Hey. I just bought a laptop today and it came with Windows 8.1. However, my issue is that my OS resides in a huge partition (900+ MB). And I don't want this. I want to re-allocate space, and take a portion from my OS's drive in order to create more partitions. However, to do that, I have to format the drive, which I can't 'cause it contains the OS.

Bottom line: I don't have a CD installer for Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. I am trying to perform a clean install of Windows 8.1 in my laptop. Can I get the installer online? Can I use the product key here in my already activated Windows 8.1 OS? Do I need to install Windows 8 before installing Windows 8.1?

 

Install it on c, then use diskpart.exe to shrink the partition

Install it on c, then use diskpart.exe to shrink the partition

• Proposed as answer by JoeZeppy 19 hours 19 minutes ago

you may be able to shrink the existing volume(s):
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731894(v=ws.10).aspx

IJ

There is a good 3rd party app called easeUS partition master 10.  It will allow you to shrink the OS partition without having to format it or lose data