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Hidden Partition

post #1 of 15
12/2/05 at 3:16am
Thread Starter 
Hey people,

Had a quick look around and couldn't find the answer I was looking for.. Regarding the hidden partition on my 9300..

It's got 55MB capacity.. of which some 7 megabytes are actually used. I'm planning to install the Ubuntu distribution, dual booting with XP. The problem is that I can only have 4 partitions and an extension for the one drive that I have (or something similar to this). My problem is I can't manage this while I have this mini partition taking one slot.

Is it safe to straight remove this partition, or does it do something integral to bootup etc.?
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post #2 of 15
12/2/05 at 3:56am
Nothing happens if you delete all the partitions. I dimly remember reading just removing one partition messes up the mbr. Not sure though.
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post #3 of 15
12/2/05 at 1:18pm
think you can remove the partition, but you will lose the 55mb of space if you dont reformat the hole drive.

not a big deal as 55mb is nothing these days.
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post #4 of 15
12/2/05 at 2:45pm
Actually, there are 2 hidden parts and you can delete them both and recover the HDD space--about 4 gigs, IIRC.

http://www.goodells.net/dellutility/index.htm
http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/index.htm
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post #5 of 15
12/2/05 at 3:55pm
then youll have to rewrite over the MBR if im not mistaken....that may mess some stuff up

in all my experience, i believe it easiest, and beneficial to just reformat.
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post #6 of 15
12/2/05 at 6:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chevyrulz099
then youll have to rewrite over the MBR if im not mistaken....that may mess some stuff up

in all my experience, i believe it easiest, and beneficial to just reformat.
Huh? Just delete all existing partitions and create one new big one--or partition the HDD to your own needs. You won't mess anything up. I'd much rather do this than lose 4 gigs of space.
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post #7 of 15
12/2/05 at 9:07pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies guys... I'll have a read of the two links you gave me just now... but

Quote:
Originally Posted by odious_m
Actually, there are 2 hidden parts and you can delete them both and recover the HDD space--about 4 gigs, IIRC.


I can only see one hidden partition?

...
Edit:

So after reading the links you gave, I think that I only have the utility partition.
However, doing some calculations:

100GB HDD, * 1000 (as the megabytes in a gigabyte in manufacturers terms) = 100 000 MB
100 000 MB / 1024 (as the megabytes in a gigabyte as determined by the operating system/proper conversions) = 97.66 GB

Adding the partitions as shown in Disk Management above ( 20 + 73.1 + .05 ) yields 93.16 GB.

The difference between the actual space I have to play with and the theoretically determined space that I should have is about 4.5GB.
Which is about the size of the restore partition?

Is my logic superbly flawed in this instance.. or do I need to use something more uber than Windows Disk Management to find the final partition?
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post #8 of 15
12/2/05 at 11:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by d00dman

Is my logic superbly flawed in this instance.. or do I need to use something more uber than Windows Disk Management to find the final partition?
AFAIK all i9300s ship with the Dell Restore Partition (4.7 gigs, I think).

Boot it up with your XP disc and then you should see it.
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post #9 of 15
12/2/05 at 11:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by odious_m
(Noticed that your HDD is partitioned--you didn't delete it somehow when you partitioned, did you?)
The HDD is partitioned as per my request when I originally purchased the Dell (Ie. on the website I chose C: 20, D: 80)..

I will quickly jump into an installer now and see if they can find the two partitions... However I just reinstalled yesterday and don't remember seeing another..

Thanks


Edit: checking through the windows install... the restore partition is nowhere to be found.
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post #10 of 15
12/2/05 at 11:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by d00dman
The HDD is partitioned as per my request when I originally purchased the Dell (Ie. on the website I chose C: 20, D: 80)..

I will quickly jump into an installer now and see if they can find the two partitions... However I just reinstalled yesterday and don't remember seeing another..

Thanks
Ha, you quoted me while I was editing that bit out.

I didn't know that Dell would part the HDD for you. Maybe, since you got a 'non-standard' HDD config--you didn't get the Dell Restore part.
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post #11 of 15
12/3/05 at 12:03am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by odious_m
Ha, you quoted me while I was editing that bit out.
Fastest fingers in the west.. or something.

Well, I'm not concerned with not having the restore partition. My main concern is if it is possible for me to remove the utility partition without destroying the rest of my data. (In fact I don't mind about destroying C:, but D: has my valuebles)..
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post #12 of 15
12/3/05 at 12:10am
I deleted all original parts (and so have many others on this board) with no problems. But then, that was before I reformatted.... Backup your goodstuff and give it a go!
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post #13 of 15
12/3/05 at 12:24am
Thread Starter 
Yeap... guess this is the way to go.

*Deep breath* Thanks for the advice.. lets go...
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post #14 of 15
12/3/05 at 12:26am
Sure thing, d00dman. Good luck with it!
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post #15 of 15
12/3/05 at 12:33am
Thread Starter 
Ahh a sigh of relief!

Everything seems to be in order still. This is great.

With the additional free space (all of 55mb).. is it possible for me to append this to my D: ? I couldn't seem to find a way to do this.

Otherwise I'll just wait and hopefully the space cut off other partitions in preperation for the Linux ones will join the lonely 55MBs.

Cheers again to all for the advice.
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