Hidden "Restore" partition.

Haven't heard of that one... who knows, good luck! Even if you could install the OS that route, you'd just be restoring it back to factory spec like it left Dell w/ all the bloatware.

http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=53625

If you don't have your XP cd, check out link in my sig.

Norton Ghost can backup the partition to a DVD.

Just got thru reinstalling xp on a drive that had that "hidden" partition. You are given the opyion of whewre you want to install the new copy. Just leave the hidden partition alone and you should be ok. I deleted EVERYTHING and did a fresh install, since my HD was from another DEll with different drivers. BD51

Newer notebook shipments have been reported to be lacking the infamous 'hidden restore partition'. Otherwise, it is quite simple to create a bootable DVD image of your entire HDD by following the link below in my sig.

Keep in mind that a XP Pro Media Center Edition factory install found on a new Dell notebook can easily reach @10GB which would require 2 DVD's or one dbl-layer DVD. Otherwise, all other notebook factory installs should completely fit onto a single regular DVD.

I believe that what has been reported as lacking in newer shipments is the burn-your-own XP OEM OS install CD utility, and not the Dell Restore Partition.

You're right...my bad. Just confirmed that Dell still includes this on their new notebook hard drives. The hidden restore partition is around 4.6GB and appears as partition#3 right behind the Windows#2 and Diagnostic#1 partitions on the factory installed HDD. This restore partion contains a stripped-down Dell-branded version of Ghost03 build984 that can be used to reimage the original backup .gho files onto partion#2.

other help with the system restore partition, and using your own custom image.

check sig.

"Can I somehow backup this hidded partition to a DVD and make the DVD bootable?" To copy just the Ghost image, see my webpage. Note that newer laptops equipped with Ghost 10 and the "D: [Backup]" partition will not have the recover.exe file referred to in the link. Contact me by email for a workaround.

If you want to make the DVD bootable, just follow any of the numerous guides around the internet for making a bootable CD. A bootable DVD will be no different.

If you plan to use Ghost or Acronis to backup the entire DSR partition, I strongly urge you to test the backup. I have yet to find credible evidence that a DSR partition restored from such a backup actually boots, despite appearances that it was successfully restored.

Dan Goodell
www.goodells.net/dellrestore

I nuked (deleted) my DSR partition, then created an image of my wifes 9400's DSR aprtition, restored the image (wifes) to my system, replaced the FI.gho fiel with my own.... then ran DSRFIX.. and used the CTRL + F11 function.. ti worked.. with a slight flaw.. the service tag ID that is displayed on the first couple screens after a restore was wrong... I was just too lazy to fix it. small issue anyway, the point...

I was successful in restorign a PARTITION IMAGE to recreate a DSR Partition and use it to kick of the Restore process...

Dan.. Thank you so much for your contribution with the DSR issues and the work you did on DSRFIX. Amazing info you provide to us all... You are very much 31337 in my book.. outty

Dan.. Thank you so much for your contribution with the DSR issues and the work you did on DSRFIX. You're welcome. I'm glad people are finding it useful.

I was successful in restoring a PARTITION IMAGE to recreate a DSR Partition and use it to kick of the Restore process... I want to zero in on this. Exactly how did you create/restore the partition image? Which utility, and which options in the utility? Whole disk? Individual partition(s)?

I always unhide the partition before creating the image, and have no trouble upon restoring. However, I've received numerous emails from people who try cloning/imaging while the partition is still 'DB', and they report the partition restores "successfully" but does not boot.

Personally, I don't use Ghost or Acronis, but I've seen many forum & newsgroup postings claiming that "Ghost works fine" or "Acronis works fine", but when pressed for details it turns out they didn't actually try booting from the restored DSR, or they declined to provide details so I could corroborate their claim. Some said "I'm too busy," some said "Just take my word for it, it works," and others just said "read the manual"--sometimes with a pointless generic link to acronis.com or symantec.com.

So if you--or anyone else here, for that matter--has been able to clone/restore a DSR partition without unhiding it, and successfully boot from it, then I'd like the details. I get a lot of email, so I'd like to be aware if there's a procedure that works without unhiding. In the meantime, I'm answering email by advising people to unhide the DSR partition before cloning/imaging it.

Dan Goodell

I think you can purchase Genuine Windows® XP Professional re-installation CD for $19 in Canada.

Or maybe the above CD might be a completely different thing from this restore partition. It may be just a WinXP CD without any Dell stuff.

Does anyone have a backed up DSR for the E1505? I deleted mine and I need the DSR back on the comp after trying to fix my MediaDirect. It would be greatly appreciated if you could upload it somewhere or I'll even pay shipping for a CD if it comes to that.

I ask because I used the MediaDirect repair which messed up my MBR and I found that the Analyze tool in the DSR fixed it in an instant but now I have a clean install with no partitions and Im having the PBR done problem again and I don't know any other way to fix it.