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did you keep the 'hidden partition'?

post #1 of 12
2/17/06 at 12:16am
Thread Starter 
So I just got my E1705 this week and I noticed that my HD was 10Gigs smaller than it should be. I called Dell and they said there was a 'hidden partition' for backups and such. They offered (and I accepted) to send me all the software CDs so I can do a reinstall myself.

So can you guys think of any reason not to get rid of Dell's hidden partition and start with a clean system with 10 gigs more on my HD?


Also I am thinking of sending my laptop back and swapping my 60gig 7200 for a 100gig 5400 (which would actually be 60 bucks cheaper)...and spending that on another gig putting me up to 2 gigs RAM.

so would I notice any performance dif (for gaming or regular work) between a
60g 7200 HD & 1.25g RAM vs 100g 5400 HD & 2.0g RAM
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post #2 of 12
2/17/06 at 12:20am
There is no reason not to get rid of it
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post #3 of 12
2/17/06 at 12:40am
I wiped my hard drive clean. No need for that partition.
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post #4 of 12
2/17/06 at 12:45am
Doesn't Dell's Media Direct require a seperate small partition for running DVDs, CDs, slideshow, etc without having to turn on the OS?

*edit: actually, I think there's three partitions... the larger primary one is what you normally boot up with. Then there is a restore partition in case you want to revert back to the original setup you had when dell sent you the laptop... then there is the smallest partition for the Media Direct.

I will probably erase the primary partition and the restore partition. But I'd probably leave the small media direct partition alone.
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post #5 of 12
2/17/06 at 3:25am
I decided to keep the partition incase I need to do an emergency restore, and to make up for the loss of HD space, I bought a firewire/usb2 3.5" drive enclosure and bought a 250GB 7200rpm 9ms 16MB cache HD as an external.
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post #6 of 12
2/17/06 at 4:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weaser
I decided to keep the partition incase I need to do an emergency restore, and to make up for the loss of HD space, I bought a firewire/usb2 3.5" drive enclosure and bought a 250GB 7200rpm 9ms 16MB cache HD as an external.
I did the exact same thing!

Also, you just need to be smart about what you install on your laptop. If you're like me, you like to try out different programs and eventually you get the thing cluttered up with crap. Just be aware of what you install and keep on your system from now on, and you won't have to be so cautious about how much space is left on your HD. Uninstall games/software you haven't played or used in a long while, and you'll be fine (make sure to backup your 'saved game' files for each game!).
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post #7 of 12
2/17/06 at 5:28am
so as long as we leave the smallest partition (the one for media direct) intact, we are still able to run movies and cds without loading the computer all the way right? even after a reinstall
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post #8 of 12
2/17/06 at 5:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Casper0878
so as long as we leave the smallest partition (the one for media direct) intact, we are still able to run movies and cds without loading the computer all the way right? even after a reinstall
Well, I kept every partition, and only did a clean install on the largest partition, so I couldn't correctly answer that question. I can still use media direct though.
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post #9 of 12
2/17/06 at 5:32am
then it should be ok even if i delete the restore partition. i just dont see a point in keeping it. its not like im ever gonna wanna reinstall all the bloatware im trying to get rid of. even if i sell it later, im sure theyre not gonna want it either
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post #10 of 12
2/17/06 at 5:55am
the small partition is dell diagnostic utilities it is so small that you won't gain any real adavntage but if something goes u can boot from it and run dell diagnostics to see what is the problem
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post #11 of 12
2/17/06 at 6:47pm
a small qn, how the HECK do u get dell to restore from the partition? For the life of me i couldnt find the menu that allowed u to do that...
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post #12 of 12
2/17/06 at 6:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sprockett
a small qn, how the HECK do u get dell to restore from the partition? For the life of me i couldnt find the menu that allowed u to do that...

During boot: hit CTRL + F11 check your documentation uhhhh its in there.. Page 113.....as in RTFM. lol i never had to use that before... wow..

sorry SPROCKETT didn't mean it mean like. just wnated to use the (RTFM) once before I die. hahahahahaha

Laters brudda outty
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