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HELP! Getting Started on the Ferrari 4005

post #1 of 10
8/2/05 at 4:04pm
Thread Starter 
Hey guys,

I just got my Acer Ferrari and i was wondering what i need to do to get its partitioning all settled. Ive bought Partition Magic (latest version), and im working right now with the restore CD's to restore to factory settings (recommended by Ferrari Dark in a previous post since my "My Computer" tab was showing the processor as 800 mhz). I know im going to have Partition Magic convert it to NTFS, but do i need to tell it anything else? Im thinking that i should just convert it all to one partition, my Partition Magic came with Norton Ghost and im going to be storing its image and extra copies of important data on a portable hard drive so i think one partition will be fine. Is there anything else that i should be aware of? Is their a new Bios version? Before i did the restore it said mine was 33A19.

P.S. I heard that Acer has hidden their restore files somewhere on the hard drive, when im using partition magic is their anything i should be wary of so that i dont damage or delete this hidden recovery stuff?
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post #2 of 10
8/2/05 at 5:29pm
I would do the Restore using the Acer Recovery CDS.

Install Partition Magic

Convert C: to NTFS.

I do not know if the hidden partiton is part of D: or seperate but I left that partition in FAT32 [I use it only for Data]

[If hidden partiton is converted to NTFS eRecovery will not function.]

You can merge the partitions together but you will lose the eRecovery Function [Confuses It]. But you have Norton Ghost so you can make your own Image.

I would get second opinion on other users, I'm not 100% sure about the eRecovery stuff.

Run Windows Update [about 20 update required]

Install AntiVirus Software / Make sure Firewall is enabled

Change your power profile to Always On or Home/Office for Full Performance

Now its ok to Drive
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post #3 of 10
8/3/05 at 4:00am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for your Help Ferrari Dark, thats pretty much what i did. But i was wondering what is put on that disk that the Ferrari asks you to burn for recovery, is that the files that they have hidden on the hard drive? It doesnt make any sense why they would ask you to burn another copy if they already provide you with recovery CD's right?

One other thing i wanted to know from other Ferrari owners though is where exactly is the hidden recovery files, is it on the C partition or the D partition? I want to be sure before i tell Partition Magic to convert one drive to NTFS.

Lastly, assuming that the hidden recovery files are on Drive D, can i use partition magic to give all the remaining memory to drive C and then convert that larger space to NTFS, while keeping the smaller needed partition in FAT32?
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post #4 of 10
8/3/05 at 11:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Taelvin
Hey guys,

I just got my Acer Ferrari and i was wondering what i need to do to get its partitioning all settled. Ive bought Partition Magic (latest version), and im working right now with the restore CD's to restore to factory settings (recommended by Ferrari Dark in a previous post since my "My Computer" tab was showing the processor as 800 mhz). I know im going to have Partition Magic convert it to NTFS, but do i need to tell it anything else? Im thinking that i should just convert it all to one partition, my Partition Magic came with Norton Ghost and im going to be storing its image and extra copies of important data on a portable hard drive so i think one partition will be fine. Is there anything else that i should be aware of? Is their a new Bios version? Before i did the restore it said mine was 33A19.

P.S. I heard that Acer has hidden their restore files somewhere on the hard drive, when im using partition magic is their anything i should be wary of so that i dont damage or delete this hidden recovery stuff?
I thought that the Turion notebooks always run at 800MHz unless under load. A friend of mine just picked up a Compaq Turion notebook (1.6GHz) that runs at 800 even when plugged in. When I was at the store, the guy explained that it speeds up when it needs to. Is this not so?

-Ransom
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post #5 of 10
8/3/05 at 11:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Taelvin
Thanks for your Help Ferrari Dark, thats pretty much what i did. But i was wondering what is put on that disk that the Ferrari asks you to burn for recovery, is that the files that they have hidden on the hard drive? It doesnt make any sense why they would ask you to burn another copy if they already provide you with recovery CD's right?

One other thing i wanted to know from other Ferrari owners though is where exactly is the hidden recovery files, is it on the C partition or the D partition? I want to be sure before i tell Partition Magic to convert one drive to NTFS.

Lastly, assuming that the hidden recovery files are on Drive D, can i use partition magic to give all the remaining memory to drive C and then convert that larger space to NTFS, while keeping the smaller needed partition in FAT32?
I did the steps listed above to my Ferrari 4005. I converted my C: to NTFS, it does not contain the hidden partition. I left D: in FAT32 since its only being used for data. C: contains all the major stuff [Windows, etc...] It can be safely converted to NTFS.

Now about resizing your partitions. II think I read a post that it confused eRecovery, it would not function anymore. Reason being eRecovery by default restores C: a 45GB partition, when its resizes it cannot find C: a 45GB partiton.

I'm not to sure about the resizing but I would talk to some other users.
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post #6 of 10
8/3/05 at 2:21pm
I've actually formatted both partitions, resized them (my C: capacity is 3.5GB) and was still able to run eRecovery to get back factory settings with resized partitions.

I don't recommend 3.5 GB for C: unless you're willing to move a lot around and turn off hibernate and other space hogging features.

Just confirming that eRecovery does work on resized partitions and that the hidden partition is not necessary. It only consumes about 2.5 GB (I think, can't remember exactly) of C:
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post #7 of 10
8/3/05 at 6:35pm
Thread Starter 
Hey guys,

While using Norton Ghost to backup my drives it found a hidden partition titled "PQSERVICE" and the drive letter was: *:\

it took up about 1889 mb i think, so if this is the recovery data then that means that you can convert both C: drive and D: drive to NTFS if you wanted.
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post #8 of 10
8/3/05 at 10:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ransomed1
I thought that the Turion notebooks always run at 800MHz unless under load. A friend of mine just picked up a Compaq Turion notebook (1.6GHz) that runs at 800 even when plugged in. When I was at the store, the guy explained that it speeds up when it needs to. Is this not so?

-Ransom
This appears to be true. I downloaded CPU-Z and it shows im running at 800MHz when not at load. I have noticed load times for programs seem to take longer than I would have liked, so this may account for that. I was expecting this system to be more snappy. I would rather run the CPU at full tilt 2GHz when plugged in. I checked the bios and there were no options to adjust this. I also checked the "Power Options" in the "Control Panel" and didn't find anything. Are there any fixes to this?


Example in loading Photoshop it starts at 800MHz then goes up to 1600MHz for and instance, then is at 800MHz for the majority of time.
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post #9 of 10
8/3/05 at 10:30pm
Changing the power scheme in Windows from Portable/Laptop to Always On seems to keep the CPU running at 2.0 GHz
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post #10 of 10
8/3/05 at 11:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by reptar
Changing the power scheme in Windows from Portable/Laptop to Always On seems to keep the CPU running at 2.0 GHz
Correct.
Turions have Cool'N Quiet Technology which supports dynamic frequency adjustment depending on processor load (similar to Intel Sidestep on Pentium-Ms ).
If you want your processor to always run at full throttle then just set your power scheme to Always On or Minimal Power Management.
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