Box, uncheck everything on Startup and Services tabs, after Hiding all MS Services.  Apply, restart.

In Windows 8.1, right click Task Bar to open Task Manager, disable everything in Startup Tab, Apply, Reboot.

Uninstall any anti-virus except Defender.  Bloated AV's like Norton, MacAfee, AVG and Avast need to have special Uninstallers (removal tools) for common antivirus software - ESET Knowledgebase.

Stick with built-in Defender in Windows 10 for best performance and adequate protection.  If you get infected add the inexpensive Real Time protection from the best-in-class free malware scanner Malwarebytes .  I'd also periodically scan with SUPERAntiSpyware or the more powerful AdwCleaner, also best-in-class and free.

Immediately after install, type Update in Start Search box to Check for Updates, expedite these through requested restart, then check again until no more are offered.  Next right click Start button to open Device Manager, import any drivers still missing from the PC or Device's Support Downloads webpage.  How to: Install and Update drivers in Windows 10 - Microsoft Community

It’s highly recommended to save a backup System Image of your existing OS before upgrading, which can be recovered using the Windows disk, Repair CD or Recovery flash drive in 20 minutes.   Type Backup in Start Search box, in Backup and Recovery Center choose Create a System Image.  You can also use a more flexible imaging program like free Macrium Imaging.

IF you are going to install the 64bit edition over the 32bit edition you need a Windows 10 product key. If you are goint to install over windows 7 or windows 8.1 you do not need a product key. So it is vital you do not run the upgrade option as then you lose your free upgrade if you have more than 3gig of ram. You have to make the boot media and upgrade from that to 64bit to have a free upgrade.

windows 10 upgrade

Navigate to your C:\Windows directory. Once there, you’ll want to configure Explorer to show hidden files and folders.

In Windows 7, you do this by clicking on “Tools,” then “Folder Options,” and finally “Show Hidden Files and Folders,” as shown below. In Windows 8/8.1, click on the View tab and then select the “Hidden items” check box.

Once this is done, check your Windows directory for a directory named $WINDOWS.~BT. The icon may be translucent, since the folder is normally hidden, so check carefully. You can delete this folder if you wish, but doing so won’t actually prevent Microsoft from downloading the setup program again. Once the OS has decided that you’re going to install Windows 10, it’s downright pushy about having the data locally. The only solution, according to various sources, is to actually remove a specific Windows Update: KB3035583.

Described by Microsoft as installing “the Get Windows 10 app, which helps users understand their Windows 10 upgrade options and device readiness.” It can be uninstalled by navigating to Windows Update from within the Control Panel, choosing “Programs and Features,” and then selecting the “View Installed Updates” option. Remove this update and then delete the folder, and you’ll reclaim your lost disk space.

KB 3035583 can then be blocked from installing again by hiding the update from within the Windows Update setting in Control Panel.

A 6GB OS download isn’t a big deal if you have a 500GB drive, but if you’re running an older Windows installation on a 128-256GB SSD, that can wind up being a significant chunk of space.

How to install and update Drivers

Windows Update is the starting point to resolve most common driver issues you experience after installing Windows 10.

Simply launch it from Start > Settings > Update and Recovery and click Check for Updates

If your driver was not detected or installed by Windows Update, you can try installing the driver manually if you have a compatible version. Windows 10 and previous versions of Windows such as Windows 7 share the same driver model, so it should work.

Click Device Manager

Once device manager is open, select the device, right click it and click Update Driver Software

If both Windows Update and driver update prove unsuccessful, the next option is Troubleshoot Compatibility. Troubleshoot Compatibility provides a simple way to make older drivers work under modern versions of Windows by making the driver believe it is being installed on a supported version of Windows.

The first thing you need to do is point where the setup files are located. If you are installing from a thumb drive or CD/DVD. Launch File Explorer (Windows key + E) and open the location where the setup files are stored.

Right click the setup file for the program, this can be designated as setup.exe or something similar. Click Troubleshoot Compatibility

Delete Window.old folder

If you use the upgrade option you are left with a windows.old folder of useless files as windows keeps a copy of your old version in case you want to revert.

Type free up disk space in the windows search box

Click the shortcut for free up disk space

Click Clean up System Files

Check Previews Windows Installations in the files to delete checkbox

Also - make sure you delete the RetailDemo offline content to free up 100mb of disk space.

Recovery Partition

Search for Computer Management or Disk Management to access the control panel

click on the disk - in this case 83gb were unallocated! so we converted it to a simple volume. We wanted to move our data to there - as data should always be on a seperate drive or partition from the system.  But this is difficult in 10 so we decide to resize the system partition. But there is no unallocated space next to the C: partition as the recovery partition is in the way. You cannot delete a recovery drive in disk management app.

Plug in a usb stick

Search recovery and use the recovery control panel to create a recovery drive

Select the usb stick and click create recovery drive (this formats the stick and copies the system files)

When done, click Delete the Recovery Partition to reclaim the disk space (you will have to reallocate or partition/format it using rthe disk management app)

PROBLEM: - does not offer option to delete the recovery partition.

Moving USERS folder to another drive

The folder is a system folder in 10 and Windows doesn’t support moving users profile folder out of the box. So moving is complex and not recommended.

A simple workaround is to create a new user account for yourself after running the Sysprep to relocate the Users folder, make it an administrator account, then copy your data from the original user account to the new account, and finally delete the original account.