MediaDirect CD needed - Page 3

am i missing something..?? windows functions perfectly without media direct and u dont need to reinstall windows to install media direct....just make sure u leave 1.5 - 2 gigs of unallocated space on your HD so u can install media direct ..,which can be really at any later time without compromising your original install...the functionality of windows and installing windows has really nothing to do with media direct..

i am able to install win xp pro with all devices and drivers working perfectly..the only thing left is the media direct reinstallation CD

^^^ that's what I'm saying. You can install Windows first and do Media Direct later, no need to wait. Now get started! :P

just bumping

OK, just to confirm. If I format my hard drive and reload windows I need to reinstall Media Direct and not just repair it. Even if this is not a new hard drive but the hard drive that came with the notebook. Correct?

MediaDirect is installed the the drives HPA portion so you cant see it in the Windows reinstallation menu to delete. So all you need to do is repair it (properlly, I'm still trying). But I'm waiting to reinstall windows to setup the partitions correctly. I'm not wanting an 8MB partition for media direct that I see as my C drive in windows. I might replace it out anyways some light leakage.

what r u talking about?? !! you need a 1.5 or 2Gb of unallocated space if you reformat your whole drive (unallocated space = NON PARTITIONED SPACE..the reinstallation cd will allocate it accordingly, i just did it!!..its extremely easy) ...and if u havent reformatted your drive ..why are u on this thread..u dont need the reinstallation cd unless u have wiped your whole drive clean..and if you do have the original partioned set up that came with your m1210 and media direct is corrupted or not working THEN use the repair utility....btw u can easily see the HFS partition with qtparted or partition magic...
but why not just delete the whole drive and reinstall media direct whenever you want (NOT REPAIR IT..unless u r happy with the crappy media center it came with) hence the reason we need the reinstallation CD uploaded on here..not the repair utility which is already on your resource cd or easily downloadable from dell support..two totally different things

u r absolutely correct!! just make sure u leave 1.5 to 2gb of unpartitioned space at the end of your drive..to do this just minus out the amount during the windows install or use a partion manager of your choice (e.g. partition magic)

does anyone know of a good place to upload this .iso...preferrably some hosting place that is cheap or free...( i cant use my website)

ok, THANKS. BTW Silvaco, I got my Media Direct reinstallation cd by using the Dell tech support chat service on their website, I never called them. Took about 3 days to arrive via UPS.

Silvaco I know I'm new but more tech savvy than you, so don't be a flaming jackass in the thread please. He doesn't need to reinstall MediaDirect if its the original drive that came with the computer. It's in his HPA, all he needs is an unallocated partition of any size so media direct can play with the boot loading to load MD not Windows, hence my 8MB dilema. You cant just have MD and Windows partitions. AFAIK as I have read anyways.

I know the best site for hosting is rapidshare.de ,but there is a problem that you can just upload 100 mg . so you have to split in to equal 100 mg parts.for example if the size of Cd is 450 mg, u should have five files. using winrar to do it .

First, why would you even post on this thread if all u need to do is repair your media direct (i.e. u havent deleted all your partitions)- use the utilty & start a new thread if u have questions about it...and second, sorry buddy, i think u r smoking di crack, YES he does need to resintsall MD, its irrevalent whether MD is on the original drive or not ...if u format it.. its wiped out...its gone , yes this includes ALL partitions even the ones windows cant see. Third, if you use the reinstallation CD, you CANNOT install MD on an unallocated space of less than 1500mb!!..Again, returning to the topic of this thread..unless u can mod that cd and burn another one and setup a new installer ..it just wont let u! ..and yessum flaming is fun, but hijacking a thread is just plain wack...remember crack is wack..stay off the drugs buddy.

.. yeah i finally received it yesterday,,i would also recommend using the chat..i remember i was on hold for forever

To clarify...

SILVACO you are saying if you want to reinstall MD, you need a separate partition of at least 1.5GB? Does that appear as a drive letter? Can you store other things in there along with MD? How much space does MD take up? thx

Hi there,
I was wondering if this Media Direct file at dell's site is different then the .zip/.iso downloadable file that has been posted above and in several other threads here.
Thanks,

Anyone managed to upload the media direct cd? My cds came today and surprise surprise no media direct cd.

I am SO confused. I'll be receiving my E1505 on Monday and the first thing I am planning on doing is reformatting. Even after going through probably a dozen of these MediaDirect threads I still have no idea what the easiest and most efficient way of getting MediaDirect to work will be. Half the posts I see say I should use the Repair utility included in one of the CDs that will come with my notebook:

and the other half say I have to use the Reinstallation CD from either an online ISO or from Dell:
Also, when I have reformatted in the past I just delete all the partitions using the utility that comes up from the Windows XP CD...is that Partition Magic? Or is that a different program that I get somewhere else?

I'm not at all an expert on this stuff so if someone could just dumb this procedure down for us once and for all I would sincerely appreciate it

yes its true , what sfhub said...u cannot see that particular partition from within windows, but you CAN delete it..if u reformat the whole drive..that is delete everything and start from scratch. When reinstalling windows u have the opportunity to delete all partitions (it came up as unknown on my HD) . granted this is during the windows intallation prior to running the setup for the OS so technically you are not within windows

that utility i think u r referring to is what i mentioned above ...which is not partition magic....

partition magic is a stand alone program/ application that runs in windows ..u either have to buy it or "borrow" it from someone

yes it is different... that version of media direct is not for the M1210..which remphasizes my point: there are also different versions for media direct ..so when u read a post about reinstalling or repairing media direct, make sure it applies to your computer. In this case, that particular version is used for MXG051 computers not for MXCO62 computers (one of which is the M1210)

OK SGMD1, I just went thru what you are about to do. Here's my experience:

First time thru, I deleted all the partions using the winxp utility as part of the winxp installation process. Now I have only one entry showing all my drive space. I then subtracted 1500mb from that total and partitioned and formatted (NTFS quick) that amount leaving the 1500 as unallocated/unformatted space. Installed winxp pro. Tried the media direct [b]REPAIR[b] utility that came with the drivers CD from Dell. Followed the directions (which actually came with the media direct reinstallation CD) and did a repair. Here's the deal, my Media direct button functioned perfectly after the repair. However, my win xp install was now hosed and wouldn't boot. Again, media direct button functioned and media direct ran flawlessly you just couldn't boot the computer.

Second time thru, Same procedure except used the reinstallation CD instead of the repair utility. Everything works perfectly. So, I'd have to say regardless of whether it's a new hard drive or the one that came with the computer. If you format and install a fresh copy of win xp you have to do a reinstallation of media direct not just a repair. Although, in all fairness a repair does in fact get media direct to work but you no longer have a working copy of win xp after a repair vs reinstallation.

Hope this helps and saves you some time.