EFI System Partition and unallocated space?

I just got a 3 TB external hard drive (I didn't look closely enough and ended up buying one for Mac but I run Windows 7) and it came with a bunch of software I don't particularly want. I want to format it just for storage, though I'd like it to be encrypted. I've found some guides but I'm afraid to do it because I don't really know what I'm doing. There's a 200 MB partition labeled EFI System Partition, a primary partition, and 128 MB of unallocated space.

So my noob questions: What's the purpose of the unallocated space? Can I get rid of the EFI system partition? How can I make as much space available as possible?

Jordan

Posted 2012-12-26T02:43:39.420

Reputation: 13

Good first question. – slm – 2012-12-26T03:07:03.383

Answers

The EFI system partition is used for booting EFI based systems. If you are just using the disk for storage, then yes, it is perfectly safe to delete it and any other partitions.

psusi

Posted 2012-12-26T02:43:39.420

Reputation: 7 195

If I delete the partition, will the space go to the primary partition or will it be unallocated space? – Jordan – 2012-12-26T03:02:53.887

1@Jordan, It will be unallocated. – psusi – 2012-12-26T03:03:24.007

Is there any reason I should leave the other 128 MB unallocated? – Jordan – 2012-12-26T03:08:24.350

@Jordan, no reason. – psusi – 2012-12-26T03:22:19.433